Levein's men leave lions' den victorious for first time

IT has been a long time coming but Hearts’ first SPL win over Livingston at Almondvale could not have come at a more opportune moment.

Craig Levein had taken his team to West Lothian for last night’s rearranged league clash in the knowledge the Jambos had failed to record a victory in the Lions’ den on their four previous visits.

Stretching back to July 2001, the Gorgie outfit had managed just two draws, a disappointing record Levein was keen to address.

With results having worked in Hearts’ favour at the weekend, they went into the match six points clear of nearest rivals Dunfermline with the opportunity to stretch that advantage even further before the trip to East End Park on Saturday.

But for a place that has never been the happiest hunting ground for the men in maroon, Almondvale was a source of rich pickings, the visitors taking maximum reward after a five-goal thriller with Kevin McKenna grabbing the winner six minutes from time when he rose to head home a Robert Sloan corner.

Given the circumstances prior to kick-off, Levein had stated that a draw would not have been a disaster for Hearts as they looked to open up more daylight between themselves and the Fifers.

It was therefore easy to understand the Tynecastle boss’ delight at seeing his players overcome the loss of an early goal from former Jambo Lee Makel to storm nine points clear of the Pars in the race for Europe.

"That was a big win for us and I was really pleased," he said. "We had not managed to win at Almondvale in the SPL and the longer that kind of run goes on the more worrying it is.

"To win was great. But the importance of the game and the manner in which we won was very pleasing."

Levein insisted, though, that there was still a long way to go before the UEFA Cup issue was resolved, with Dunfermline the opposition this weekend and then Kilmarnock the hosts the following weekend.

"We are nine points clear and in the driving seat but there is a long way to go," he said. "We have Dunfermline on Saturday and we lost there earlier this season despite playing very well. That is another tough match and then we are away to Kilmarnock.

"Looking at those three games you could say that if we managed three draws we might have been reasonably happy. Now we have the points in the bag already so anything we pick up from now on is a real bonus."

Makel’s superbly executed fifth-minute free-kick after Steven Pressley had fouled Colin McMenamin outside the area had given Livingston the perfect start and the home side took a firm grip on the early proceedings.

The visitors’ cause wasn’t helped when the in-form Paul Hartley was forced to limp out of the game after just 21 minutes, the midfielder having earlier injured his groin.

That forced Levein to bring on Phil Stamp earlier than he would have liked, the Englishman having been restricted to a place on the bench after struggling with a knee injury picked up in the win over Dundee United on Saturday. But the introduction of the powerful former Middlesbrough star certainly helped change the flow of the game with his driving runs from the middle of the park causing problems for Livingston.

And minutes after he had entered the fray, Hearts were level, although the equaliser came via the tried and tested route one method.

McKenna launched a long ball from inside his own half and Mark de Vries out-jumped a static-looking Livingston rearguard to power home a header from the edge of the six-yard area, the Dutchman’s first goal since scoring against Dundee in early January.

Hearts went on to dominate the second half of the opening period, Andy Kirk, who had been preferred to Dennis Wyness in attack, seeing a deflected shot held by Roddy McKenzie.

The former Hearts keeper then had to be alert to grasp a header from McKenna after a chip from Neil MacFarlane had presented the Canadian with an decent chance.

Five minutes from the break and Stamp saw a 25-yarder whistle just past with McKenzie at full stretch before the ex-Jambo kept his side on level terms with a superb one-handed stop to deny Kirk moments before the interval.

The second goal which the Jambos’ play deserved arrived in the 47th minute, Kirk demonstrating his poacher’s instincts as he swooped to steer the ball home after McKenzie had parried Stamp’s 25-yarder into his path. Nine minutes later, though, and the Lions came roaring back through McMenamin who drilled a low shot past Craig Gordon after good work from David Fernandez.

His confidence climbing after scoring against United, McKenna laid on another chance for De Vries, whose header was plucked out of the air by McKenzie.

The Canadian was then moved into the wide right of midfield as Levein reverted to a 4-4-2 formation, McKenna the target man for a string of high deliveries in a bid to enable De Vries and Kirk to feed off the second ball. The Dutchman, though, didn’t last much longer after being forced out of the action after conceding defeat to a calf problem sustained in the first half, the injuries to both Hartley and De Vries taking the edge off a productive evening for Levein.

McKenna’s decisive contribution came from Sloan’s flag kick, although the youngster looked set to take another quick corner with Robbie Neilson until advised against such actions by the visiting support after a similar move had earlier proved a complete waste of a good attacking position.

McKenzie looked as if he could have done better after failing to get anywhere near the ball, not that his former team-mate was complaining as he wheeled away in delight to celebrate his second goal in successive matches.

Livingston refused to give up though, and Fernando Pasquinelli had two late chances to snatch a point, Pressley saving the day with a desperate slide to block the Argentinian’s shot before the striker blasted into the side netting from good position in the last minute.

"Overall it was a very pleasing night as we won the game by playing well, despite losing two key players through injury," said Levein.

Taken from the Scotsman