DUNCAN Scott was on cloud nine last night after swimming his way to the European 200m freestyle title - from lane eight.

This product of Glasgow, whose childhood was spent in Ayrshire and Clackmannanshire, had squeezed into last night’s final, his reward for qualifying eighth fastest a place in the outside lanes which is usually reserved only for the also-rans.

Taking the title from that position was considered by some about as unlikely a European outcome as Theresa May coming home from Brussels with a positive Brexit deal.

But Scott, it soon transpired, had no intention of making up the numbers. The man who recently upgraded his Peugot 205 for a sponsored Mercedes was determined to make lane No 8 the fast lane. Turning off his earphones to soak in the cheers of his hometown crowd, Scott changed up his usual tactics by touching first at the end of the first 50m.

After a sneaky look along the line to see exactly where he stood at 150m, that formidable strength of his carried him down the stretch, the Glasgow crowd carrying him home ahead of Danas Rapsys of Lithuania and Mikhail Dogalyuk of Russia in a time of 1.45.34 which was more than a second faster than he had managed a day previously. This European Championships carries the hashtag #TheMoment. This was undoubtedly it.

“I am delighted, really really happy with that” said Scott, the man who came home from the Gold Coast with six medals adding his first individual European title to the relay gold and silver he already has this week.

“I was swimming my own race out there, I didn’t really know what was going on with the rest of the field, although I had a sneaky look at the last turn!

“It was pretty relaxing actually, the crowd has been amazing all week so I decided to take my headphones off and listen to them,” he added.

“I knew I was going in with no expectations and just had to execute my own race. I had a lot to change after the semi final, but I am delighted I managed to correct a few things and put in that performance. I was just hacking away in the last 25m and thankfully I got there. I knew I had a performance like that in me.”

So too now does the world. This was a formidable marker to put down two years out from Tokyo but Scott was taking things one step at a time last night. Ross Murdoch, having missed out by 0.01secs from progression in the 100m breaststroke, and 0.01secs from a medal in the 200m breaststroke, all of 0.07secs away from a place in the 50m breaststroke final.

“A lot changes in two years, there are a lot of Olympic medallists we have never heard of who are going to pop out in Tokyo,” said Scott. “That would only have put me fourth or fifth in Rio.”

The other good news, from the last day of the track cycling, is that Jack Carlin is safe to show himself on the streets of Paisley again.

The 21-year-old track cyclist, who went into the event admitting to feeling the pressure to deliver to avoid a ‘rinsing’ from his pals, finally has something tangible to show for his Glasgow 2018 experience after bringing home a fine bronze medal in the keirin to round off the final day in the Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome.

This had been a bruising European Championships for the Scot, left high and dry due to a mishap in the team-sprint then strong-armed out of the individual sprint stakes by Stefan Botticher of Germany in a controversial match sprint semi-final where the two men tangled on the track. But as fans and volunteers queued up to get a selfie with this local hero afterwards, everything seemed significantly brighter with that bronze medal hanging round his neck, delivered courtesy of a photo finish for third with Quentin Lafarge of France. As things turned out, it was his German nemesis Botticher who got the better of the usual turkey shoot at the end of six laps. If it will be fun and games should those two renew acquaintances in Tokyo in two years’ time alright.

“I don’t think I would have been overly upset [if I had come away with nothing],” said Carlin afterwards. “But obviously you come to win here every time. To go away with something in front of this crowd is good, it’s been good for the team in general and it’s been good to see Glasgow enjoying some good sport.

“I saw my pals and it wasn’t just me they were rooting for - they seemed to be jumping up and down for everyone,” he added. “The whole crowd was amazing it’s definitely been the highlight of my career, just having this crowd backing them all the way and I’m glad I gave them something.”

The Great Britain squad ended with 10 medals to show for their time in Glasgow – four golds, three silver and three bronze – one less gold medal than the Netherlands and one less in total than Germany. But with Carlin registering on the scoreboard for the first time and young Englishman Matthew Walls announcing himself to the world with gold in the elimination race, the biggest surprise of the day was the fact that Katie Archibald and Laura Kenny, the two golden girls of Great British cycling, weren’t able to add to their tallies in the Madison.

A fiendish event over 120 laps where pairs sling-shot each other to a series of sprints, Archibald and Kenny fancied their chances considering their 23 European titles between them. Archibald – a reigning world champion in this event - had already claimed a gold and two silvers this week and Kenny two golds. Ultimately it stayed that way because both they and a high-powered Netherlands team found themselves blind-sided by a breakaway from the units from Denmark and the Russia, who ended up finishing one and two with Netherlands one spot above in third. In their defence, Archibald and Kenny had barely practised together.

“I’m already so aware of the mistakes we made,” said Archibald. “We just didn’t have the legs, either. But I’m eager for the next race already, to bring about redemption. I’m keen to come back and prove that we do have the goods for this event. I still think with the dedication we have we could still have a big chance in Tokyo. When Adam Peaty says he is disappointed with silver [Gold Coast], you think ‘get over yourself! I know for the wider public it does seem that way. But sometimes you can even be disappointed with gold if it doesn’t quite live up to your standards. I’m worried to say I’m disappointed but I wanted more.”