Crabbe bites the hand that fed him

11 Jan 1994

SCOTT Crabbe helped deepen the relegation gloom of his former club, Hearts, with a comeback strike to point Dundee United en route to a 3-0 success, and a first win in eight outings in the premier division series against their visitors from the capital.

Crabbe, grabbing a rare first-team chance with relish after 10 games outwith Ivan Golac's starting thoughts, struck early to assure that there would be no respite to the Tynecastle men's struggle at the wrong end of the table.

His third-minute conversion of the first of several anxious moments in the visiting defence confirmed that Hearts' task was to be an uphill one from the outset.

Paddy Connolly's fifteenth-minute addition to the home lead after yet another rearguard hiccup merely underlined the steepness of the climb necessary to get back into contention.

Needless to say, the patience of the Hearts support is being sorely tried right now.

They were far from being shy about voicing their disgust at current events as manager Sandy Clark made his way from dugout to dressing room at the final whistle, with calls for his resignation accompanying the throwing of club colours in his direction.

Remarkably, Clark found a sympathiser with his cause in the colours of the opposition -- from the man who got Hearts' bodyblow under way on Saturday, Crabbe, whose feelings for the Maroons are widely recognised.

The self-confessed Tynecastle fan left his favourite club 15 months ago, when a £300,000 transfer deal took him from Tynecastle to Tannadice.

But as the 25-year-old pointed out: "Naturally my allegiance lies with Dundee United, but I do not think that I will ever lose my feelings for Hearts.

Therefore I feel entitled to forward the opinion that I think Sandy Clark is the man to steer the club clear of its present troubles.

"I cannot say that I am surprised at the reaction of their support, who expect better from the side, but I do wish that they would give the manager a break.

After all, he is just in the job."

The early goals from Crabbe and Connolly were always going to be sufficient to earn United their fourth home league success of an inconsistent season to date, but Craig Brewster's close-in finish after 75 minutes gave a more realistic look to the scoreline.

United might just have turned the corner and can look forward to an improved second half of the term, but for Hearts the remainder of this campaign is going to provide a severe test to the players, management, and most certainly, the fans.

Taken from the Herald