LINESMAN COST US GLORY CHANCE; Jambos boss cries foul over Gers goal.

Blazing Hearts boss Jim Jefferies last night claimed a linesman's blunder cost his troops the Coca- Cola Cup.

Shattered Jeff exploded in the 63rd minute when Rangers snatched their crucial third goal.

Paul Gascoigne's stunning strike stemmed from a throw-in which Hearts stars insisted should have been a free-kick to THEM.

And assistant referee Alan Freeland had to be shielded from furious Jambos at the end of the game.

Jeff hit out: "Until that incident I believed we were going to lift the cup.

"It definitely turned the game - I thought it was blatant obstruction by Joachim Bjorklund.

"It happened just outside our dugout and the linesman was only a yard away.

"I won't be taking the matter further. I don't need to tell the linesman what I feel - he will know.

"However, everyone is entitled to make mistakes."

After the final whistle, the Rangers stars celebrated the first part of what they hope will be a golden domestic treble.

But Hearts skipper Gary Mackay had to be held back from having a go at Freeland.

Mackay, who has been at Tynecastle for 17 years and was desperate to end the club's 34- year trophy famine, said: "Robbo knocked the ball past Bjorklund and then just stopped.

"It was a disappointing decision that Rangers got the throw in."

Jefferies was justifiably proud of his team's massive contribution in what was an absorbing Parkhead thriller enjoyed by everyone.

Even if the Hearts fans had to go home to Edinburgh contemplating what might have been.

Jefferies added: "After being 2-0 down Hearts were by far the better side and it took five minutes of brilliance from Paul Gascoigne to win it for Rangers.

"Neil McCann was sensational and deserved the man of the match award. After our 5- 1 Scottish Cup final defeat in May a lot of people thought we would have packed our team with defenders and try to keep it tight

"As things turned out the players were absolutely superb and until the incident I thought we would go on to win the game.

"We certainly gave Rangers the fright of their lives.

"We are doing all we can at Tynecastle and it would have been fitting if we had won the cup. But we just didn't get the breaks when we needed them.

"Brian Laudrup destroyed us in May but today Paul Ritchie was magnificent.

"He shackled Laudrup and managed to keep him quiet, which is never easy against a player of his calibre."

Jefferies was none too happy with Italian Pasquale Bruno as Rangers raced into a 2- 0 lead after just 26 minutes, thanks to a deadly double from Ally McCoist.

He said: "Pasquale didn't pick him up for the first goal or at the second set piece.

"But I'm proud of the team. I'm just sorry we couldn't win the cup for our fans and when we came back it looked as if we would run over the top of Rangers."

Another Hearts star was Colin Cameron but he couldn't add a cup medal to the one he won with Celtic two years ago.

He said: "I think we can be proud of our performance but you can't give teams like Rangers a two-goal start.

"It's hard enough to beat them when it's nothing each without letting them go in front but all credit to our lads for fighting back.

"The second half was a different team performance from us because a lot of teams would have given up at that stage but we never gave up.

"And a lot of credit has to go to the fans as well.

"Our heads might have gone down and six months ago in the Scottish Cup we never battled back.

"But we did today. When we pulled it back to two each we were looking the better team and I think we were also looking like the most likely to go on and win.

"But on that performance I'm sure we'll be back again soon to fight for the honours."

Taken from the Daily Record