Levein left to Hearts' lack of ponder over a killer touch

IT can be a cruel game, football. For the second time in a matter of days, Craig Levein journeyed home from a tough SPL fixture wondering just how his Hearts team had failed to win the match.

On Saturday, the Jambos came within a whisker of causing the season’s biggest upset when they led champions-elect Celtic 2-0 at Parkhead with just two minutes left to play, the Glasgow giants leaving their visitors shell-shocked with a stunning late comeback to snatch a draw.

The third-placed Gorgie outfit didn’t have long to dwell on that disappointment, Hearts having to travel to Fir Park for last night’s rearranged league encounter. And, once again, Levein’s side, which had gone into George Foulkes’ first match as chairman eight points clear of nearest rivals Dunfermline, scorned a golden opportunity to strike a significant blow in the race for Europe.

The frustration which the Hearts boss must have felt on this occasion didn’t come as a result of any dramatic late collapse by his team but rather the inability to kill off opponents they had simply outplayed, particularly in the first half.

After a superb opening 45 minutes, they had just Dennis Wyness’ close-range effort as reward for their commendable efforts on an atrocious pitch and must have gone in at the interval scratching their heads as to why that advantage wasn’t bigger.

There was only one team in it during that first half, Terry Butcher conceding afterwards his men were "very fortunate" still to be in the game at the turnaround.

But as so often happens in matches, the half-time break heralded a shift in momentum and Motherwell soon found themselves back on level terms with David Clarkson heading home the equaliser on the hour mark.

The share of the spoils stretched the Jambos’ unbeaten league run to an impressive 11 matches ahead of Saturday’s trip to bottom club Partick Thistle, but things could have been even better.

"I don’t know how we didn’t win that match," said Levein. "We did an awful lot of things right, tried to play football and created loads of opportunities.

"I can’t fault the guys for the effort they put in and the manner in which they stuck to their tasks. But football is a funny game and the only thing against us last night was Lady Luck.

"We got into decent positions and played some reasonable stuff considering the conditions."

Any concerns the Tynecastle players would suffer a hangover from the shattering events in Glasgow at the weekend were quickly dispelled as Hearts made a fine start against the Steelmen, bearing down on Gordon Marshall at every opportunity.

They peppered the former Celtic keeper from the outset and should have had their noses in front long before Wyness’ fifth goal of the season.

Paul Hartley was the first to threaten with just four minutes on the clock, the midfielder seeing Marshall advance off his line to smother his shot from ten yards.

Mark de Vries, one of three changes to the visitors’ starting line-up from the Celtic clash - Christophe Berra and Wyness were the others with Scott Severin, Kevin McKenna and Neil Janczyk missing out - headed wide from good position moments later.

Hearts were denied what looked like a strong claim for a penalty in the ninth minute, Graham Weir appearing to be tripped by Stephen Craigan. No foul, though, said referee Charlie Richmond, who was later forced off in the first half with a groin injury, fourth official John Gilmour taking over in the middle.

Weir curled a decent effort wide of target before Wyness broke the deadlock, Marshall looking none too clever as Robbie Neilson’s deflected cross from the right dropped into the area, the Hearts striker slamming home the 27th-minute opener.

If the ’Well keeper had looked suspect with that one, he atoned for the error two minutes later with a magnificent tip-over from Berra’s header from just eight yards out. There was another golden chance for the visitors just after the half-hour mark when Wyness’ cutback found Hartley but the midfielder missed his shot completely from just outside the six-yard area.

Levein was forced into a change as the interval approached with the impressive centre half Berra having to go off after taking an accidental blow to the face when defending a corner, Severin being pressed into action from the bench despite his heroics at Parkhead on his first game back after three months out.

The one-way traffic towards Marshall continued at the start of the second half, the keeper doing well to keep out Patrick Kisnorbo’s near-post drive and then reacting quickly to smother the rebound from Hartley.

Hearts were needing a second goal to make their superiority count but they were rocked on their heels on the hour mark when slack defending allowed Clarkson the chance to head past the helpless Craig Gordon, the home fans scarcely able to believe they were back in the game.

Lifted by the equaliser, Motherwell had the better of the game for the next ten minutes or so as the Jambos tried to shrug of the setback.

Good handling from Gordon prevented Steven Hammell’s cutback causing any danger, while a slip from Kisnorbo gave Steven Craig a sight of goal, the ’Well ace blasting high and wide much to the Aussie’s relief.

De Vries almost carved out a chance for himself when he turned Paul Quinn in the box but the defender recovered quickly to thwart the Dutchman with 13 minutes remaining.

Hearts were back in control by this stage and again looking the likelier side but try as they might, they just couldn’t restore their advantage, substitute Andy Kirk coming close in injury time when he was just inches away from Alan Maybury’s ball over the top. "We didn’t do a lot wrong last night," said Levein.

"I’ll accept it if the next time we make a couple of mistakes and don’t get punished. We made one mistake defensively and it cost us. The pitch was difficult but we tried to adapt our game a bit and as I said before, with a little luck, we’d have won the match."

Despite failing to kill off ’Well, Hearts are still in control of third spot and remain strong favourites for European qualification.

It has to be hoped, though, that the two recent disappointments which have seen four points slip from their grasp, don’t make that target tougher than it should be.

Taken from the Scotsman