Whitworth at the double

IAN PAUL

13 Apr 1995

Kilmarnock 3, Hearts 2

KILMARNOCK'S bright new Chadwick stand, to be opened against Rangers next week, looks certain to be in use in the premier division against next season after the Ayrshire side's hard won three points, which takes them into sixth place in the table.

Hearts' miserable end to the season continues and, unless they halt their recent depressing run, they could be hauled into the relegation contest again.

Manager Alex Totten considered the three points collected "very important," but would not allow any talk of safety yet.

His rival, Tommy McLean, saw a great deal of "character" in his side's performance, but added: "The timing of their goals killed us -- they were bad goals to lose."

He revealed that Dave McPherson, who was carried off, had twisted a knee and would need to be assessed in the morning.

If Hearts' moral was at a low after their Scottish Cup defeat, it did not get much help from the way Killie hurried into business.

Within two minutes the Tynecastle side were a goal down.

They had nothing else to blame other than their own failure to mark Neil Whitworth, who was given plenty space to send in a powerful header from an Ally Mitchell corner.

There were claims of final touches from others, but the header seemed to me good enough by itself.

In 17 minutes the Ayrshire lads went two up.

The Hearts defence was split by a clever lay-off from Wright, whose flick left Henry racing through on Nelson.

The midfield player showed excellent composure to send a right-foot shot high into the net.

Kilmarnock relaxed for a spell and were punished by Cramb, who ran on to a free kick from Miller and jumped with delight when his shot was slightly deflected past Lekovic.

No team ever gets the best of help from fortune when they are in the dumps and in 34 minutes Hearts suffered another setback when Dave McPherson was carried off after he fell heavily following a headed clearance.

In 60 minutes Killie went two clear again.

Whitworth added more icing to his twenty-third birthday celebrations by outjumping the Hearts defence to head in a corner from Connor.

Whitworth became the third man to have his name taken, following his team-mate MacPherson in the first half and Hearts' John Millar early in the second, but there was nothing malicious about the play.

Hearts had still not given up and with five minutes left they caused great alarm among the 7239 watchers when Jamieson headed in their second goal.

KILMARNOCK -- Lekovic, MacPherson, Black, Findlay, Whitworth, Anderson, Mitchell, Henry, Wright, Connor, Maskrey.

Substitutes -- Montgomerie, Brown, Geddes.

HEARTS -- Nelson, Wishart, Miller, Levein, Berry, McPherson, Colquhoun, Mackay, Cramb, Millar, Johnston.

Substitutes -- Jamieson, Locke, Smith.

Referee -- E Martindale (Newlands).

Taken from the Herald