Smith delighted as his men deliver the goods

22 Dec 1997

Ken Gallacher

Hearts 2 Rangers 5

This was surely one of the most important results that Rangers have carved out in their roller-coaster season so far.

At just the time a resounding victory was required this Ibrox side delivered once more.

Just as they have done so often in the past when the odds appeared to be stacked against them, they came through to serve notice on all their rivals that the premier division championship will not be taken from then without a major struggle.

Hearts, pacemakers for so much of the season, were eventually swept aside, and yet as their manager, Jim Jefferies, pointed out - with some bewilderment it must be said - that his players had given a better performance than they had done in Glasgow when they had met the other title challengers, Celtic, just a week earlier.

Then, they had gone down to a late Craig Burley goal.

Here, they suffered their worse defeat of the season.

In 17 previous games they had lost just 18 goals.

Here they lost five and could have lost even more.

For, while Jefferies made the second-half penalty the turning point of the game, he had clearly forgotten the glaring opportunities missed by Jorg Albertz and Stale Stensaas in the opening 45 minutes.

The Rangers' manager Walter Smith was, understandably delighted with the performance given by his players.

He had indicated before heading for Edinburgh that he expected a difficult and demanding game, and for the opening 20 minutes or so it seemed that Smith had read the situation accurately.

He admitted: ''There was a fair bit of pressure from Hearts in the opening 20 minutes, even although we had such a good start when Gordon Durie scored after just five minutes.

''They equalised and I thought that Hearts played really well in that period.

But we had a lot of strong individual performances as well as great work as a unit.

''We had no worries about playing Stuart McCall at the back - where he did very well today - because he has played there for us in the past.

''It was a tremendous game and I thought there was a lot of good football played.'' There was indeed and while some of the Rangers' players took the headlines above others - Durie for his hat trick, McCall for his inspiring captaincy, Rino Gattuso for his industry before his ordering off, and Albertz for a return to form - I was impressed by Ian Ferguson as much as any of the others.

The stand-in skipper McCall admitted that before the game the manager had talked in the dressing room of the way that Rangers have developed of rising to the occasion, of delivering results when they are crucial.

Ferguson has been part of that tradition and he demonstrated it at Tynecstle.

He was there to break up attacks and he was there to start attacks.

In fact, whenever any team- mate needed assistance he was there.

This was a bright and shining example of all that Smith must have said to his players before going into this game.

As Jefferies insisted, Hearts did look better than they had done at Celtic Park.

They were more positive, more adventurous than they had been the previous week, but they simply came up against an inspired Rangers' side.

However, there were cruel disappointments, too, for the Hearts' support.

Goalkeeper Gilles Rousset cracked under the pressure from the champions, David Weir and Paul Ritchie struggled against Durie and Negri, while Neil McCann failed consistently to deliver a final ball which would damage the Ibrox defence.

However, even when they went 5-1 down, Hearts did not give in - something which augurs well for their continuing title challenge - and substitute Jim Hamilton scored in the closing minutes and after that, hit the bar with a header.

Rangers' goals came from Durie who helped himself to a hat trick.

It was difficult to believe that the Scotland World Cup man has started just four games and, until Tynecastle, had not managed a single league goal.

His pace and finishing power wrecked Hearts.

Negri scored with the penalty and Albertz with a stunning free kick from 25 yards.

Hearts had five players yellow carded by referee Hugh Dallas - John Robertson, who scored their first goal, Weir, Neil Pointon, Stefano Salvatori, and Rousset.

Robertson's goal, incidentally, was the 270th of his career.

Rangers had Gattuso booked twice and red carded for the second booking, while Sergio Porrini and McCall also were cautioned.

Afterwards, Hearts manager Jefferies admitted: ''Of course it is disappointing to be off the top of the table but we are only two points adrift going into Christmas.

''I would have settled for that at the beginning of the season.'' Next league matches: Hearts v Dunfermline (a).

Rangers v Dundee United (h).

Rino Gattuso has become a hero to Rangers' fans but that status will not be enhanced sitting in the stand.

The Italian will miss this week's game against Dundee United and will soon face further suspension.

His manager, Walter Smith, has talked to him about his bookings.

It is time for the player to listen.

Taken from the Herald