Beckford knocks heart out of Dundee Substitute gives Tynecastle men another final slot against Rangers

Ken Gallacher, Chief Football Writer

24 Oct 1996

Hearts......................3, Dundee.....................1

HEARTS clinched another confrontation with Rangers in a major cup final with this victory over Dundee last night.

At Easter Road, the home of their city rivals Hibs, Hearts won well and are now in line - once more - to hoist their first trophy for 34 years.

However, the Tynecastle fans will remember that they were in the same position six months ago, in the Scottish Cup final against the same opponents, Rangers, and at Hampden they crashed to a 5-1 defeat.

Now they have the chance for revenge.

That is what manager Jim Jefferies will be preaching to his team over the next month, and he will be hoping that the message goes home more positively than those he roared on from the touchline during the second half last night.

Even when they were 3-0 up, Hearts suddenly found difficulty in subduing their first division opponents.

As Jefferies railed at his players from the touchline, he was eventually warned by referee Willie Young after the stand-side assistant referee had bro ught the official's attention to the Hearts manager's outbursts.

Jefferies should never have been placed in that position.

His team dominated for most of the game, even though they lost veteran striker John Robertson after only 10 minutes.

Robertson was the man Dundee manager Jim Duffy feared most, the instinctive goal-scorer the Dens Park leader felt could damage his team.

Yet, ironically, when Robertson limped off with a hamstring injury, it was his replacement, Darren Beckford, who scored the opening goal for Hearts.

Dariusz Adamczuk tried to clear a cross from Stuart Callaghan and the ball went back to keeper Billy Thomson.

He could only push the ball away and there was Beckford, unmarked, and he closed in on goal and able to prod the ball over the line.

Dundee were behind.

There were moments after that when the Dens Park men had opportunities to change things.

George Shaw had a volley off target and then Paul Tosh went just wide with a try from inside the box.

However, it was Hearts who scored again.

Once more the Pole, Adamczuk, was the villain for Dundee.

He made a clumsy late tackle on Callaghan, and when the winger went down there was no doubting it was a penalty.

Colin Cameron took the kick and scored and essentially should have put the game beyond Dundee's reach.

However, as the second half began, Dundee were the team going forward - their problem was that they did so once too often, and in 60 minutes, they lost a third goal.

It as Callaghan who set up the opening and it was Stephane Paille who finished things off with a strike which eventually brought him the man-of-the-match award.

Dundee made changes then.

Off went Kevin Bain and Tommy McQueen to be replaced by Ray Farningham and Kevin Magee.

The changes seemed to bring new life to a team which should, by now, have been dead and buried.

Jim Hamilton had a volley saved by Gilles Rousset and then, finally, in 73 minutes, the Dundee striker was able to ram a low shot into the net after a mix-up in the Hearts defence.

Before the end Magee was booked and then struck the bar with a dangerously flighted cross from the left which deceived the giant Rousset and the remainder of the Hearts defence.

That, however, was just another token effort from the first division team who were playing their second successive semi-final in the tournament.

The game had been won and lost in the first half when Hearts scored twice and Dundee had found themselves unable to match the men from the premier division.

Now, however, Hearts know the task which lies ahead of them.

They suffered at the hands of Rangers just six months ago.

These memories will still linger in their minds.

Between now and the final, manager Jim Jefferies must talk his players round, must get them into the mood of playing in a final once more.

And he must tell them to forget the events of last May.

It will be a major job but Jefferies, today, can sit content with the fact that a year ago when he took over the job, his team were at the bottom of the premier division and facing relegation.

Since then he as taken them to two finals and into Europe.

That is a transformation which he can quietly celebrate.

HEARTS - Rousset, McManus, Pointon, Weir, McPherson, Mackay, Paille, Bruno, Robertson, Cameron, Callaghan.

Substitute - Ritchie, Goss, Beckford.

DUNDEE - Thomson, Smith, McQueen, Bain, Raeside, Tully, Shaw, Charnley, Tosh, Hamilton, Adamczuk.

Substitute - Anderson, Farningham, Magee.

Referee - W S Young, Clarkston.

Taken from the Herald