European door is now almost closed

25 Feb 1991

"A TYPICAL premier-division encounter," was how Dunfermline manager Iain Munro described his side's 3-1 win over Hearts at East End Park.

"The way this game was played you'd never have known that anyone had taken a threat away from anybody."

Nevertheless, in a match which pitted a team with nothing at stake against another which merely played that way, the fact that Dunfermline are no longer looking over their shoulders worrying about relegation clearly benefited the Fifers.

Hearts, on the other hand, carried the burden of needing the points, and that was reflected in the defensive uncertainty they exhibited throughout the afternoon.

Their cause was not helped by the loss of their captain, Davie McPherson, who suffered a head injury in a collision with Ross Jack after only 14 minutes.

He returned five minutes later, just in time to watch Jack heading an Istvan Kozma cross beyond Nicky Walker for the first of his two goals.

The visitors conceded a far more avoidable goal just before the break, when Jimmy Sandison was harassed by Scott Leitch, and the youngster ran on to Jack's pass before shooting past Walker.

McPherson failed to reappear after the interval and Hearts fell into disarray, culminating in a third Dunfermline goal after 75 minutes, when a long throw was missed by the entire Hearts defence, allowing Jack to score from close range.

"It was a smashing win for us," said Munro.

"Considering the long lay-off we played some good football in places and our attitude was good.

"I was delighted with both Scott Leitch and Pat McAllister.

Leitch took his goal well and then when he had to go back into midfield he was good.

He's certainly got a bright future and it was good for young McAllister to come on near the end.

"He had some nice touches and composure on the ball.

Hopefully, before the end of the season, the likes of Mark Haro and Andy Williamson and one or two more will get the chance to show what they can do."

Munro's only disappointment was in the lack of discipline which resulted in his team being reduced to 10 men when Ray Sharp was red-carded for a late challenge on John Colquhoun on the hour.

This gave their opponents a lifeline, when Tommy Wilson put a Wayne Foster cross into his own net after 63 minutes.

Hearts' disappointment was large.

Their performance in beating Dundee United the previous week had encouraged many to make the trip across the Forth in the hope of seeing Joe Jordan's men edge closer to a European place.

But the journey proved to be in vain.

"Losing the second goal was suicide," said manager Jordan, who made no excuse for his team's poor show and accepted that the result was a major setback to Hearts' hopes of qualifying for Europe.

"It will certainly be difficult to get a European spot if the players make things as hard for themselves as they did today," he said.

"It has to be our priority to get the basics of the game right."

Taken from the Herald