Frenzied Hearts run out of ways to beat a dour defensive guard United end up shaken but not really stirred

Paul Sinclair

17 Feb 1997

Hearts................1, Dundee United...............1

THE breathless excitement which is traditionally associated with the Scottish Cup is too often substituted with breathless and witless football.

That was the case at Tynecastle, where an energetic but largely guileless Hearts failed to hassle a dour Dundee United out of the competition.

Now they must take their chances - literally if they are to proceed - at Tannadice a week on Tuesday.

Hearts' attempts at winning the match were as gusty as the wind which ruined it.

They had a go, but rarely got behind the praetorian guard which was the United defence.

The visitors never found their rhythm, but could fall back on an instinct to contain which stifled a Hearts side whose approach at times was frenzied.

The first half had an abundance of desire at the expense of craft, and it was Hearts, with the greater enthusiasm, who managed to shake Dundee United out of the composed style which had seen them unbeaten in the last nine league games, winning eight.

It was fitting therefore that the best chances fell to the home side - falling being the correct term as few of their opportunites came from incisive play.

After only five minutes Hearts had the first goal chance presented to them.

Maurice Malpas, like many intelligent defenders before him, is now getting to the stage where he lacks a crucial yard of pace.

He was caught by Jim Hamilton inside his own penalty area and that intervention saw the ball break to Steve Fulton, who shot narrowly wide.

Hearts were setting a pattern of having most of the pressure but were not getting too close to goal.

Their efforts were mainly long-range and after 14 minutes David Weir was unlucky to see a speculative 30-yard right-foot shot come off the outside of a post.

Then that crucial lack of a yard on Malpas' part should have given Hearts the opportunity to take the lead.

Hamilton ran through on a Pointon head-flick in the penalty area and was clearly impeded by Malpas, who was slow to react.

It was lucky for him that referee Hugh Dallas' thought processes were even slower.

United were offering little in attack at this stage and the one opportunity they did create in the first half was scorned by a casual Jim McInally.

McLaren put him in the clear in the middle of the Hearts penalty area, but he decided to weakly side-foot the ball when a firm shot would surely have beaten Rousset.

Hearts continued to press from long-range, however, and Dave McPherson, who had been rarely used as a threat with his head, saw a 25-yard right-foot shot cannon off the bar with United's goalkeeper Sieb Dykstra well beaten.

When Hearts did manage to penetrate the Dundee United defence and find the six-yard box sadly it came as a surprise to most of their forwards.

Two minutes before half-time Neil McCann rounded Dykstra, but his cross flashed across goal with no Hearts player there to take advantage.

Grant Murray, a substitute for Gary Locke, who was injured in a challenge from McInally, struck a fierce shot from 25-yards just before half-time.

Dykstra blocked the ball, probably without knowing what he was doing, but McCann was not composed enough to put Hearts in the lead and instead snapped the rebound wide of the post.

The half-time interval gave both managers the chance to impart their thoughts to the players and learly United manager Tommy McLean's ideas were more about quelling Hearts than anything particularly creative.

The result was a soporific third quarter to this match which was punctuated only by a sole shot from Olofsson, after a 30-yard run.

Having created so little, United were fortunate to take the lead.

Olofsson lulled Murray into a rash tackle on the left flank and won a free-kick.

Ray McKinnon, who had come on for McInally at half-time, curled in a ball to the Hearts' near-post which was not being defended by their goalkeeper.

Instead McManus, under pressure from Winters, was unfortunate to head the ball into his own net.

Before Hearts could start regretting all those first-half misses, Jim Jefferies sent on John Robertson and Gary McKay to try to bring some fire back to Hearts' play.

Their contribution wasn't direct, but a galvanized Hearts managed an unlikely equaliser with nine minutes remaining.

A deep cross from Weir was headed down by McCann and Hamilton, who looked marginally offside, slipped the ball into the net from six yards.

Somehow this was justice, not just for Hearts' pressure in the first half but also for the penalty that never was.

Hearts pressed for the goal which could have settled the tie at the first attempt but once again they relied more on effort rather than skill.

By this stage the chickens had well and truly lost their heads.

Both sides can now think about adding a bit of wit to their game in the replay.

Taken from the Herald