The Gardeners' World Blog

The thin line between footballing victory and defeat has never been more evident than it was last Saturday teatime.

First, Scotland were desperately unlucky against Italy. To amass 24 points from the hardest group imaginable and to strike real fear into the hearts of the World Champions, before finally being undone by an awful refereeing decision, was an extraordinary achievement.

It should also stand Scotland in good stead for the future - not only do they now have a team of which to be proud, but their improved ranking should put them in a less absurdly tough group, with a good chance of qualifying for the World Cup in 2010.

There was cheering news on Monday from the BBC Trust, who've given the go-ahead for the BBC's High Definition television service.

There has, of course, been an experimental service since last year's World Cup - and it was BBC Sport, in the form of Gary Lineker & Co, who got the channel under way live from Germany 2006.

Now, there'll be plenty of great things on the HD channel: programmes like Cranford, Torchwood and Earth - Power Of The Planet . But sport will be one of its major selling-points.