Robbo gives Rovers a boost

IAN PAUL

16 Oct 1995

Hearts 4 Raith Rovers 2

IF THEY needed any ego resuscitation after their fitful performance at Tynecastle, as they approach their destiny with Bayern Munich, Rovers received it from an unlikely source.

John Robertson, one of the most influential Hearts men in their defeat of the Fifers, offered his own articulate opinion that Raith might surprise the mighty Germans in the UEFA Cup, first-leg tie tomorrow.

Robertson, who played against Bayern six years ago when Hearts beat them in Edinburgh but went out narrowly on aggregate, believes the Kirkcaldy side will be much more formidable at Easter Road than they were at the weekend.

He will have to be right, or it could be an embarrassing evening.

"Raith will be up for that one all right," said Robertson, "although I didn't think they played badly against us.

They weren't as committed as they might have been in other circumstances maybe, but it is hard for players when they know a game as big as that is coming up."

Robertson felt the Fife club would have been wise to take the tie to Tynecastle simply for the psychological benefit of reminding Bayern where they lost before, but he acknowledges that the Easter Road slope may let the Rovers feel at home -- Stark's Park has a very similar descent.

"Raith will make sure that Bayern don't get time to play and big Ally Graham could give the Germans problems.

The Raith defenders, too, will close people down much quicker than they did against us."

Jimmy Nicholl and his players will absorb those words and, hopefully, fulfil their promise, but it is certain that between now and then, the manager will have let his merry band of men know in basic language what he thought of their show at Tynecastle.

Before he whisked them off into the evening, he said only a few words but they were revealing enough of his feelings.

"We were shocking and that has given us food for thought over the weekend." Asked if anybody was injured, he replied: "You don't get injured if you don't tackle."

In essence, that summed up his team's display, especially in the first half, when it seemed as though the Fifers were working on automatic pilot.

Much of this might be read as if Hearts were gifted the points, but that would be unfair on Jim Jefferies' side, who took advantage of their chances in the first half and then, when Raith did get their act together after the break, responded by raising their own game and winning through in style.

Robertson reckoned that was as much due to the manager's state of the art treatise before the game began at all.

Jefferies himself admitted that he had decided to give them a row before they set foot on the park.

"That's just what he did," said Robertson, "gave us a rollicking before we began.

He told us there were two new faces in the dressing room and unless we got our act together, there would be more."

Goalkeeper Gary O'Connor and midfield man John Millar must have wondered if they had any future at Tynecastle after Jefferies was involved in talks aiming to bring St Johnstone's keeper, Andy Rhodes, to Hearts, with Millar one of the men wanted by Saints.

"Millar was not one I had suggested but you have to come and go a bit in these deals," said Jefferies, "but when the lad said he did not want to go, then that suited me fine, but maybe others will get a jolt as well by what is going on.

Gary did everything right."

Hearts had slipped into the lead when Millar headed in at the near post from Gary Locke's cross, and then Alan Lawrence headed in the second following further dithering in the Rovers defence.

Raith gave themselves a lift when Ally Graham scored after the break, but their threatened recovery was doused by Robertson's goal and then Lawrence's second, before Steve Crawford reduced the gap to two again.

Taken from the Herald