Resilient Hearts make their point

DARREN JOHNSTONE AT FIR PARK

Motherwell 1 Clarkson (61)
Hearts 1 Wyness (28)

AFTER another week of off-field distractions, Hearts coach Craig Levein will undoubtedly be happy with a share of the spoils last night despite failing to hold on to a lead for the second time in two matches.

The much-maligned move to Murrayfield was the topic for discussion again on Tuesday when George Foulkes was appointed successor to Douglas Smith as chairman at the club.

Levein, on the other hand, was eager to widen the gap between his club and Dunfermline in third place. And although he would have been delighted to see his side race 11 points ahead of the Fifers, he will be content with the nine-point advantage they now hold.

Bottom side Partick Thistle entertain Hearts on Saturday and, with Dunfermline on Scottish Cup duty, the Edinburgh club see that as another opportunity to increase their lead over Jimmy Calderwood’s side in the race for European football.

Motherwell will have felt aggrieved after narrowly losing to current champions Rangers 1-0 on Sunday despite a brave effort to heap further misery on the Ibrox side.

Manager Terry Butcher was forced to make two changes to his team from that match, Scott McDonald failing to recover from an ankle injury, while Shaun Fagan, who was suffering from a calf problem, could only manage a place on the bench.

Having come so close to bringing Celtic’s remarkable 75-game unbeaten run to an end at Parkhead at the weekend, Levein hoped to use that disappointment as a motivational tool in last night’s game.

Levein, nonetheless, made three alterations to his line-up, with Dennis Wyness, Christophe Berra and Mark de Vries all granted starting berths.

New chairman Foulkes took his seat in the directors box at Fir Park for the first time since replacing Doug Smith on Tuesday, and the MP would have been enthused by the start made by the visitors.

Such was Hearts’ dominance, they registered four shots at goal in just the opening seven minutes, with Paul Hartley the first to test the aging Gordon Marshall.

In the same move, Wyness was the first to react to the rebound, but his low, curling shot from 25 yards was blocked by Stephen Craigan.

Wyness tried his luck from a more difficult angle moments later but Marshall gathered easily. And the former Celtic keeper gladly took Patrick Kisnorbo’s fairly insipid long-range effort in the eighth minute.

The hosts responded to create several half-chances of their own. David Clarkson felt he should have done better having dispossessed the inexperienced Berra in the box, but his weak shot landed comfortably in the arms of Craig Gordon.

Fourth official Cammy Melville was called into action when referee Charlie Richmond had to retire through injury, and his first job was to note the opening goal in his book.

Robbie Neilson’s cross from the left was deflected goalward, Marshall lost out in an aerial challenge with De Vries and the alert Wyness wrapped his leg around the ball from six yards to score despite being surrounded by a sea of amber and claret shirts.

Hearts maintained control for the remainder of the first half without over threatening but Motherwell began the second half in dynamic fashion and took the game to their visitors in the early stages.

The capital outfit have earned a reputation for being a physical team and Butcher’s side tried to match that. However, when Hearts got the ball down and started playing the passing game that troubled the Steelmen in the first half, they tore open the home defence.

Neilson found the energetic Kisnorbo on the corner of the box and his drilled shot was parried behind for a corner. But Motherwell didn’t let that opening for Hearts affect their enthusiasm and in the 61st minute Clarkson eluded the offside trap to nod home Steven Craig’s cross from close range.

With the home side on the ascendancy after equalising, the largely ineffective Graham Weir was replaced by the more direct Andy Kirk minutes later.

Motherwell: Marshall; Corrigan, Hammell, Craigan, Adams, Dair, O’Donnell, Burns, Craig, Clarkson (Wright 87), Quinn. Subs: Corr, MacDonald, Fagan, Fitzpatrick.

Hearts: Gordon; Maybury, Pressley, Kisnorbo, Berra (Severin 43), MacFarlane, Hartley (Janczyk 81), Neilson, Wyness, Weir (Kirk 66), De Vries. Subs: Moilanen, Hamill.

Referee: C Richmond.
Attendance: 5,500

Taken from the Scotsman