Simmons summons up spirit of Hearts

PAUL FORSYTH at Tynecastle

HEARTS 2 (McKenna 30, Simmons 72)
MOTHERWELL 1 (Lasley 53)

IN ANOTHER of the absorbing spectacles that have become fashionable between these sides, Hearts dug deep at Tynecastle yesterday to unearth a victory that maintains the momentum they have gathered since the New Year.

Goals by Kevin McKenna and substitute Stephen Simmons saw off a spirited Motherwell side who have still not beaten Hearts at their own place since January of 1999. The least they deserved was a draw on this occasion.

The two sides, separated by eight Premierleague places before this encounter, have now produced 16 goals in three meetings.

For that reason, as well as the fine goal by Keith Lasley, Motherwell will be aggrieved to discover that, with Dundee United beating Dunfermline, they are joint bottom again.

Motherwell are not the same angst-ridden side they were just a month or two ago. Having lifted themselves from the foot of the Premierleague and secured their place in a promising Scottish Cup quarter-final against Stranraer, there is a freshness about the club, epitomised by the arrival at Terry Butcher’s side of Maurice Malpas.

Hearts manager Craig Levein had been lavishing praise on the young shoulders of James McFadden before this one. It was the 19-year-old striker’s first appearance in the league since a red card against Partick Thistle at the turn of the year subjected him to another lengthy suspension. He might have been in the home side had Hearts not rejected him as a schoolboy.

It wasn’t long before the teenager was demonstrating both the self-assurance for which he is renowned and the chip that has taken up residence on his shoulder. After an early collision with Steven Pressley, he spent several minutes hiking up his shorts to reveal a stud mark for the benefit of anyone who cared to look.

McFadden, though, has the pace and poise to petrify defenders when he attacks them. One of his teasing runs seemed to toy with Scott Severin, Neil MacFarlane and Andy Webster, inviting and riding a challenge from each of them, before the intervention of Pressley brought it to a grinding halt.

On the cusp of the interval, he created and curled a free kick from the edge of the area that had goalkeeper Tepi Moilanen scrambling to push the ball away when he ought to have gathered. From the resulting corner, McFadden was grounded by Severin, and was so incensed by the rejection of his penalty claim that he embarked on an argument with the linesman that was still unfolding on their way up the tunnel.

It had been a stroppy, childish first half of which neither side could be particularly proud. Malpas, who admitted in a radio interview before the match that he didn’t know half the players’ names, never mind reveal the team news, must have been wondering what he had let himself in for.

He is supposed to be a calming influence on the volcanic Butcher, but there was nothing he could do to stem the flow of lava that spewed from Motherwell’s manager just before half-time.

When Alan Maybury and Stephen Pearson squared up to each other, following an alleged dive by the Motherwell player, the two managers did likewise, showering each other with spit and an array of expletives audible in the stand. Even referee Mike McCurry failed to persuade them that a handshake was in order.

Motherwell are a menacing lot. They matched their opponents for much of the opening half-hour, succeeding with a pressing game that limited the home side’s ability to build from the back. Martyn Corrigan, ordinarily a right-back for the Lanarkshire side, performed a holding role in midfield, and McFadden was joined by David Clarkson in harassing Hearts’ central defenders. Hearts, for their part, had thrust Kevin McKenna into an attacking partnership with Gary Wales, Mark De Vries having been declared unavailable with a calf injury. The big Canadian and Andy Webster, the young Scot who is keeping him out of the back four these days, were a persistent aerial threat at dead-ball situations.

McKenna, though, proved that there is another dimension to his game with the goal on 29 minutes that gave Hearts a hard-earned lead. As he rampaged on to a smart flick by Wales, even he could not have hoped to catch it quite so well. From 20 yards, his left-foot shot gathered pace as it swerved and rose into the far corner of the net.

If Motherwell headed for the dressing-room nursing a sense of injustice, their emotion was a useful weapon with which to inflict damage in the second half. They were, of course, galvanised by an explosive equaliser within seven minutes of the restart when Lasley, in one breathtaking manoeuvre, dinked the ball over Jean-Louis Valois and thrashed it past Moilanen.

Butcher’s side then proceeded to bite and scratch at a home defence who suddenly seemed to assume the composure of a Sunday league team. McFadden danced down the byeline to set up Clarkson, whose swivel and shot was easily saved. Pearson then pulled a pathetic shot wide, so surprised was he by one particular balls-up.

Taken from the Scotsman