Home is not where the heart is

RAY HEPBURN

18 Apr 1994

HEARTS continue to be Scotland's most perplexing team and Saturday's 2-0 home defeat by Dundee simply added to the puzzle, without hinting at any answers.

However, solving their conundrum now takes on a chilling urgency, as the Tynecastle defeat places them in unmistakable danger of being relegated.

It is impossible to assess a team that has failed so often against opponents below them in the table, and which contained on Saturday seven players with international experience.

Yet, they have surrendered six points to Dundee, four to Kilmarnock, three to Raith Rovers, and, so far, four points in three matches against St Johnstone.

And then there is the perplexing home form that has seen just one victory -- 1-0 over Partick Thistle in January -- since they defeated Celtic by the same scoreline in September.

For, away from Tynecastle, they do not resemble relegation material in any form, with a January defeat at Tannadice their only league setback since the turn of the year.

Perhaps given all that, Sandy Clark will not be unhappy that they have three away games left, against Partick, Hibernian, and St Johnstone.

The two remaining home tangles are with Aberdeen and Dundee United, so the final segment of a troubled season largely corresponds with their better days.

Dundee certainly presented a challenge to Clark's men on Saturday that they accepted with relish for half-an-hour and then meekly succumbed by full time.

With half a team missing, Jim Duffy pulled all his players behind the ball, displaying no ambition whatsoever to win the match in the opening half.

So congested was the centre of the pitch that Hearts looked to Stephen Frail and Tosh McKinlay to get behind their opponents and provide ammunition.

In the fifty second minute, after Henry Smith's hesitancy gave away a corner, the keeper blocked Steve Pittman's low cross and Shaw's close-in chance was elementary.

Gerry Britton made the second 17 minutes later and when his low cross from the right found Shaw in splendid isolation 14 yards from goal, Dundee were two ahead.

The effect was stunning as home fans started the trudge away and those who stayed remained simply to berate a team already in despair.

They must be ready to hold their nerve, for a tight, perhaps blanket, finish looks likely.

Taken from the Herald