Hearts' forwards are no stick-in-the-muds: 'Well tormented by deadly trio

James Traynor

26 Feb 1990

Hearts 4, Motherwell 0

SCOTT Crabbe emerged from the dressing room.

Not much to look at in his civvies.

John Colquhoun followed -- and here was even less of an eyeful.

So, too, was John Robertson, who struggled along the Tynecastle corridor lugging a kitbag big enough for him to live in.

And so Hearts' three strikers, who looked like escapees from the schoolboy enclosure, wandered off into the night followed by the gaze of bemused admirers.

How can such little people be so destructive? Almost on their own they had crushed Motherwell's Scottish Cup challenge.

They scored all of the goals, each one a gem, and generally tormented the Fir Park side's defence.

Craig Paterson and John Philliben, Motherwell's central defenders, simply could not cope with a trio so diminutive they could be capped for Lilliput.

Some peculiar lethargy, a stultifying malaise, envelops Motherwell when confronted by Colquhoun, Crabbe, and Robertson.

The Fir Park side have now lost 14 goals in four games against Hearts and among them the front players have scored 13 times.

You would think Motherwell's manager, Tommy McLean, himself a tiddler, would be able to fathom it all, but he is at a loss to explain why his team should be so consistently impotent against Hearts.

It appears to be the height of nonsense.

The Tynecastle front men clearly are not playing fair and on Saturday they even refused to observe the laws of nature.

Constant rain had rendered the surface swamp-like and treacherous, no place at all for smouts, who surely would be lost forever in the mud.

Trouble was the Edinburgh club's front players didn't stand still long enough to be sucked into the mire.

While others ran as though they had chewing gum on their soles Crabbe darted, Robertson spun, and Colquhoun twisted.

They put on a show for the crowd of 19,161 and must have impressed Kenny Dalglish, who sat beside Jack Charlton.

Talk of Liverpool being interested in Craig Levein was dismissed, however, although Charlton may have been looking at Motherwell's Nick Cusack, who has an Irish grandparent, or perhaps owns an Irish Setter.

At any rate, Hearts led their manager, Alex MacDonald, yet another of the little people, to believe they could go all the way in the Scottish Cup.

Saturday's fourth-round tie was the first time he was able to choose from his strongest 13 and he appeared afterwards to say he feels the team is buzzing.

He had entered the room just after McLean and, after having watched Colqhoun, Crabbe, and Robertson do their stuff, it was like an afternoon with the Fry's Five Boys -- and it wasn't difficult to establish who was crying.

"We were never at the races," said McLean, "and when we lost that first goal because of stupidity I could sense my players saying 'here we go again.' Too many of them opted out of accepting responsibility."

It was, indeed, a miserable performance by Motherwell, who missed the injured Davie Cooper badly.

McLean does not like to hear people say his team are Cooper orientated, but even he had to admit that this tie may have proved they are.

Motherwell, provided the manager can persuade his players to come out from under their beds and venture back into Edinburgh, have an opportunity to end Hearts' dominance next Saturday, when the teams come together for their fourth league meeting.

Between now and then Paterson, Philliben and co. could have one or two sleepless nights.

By way of stark contrast the game cannot come quickly enough for Hearts, particularly their front three, who are looking to improve already impressive scoring records.

However, it is unlikely that their goals, if they do score, will better Saturday's batch, the first of which originated from O'Neill's aberration.

He tried to pass back on the gluey surface and allowed Crabbe to pounce on the ball.

He played it into Robertson, who scored from just inside the box.

Colquhoun's goal was a piece of individual artistry as he beat Philliben and then the keeper, and before half time Robertson had scored his seventeenth of the season.

Crabbe, with a stunning and accurate shot from the vicinity of the 18-yard line scored the fourth.

It might have been different had Russell's powerful shot after only a few minutes of play put Motherwell ahead, but Smith made a splendid save.

HEARTS -- Smith, Kidd, Levein, McPherson, McKinlay, Mackay, McCreery, Bannon, Colquhoun, Crabbe, Robertson.

Substitutes -- Foster, Berry.

MOTHERWELL -- Maxwell, Burley, Paterson, Philliben, Boyd, Kirk, O'Neill, Russell, Cusack, McCabe, Gahagan.

Substitutes -- Main, Dolan.

Referee -- J McCluskey (Stewarton).