Passions run high at Hearts

HEARTS 0-1 CELTIC

CELTIC restored their 11-point lead in the league with a 1-0 win at Tynecastle yesterday in a match which was keenly contested throughout and frequently threatened to boil over. Stilian Petrov’s first-half strike proved the difference between the sides in an encounter which saw as much action off the pitch as on.

The Hearts supporters, at last stirred to organised protest against chief executive Chris Robinson’s plans to move to Murrayfield, ensured their feelings were known to the live TV audience by holding up signs reading "Robinson out now". There was also dissent of a less civil nature, as a coin thrown from the main stand struck Celtic goalkeeper Rab Douglas as he prepared to take a free-kick in the early stages of the game.

An arrest was made following that incident, and there were 27 other ejections in total - 16 of those by the police and the remainder by stewards. At least two ejections were of Celtic fans for being in the home end.

"The coin was thrown from Section N of the McLeod Street stand," said Hearts security officer Tom Purdie. "There was an arrest."

However, the man questioned was later released by police, who said the spectator was released because of a lack of evidence.

"There was also a second coin thrown, from the Wheatfield Stand, and we are still studying CCTV footage of that incident," added Purdie. The second coin appeared to be thrown at Celtic striker Chris Sutton, one of nine players to be shown a yellow card by the referee.

The area of the main stand from which the first coin was thrown has been the most difficult part of the stadium to police in recent years, and at one time its closure was mooted by Robinson.

Purdie added that if any season ticket holder was convicted of coin-throwing, the ticket would be taken away by the club.

Despite occurring just minutes into the match, the thrown coin was not the first noteworthy incident. In the second minute, John Hartson became the first player to be booked by Kenny Clark after an altercation with Andy Webster. The Scotland defender told his manager he had been elbowed by the Welshman, but after the game his assessment and that of Craig Levein were at variance, with Webster being more inclined to show charity.

"These things happen," Webster said. "It was just one of those things - maybe it was accidental. The referee made the decision, it’s not up to me, and you just have to accept that and get on with it."

Levein, on the other hand, was less willing to accept that Clark had got it right.

"Webby felt he was elbowed, and I don’t understand the booking if it was an elbow," said the home coach. "That might have been a turning point if Celtic had gone down to ten men then."

As it was, Hearts were in the game to the end, and pressed strongly in a manic conclusion to the match. "We were on top for periods of the game, had loads of ball, but didn’t manage to break Celtic down," Levein continued.

"We threw everything at them late in the game, and they defended exceptionally well. It’s a long time since I’ve seen Celtic just clear the ball upfield, and that tells you we put them under a bit of pressure.

"I’m disappointed, as you’d imagine, but I’m pleased with the way we played and the lack of respect we showed Celtic. It’s important that we go into games like this believing we can win it and that they’re our equals."

Celtic had opportunities to kill off the game on the counter-attack late on, and were twice thwarted by point-blank saves from Craig Gordon.

The naming of central defender Stanislav Varga as the man of the match, however, was another indication of the pressure they were under, and Webster said that the closeness of the result would bolster his team’s self-belief going into next month’s Scottish Cup tie against Martin O’Neill’s side, also at Tynecastle.

"We played well without creating too many chances, and it’s disappointing when you’ve worked so hard to come away with nothing.

"With the Old Firm if you get chances you need to take them, and obviously we didn’t do that today.

"But we know we’re capable of beating Celtic. We’ll take encouragement from today, and take that into the next game."

The fourth-round tie, which is also to be broadcast live by the BBC, is on Sunday 8 February.

Bobo Balde, who worked well with Varga at the heart of the visitors’ defence, could be missing on African Nations Cup duty then, and the match may come too early for Johann Mjallby to make a return from injury.

Still, while there may be changes to the cast list when Levein and O’Neill name their sides for that match, the script will be similar to yesterday’s. Hearts learned when they defeated Celtic 2-1 towards the end of last season that the only way to get such a result against either half of the Old Firm is to compete vigorously and at pace throughout the 90 minutes.

They did so again yesterday, and, despite falling just short, will feel that next time round they may require little more than a fortunate bounce of the ball to get some reward for their labours.

Taken from the Scotsman