McSwegan makes his mark as Hibs rue missed chances Hearts show fighting spirit to deny their capital rivals victory

Rob Robertson
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27 Dec 2000

Hearts 1 Hibernian 1 VOJKAN Kostic, the secretary of the Belgrade Hearts Supporters Club, has become a cause celebre down Gorgie way of late.

When Slobodan Milosevic was in power, Kostic was consistently turned down for a visa by the British Government which would allow him to travel to Scotland to watch his favourite team in action.

However, thanks to the intervention of George Foulkes, the Government minister and Hearts supporter, and the fact that Zoran Djindjic has become the new president of Serbia means the red tape was cut and Vojkan trundled up at Tynecastle yesterday a happy man.

However, the man who spent his time during the uprising in his own country translating the Hearts website into Serb, must have left Edinburgh last night a bit bemused by the whole 90 minutes.

Commitment wise, his side could not be faulted, but tactically, Hibs were superior and created the better chances, but the result favoured the home side rather than Alex McLeish's men, who wanted to maintain their position near the top of the table.

For a while, it looked like Hibs would take all three points, but a crucial miss by David Zitelli, the French striker, when Hibs were one goal up seemed to give the Tynecastle side confidence and allowed them back into the game.

That goal had come five minutes before half-time through a magnificent strike from Stuart Lovell, who got onto the end of a low cross from Ulrik Laursen.

The Australian internationalist showed great composure to steer the ball low into the net, although Steve Fulton was guilty of not tracking back to cover his man and he cut a forlorn figure as he trudged back to the half-way line.

The only other real clear-cut chance of the first 45 minutes fell to Paul Fenwick who nearly beat Antti Niemi, the Hearts goalkeeper, who had fumbled a free kick from Franck Sauzee.

However, the Finnish internationalist managed to recover quickly enough to block the follow up shot from the Canadian defender.

Gary McSwegan had the best chance for Hearts in the first period which was deflected wide off the head of Sauzee for a corner, but, apart from that, they offered little up front early on.

The second period was a very different affair, with the Easter Road side squandering vital chances at crucial times.

First, Mathius Jack had a shot blocked by Gordan Petric, and, just after that, Zitelli was guilty of the miss which changed the game.

He was put through by Lyndon Andrews, who was more than an able replacement for John O'Neil who missed the game after being sent-off against Rangers, with the SFA refusing his appeal against his dismissal on the afternoon of the game.

The Frenchman had acres of space and plenty of time as he ghosted in at the back of the box but then, rather than taking a first touch, decided to take the ball first time and the only people who were troubled by his effort were the Hearts supporters sitting 12 rows back in the stand.

Mixu Paatelainen, had an effort superbly saved by Niemi soon after that, but the balance slowly turned to the home side, who seemed to sense Hibs, despite all their efforts, were unlikely to increase their tally.

By the same token, there was nothing to suggest Hearts would pull level and they got that little bit of luck they needed to equalise.

Gary Locke, on as a first half substitute for left back Kenny Milne, who went off injured, put over a long free kick which hit off Robert Tomaschek into the path of Gary McSwegan, who fired a great left-foot shot that curled itself away from keeper Nick Colgan and landed low in the corner of the net on the hour mark.

From a Hibs point of view, Lyndon Andrews outplayed his more illustrious international colleague, Russell Latapy, in the middle of the park.

Craig Levein, the Hearts manager, will be pleased his side are showing great enthusiasm and dig for him since he took over, but he will realise he will have to bring in more technically efficient players to the side.

Over the 90 minutes, Hearts just about deserved their draw, based on their commitment to the cause.

However, Alex McLeish will be kicking himself that his team failed to take advantage of the numerous chances they created at the beginning of the second half, a period in which the Tynecastle side looked all over the place.

Taken from the Herald