The game looked all over when Dunfermline were reduced to 10 men in the 52nd minute when striker Andy Smith got his second yellow car card was sent off.

But Dunfermline then played their best football and put a very solid Hearts defence under pressure for long periods without managing to find the net

Hearts were without their injured joint top-scorer Neil McCann but he was brilliantly replaced by Jose Quitongo, who had a fine game.

Dunfermline were without five injured players. More importantly Smith was back from suspension but he now faces more suspension as result of being sent off.

In the second minute, the visitors' goal had the narrowest of escapes. A Henry Curran cross was struck with great ferocity by Dave Bingham on the edge of the penalty area, and goalkeeper Gilles Rousset had to be lightning quick to palm the rocket over his crossbar.

Hearts recovered from the fright to take the lead in the seventh minute. Some excellent approach work by Quitongo ended with a perfect cross to unmarked Jim Hamilton, who headed the ball in to the net from eight yards.

However, Dunfermline equalised with penalty in 16th minute. Paul Ritchie brought Smith down in the danger zone as he broke through on his own, and Bingham made no mistake from the spot.

But then Hearts took the lead again in 28th minute thanks to a blunder by Dunfermline goalkeeper Ian Westwater.

A Hamilton header struck defender Andy Tod on the forehead and the ball span up in the air. Westwater tried to tap the ball over his own bar but in something of a panic palmed it into his own net.

In the 33rd minute, Stefano Salvatori scored his first goal for Hearts with a blockbuster of a shot from 20 yards after Colin Cameron found him with a perfect pass.

Two minutes later, Smith got his first booking for dissent.

There was so much hectic action up until then that both sides appeared to take something of a breather and the closing minutes of first half were uneventful.

Smith got his marching orders seven minutes after the break for a bad foul on Ritchie, but Dunfermline's 10 men pulled together and gave the Hearts defence their toughest time of the match

In particular, George Shaw had Rousset at full stretch to palm a shot over the bar, and Hamish French also troubled the goalkeeper with a long-range opportunist shot which shaved the wrong side of the far post.

Dunfermline brought on the fresh legs of Alan Moore and Sergio Duarte for Shaw and Curran but they still could not find the net.

Teams:

Dunfermline: Westwater, Shields, Den Bieman, Tod, Barnett, Curran (Duarte 75), Shaw (Moore 72), Robertson, Smith, French, Bingham.

Subs Not Used: Welsh.

Sent Off: Smith (52).

Booked: Smith, Bingham.

Goals: Bingham 16 pen.

Hearts: Rousset, Locke, Pointon, Weir, Salvatori, Ritchie, Quitongo (Frail 59), Fulton, Adam, Cameron (Flogel 84), Hamilton.

Subs Not Used: Robertson.

Booked: Locke, Pointon.

Goals: Hamilton 7, Westwater 28 og, Salvatori 33.

Att: 11,689

Ref: H Dallas (Motherwell).


Taken from sportinglife.com