ON a highly-emotional night for England fans, the nation held it's breath dreaming of Euro 2004 glory. DANNY BRIERLEY joined fellow fans in an Accrington pub to watch England take on Portugal...

TEAR down the flags, stop dreaming and start all over again. England expected glory, but delivered disappointment last night.

East Lancashire football fans were looking forward to a night that started with excited expectation, but which quickly turned to familiar failure in 120 agonising minutes- and it had started so well.

Herds of dutiful fans had made the journey to the nearest watering hole to cheer on England's brave lion hearts. The Hargreaves Arms, Accrington, was awash with red and white, packed with fans looking for the elusive Holy Grail of English football - a trophy.

And just three minutes into the match Michael Owen reminded us of exactly why he is our first choice striker when his cute lob gave England a tentative foothold.

The pub erupted. Beer flew through the air, chants rang out. We were well on our way. For 80 minutes nervous fans chewed fingernails and chanted eulogies to "Ing-er-land".

But supporting Ing-er-land is never straightforward. With only minutes of the match remaining Portugal equalised.

The faces of dejection and the stunned silence which greeted the host nation's goal betrayed a sense that we were back on familiar turf.

And we can now add Switzerland to a growing list of football foes after the Alpine ref ruled out Sol Campbell's 'winner'.

Robbed! Cheated! They were among the more polite cries volleyed at television screens.

Extra time saw England suffer another setback as they allowed Portugal to sneak back into the lead.

Cheering crowds quickly turned sceptical. Television screens were assaulted by baying men and splashes of beer. Bitter was to be the order of the day.

The pulsing hearts of English fans were not going to be given any respite though and an equaliser from Frank Lampard meant we were lifted once more.

But it was merely the dying throws of a fatally wounded animal - and deep down, I think we knew it.

Then to the dreaded penalty shoot-out. We all wanted Beckham to score, but somehow we knew he wouldn't.

His glaring miss set the tone.

It was a case of history repeating itself as our boys crashed. When I asked for the usual at the bar I didn't expect this.