Strong Hearts seize control

STUART BATHGATE AT TYNECASTLE

Hearts 2 De Vries (28), Webster (58)
Zeljeznicar 0

HEARTS will travel to Sarajevo in confident mood in three weeks’ time, goals from Mark de Vries and Andy Webster having put them in the driving seat against Zeljeznicar in this first-round, first-leg UEFA Cup tie.

There was not enough separating the teams to suggest that the return leg in the Bosnian capital will be a formality, but on this form Craig Levein’s side will have high hopes of getting the away goal which, barring a horrendous collapse, should ensure qualification.

It could actually have been even better for Hearts, as De Vries had a late chance to add to his team’s and his own tally with another header, but was unable to get enough strength behind the effort. Joe Hamill, a late substitute, also had a hint of a chance in the dying minutes, but he was closed down by the Zeljo defence and forced into a harmless cross.

Hearts made two changes to the side which had begun Sunday’s 4-0 league defeat by Rangers, with Steven Boyack and Paul Hartley coming in for Phil Stamp, who failed a late fitness test, and Hamil. There were places on the bench too for Austin McCann and Graham Weir.

Boyack began in Hamill’s position on the left of midfield, with Hartley in Stamp’s on the right, although the two swapped round for the 22 minutes they were on the field together. It was from the left that Boyack forged Hearts’ first chance in the opening minute, a cross which De Vries headed straight at Kenan Hasagic in the Bosnians’ goal.

A couple of minutes later a shot from Dennis Wyness forced Hasagic to parry, but the opening stages of the game were not entirely dominated by the home team, who were finding it hard to win control of the midfield. As Craig Levein had warned they would do, Zeljo were flooding the middle of the park, inviting Hearts to bypass that area with some hopeful aerial balls up to the closely policed De Vries.

With just under a quarter-of-an-hour played the big Dutchman fed Wyness, but Hasagic was again well positioned to save the shot.

Shortly after that an injury to Boyack forced Levein to introduce Jean-Louis Valois far earlier than he had planned. The Frenchman had played part of the match on Sunday and also taken part in the under-21 game against Rangers the following day, but in the build-up to the game the coach had made it clear that Valois was still some way short of match fitness.

It remained to be seen how long he would last before himself needing to be replaced.

While still down to ten men, as Valois waited to come on, Hearts had created their best opening so far, with De Vries making room for himself and finding Wyness in space on the left side of the box. The former Inverness Caledonian Thistle striker shot low, forcing the Bosnian goalkeeper into a more strenuous save than he had been required to make by previous efforts.

As well as suggesting the Bosnians would play 4-5-1, Levein had insisted his team and the home support would have to remain patient while seeking the breakthrough against their technically adept opponents. It was in the 28th minute, as the first signs of restiveness were being heard from the stands, that the breakthrough came.

Getting numbers into the last third of the box for almost the third time, Hearts looked for an opening through the middle. It was Alan Maybury who found it, feeding De Vries who spun round then shot first time into the net from around 12 yards.

Wyness was just wide with a fierce shot two minutes later, but Zeljo were far from being a spent force, as they showed just before half-time when a low shot from Sanel Jahec was saved by Moilanen. The visitors were also first to threaten in the second half, and a shot-cum-cross from the right forced Moilanen to divert it just over his crossbar.

But, such incidents notwithstanding, the team from Sarajevo were beginning to have an insipid look to them, their self-belief low as a result of their poor domestic form. A dozen minutes into the second period Wyness could have sent their self-belief sinking even deeper, but his scooped shot from a Scott Severin cutback was just too high. A minute later, the potentially crucial second goal came - although it seemed to take an eternity before it went in.

First De Vries headed against the bar from a Valois cross, then Hartley’s shot from the rebound was blocked. De Vries was first to that rebound, and when his shot was also blocked, Webster was there to head into the unguarded net. The Hearts camp would probably have settled for a 2-0 first-leg advantage if asked before the match, but, having achieved it with more than half-an-hour to spare, they now had to choose between closing the game down and going for further goals. It was no surprise that, while doing nothing too foolhardy, they took the latter option.

Valois, his fitness holding up well, beat three men through the middle but his shot was too soft to trouble Hasagic. Levein then took off Wyness and gave Weir, the hero from that classic Edinburgh derby back in January, a quarter-of-an-hour in which to make an impact on the game.

But neither Weir nor any of his colleagues was able to get that third goal, but, having kept their own scoresheet blank, they will have departed the field in a relatively contented mood.

Hearts: Moilanen, Maybury, Kisnorbo, Pressley, Webster, Severin, MacFarlane, Hartley (Hamill 81), Boyack, Wyness (Weir 74), de Vries. Subs not used: Gordon, McKenna, Kirk, Valois, McCann.

Zeljeznicar: Hasagic, Kajtaz, Alihodzic, Karic, Gredic (Avdija 85), Muharemovic, Spahic, Jahic, Vuksanovic (Biscevic 72), Obad (Rascic 69), Agic. Subs not used: Urosevic, Joldic, Avdija, Smailagic, Dzeko.

Taken from the Scotsman