Levein draws consolation from status quo

GLENN GIBBONS AT EAST END PARK

Dunfermline 0

Hearts 0

Referee: K Clark. Attendance: 8,421

THE after-match media centre at East End Park is actually an area of the social club, where entire families of supporters have the "privilege" of witnessing the verbal intercourse between the press and the respective managers.

On this occasion, the most compelling entertainment the patrons would enjoy all day would derive from watching Jimmy Calderwood and Craig Levein attempt to rationalise a match which had been - impossible though it seems - colder than the climate. There is a universal fascination with seeing celebrities squirm.

In fairness to the two managers, neither shifted uneasily in his seat for long. Each sensed quickly that this was no time for flannel and conceded that the showdown between the Premierleague’s third and fourth-placed teams, contesting a guaranteed berth in next season’s UEFA Cup, had been aesthetically bruising.

"Perhaps it was predictable, given what was at stake," said Levein, who had aligned himself with the rest of us by quipping that he was glad he hadn’t paid for admission. "In these circumstances, players can’t help being aware that a draw is an acceptable result, because it maintains the nine-point lead we have over Dunfermline.

"It certainly wasn’t planned that we should give Derek Stillie [the Dunfermline goalkeeper] so little to do. In fact, that was a disappointment for me. But I can’t say I’m not happy with the result. To have played poorly and not done any damage is never unacceptable."

The highlight for Levein, understandably, was the number of Hearts supporters who attended the match. A hint of the scale of the migration from Edinburgh was given when it was announced that the kick-off would be slightly delayed because of traffic congestion on the Forth Road Bridge.

Afterwards, it was learned that 3,200 had arrived to encourage the Tynecastle side. Even if getting there did not exactly involve a transcontinental trek, it was an extraordinary travelling support for any club in the present, depressed times. For Hearts, remembering the tumult that has afflicted the club off the field, it was a phenomenal declaration of commitment.

Levein made sure this allegiance did not pass without tribute. "With all that has gone on recently, the turn-out from our fans was magnificent," he said. "It would have been nice to win for them. While it was important not to lose, I must admit it was uninspiring stuff."

Calderwood made a habit of raising his eyes to the heavens, implying a resigned acceptance, as opposed to an angry frustration at failing to exploit home advantage and the only half-chances that occurred throughout the 90 minutes. Like Levein and the other 8,000-odd in the stadium, the Dunfermline manager would have recognised long before the final whistle that incidents to quicken the pulse would be a rarity.

"It was always going to be a battle in the circumstances and, in that kind of match, you need a little break which we didn’t get." That was a pronouncement that was accurate beyond argument on both counts. It was always going to be a struggle to produce the kind of football that baffles defenders and leaves goalkeepers helpless, but it was not entirely due to one team (Hearts) requiring only a draw to be satisfied.

It was also at least partly attributable to the strategies of the respective managers, who sent out teams top-heavy with defenders, rather than creative forces, in midfield. Calderwood’s departure from his usual flat back four gave Dunfermline a three of Scott Wilson, Andrius Skerla and Andy Tod, with Greg Shields and Richie Byrne on the flanks. The central midfield trio included the defence-orientated Scott Thomson.

Levein had four at the back and another two recognised defenders, Patrick Kisnorbo and Kevin McKenna, in midfield. Where Calderwood was justified in mentioning the lack of luck was in the one, genuinely creative move of the game from which the home team deserved to score.

Derek Young took possession in midfield and carried the ball through a posse of opponents towards the penalty area, releasing the perfect pass into the path of Shields, charging through the inside-right channel. The wing-back’s drive was low, powerful and purely struck and it was his misfortune to see the ball rebound from the foot of Craig Gordon’s left-hand post.

Taken from the Scotsman