McMenamin carries hopes of many men in tripping Hearts

MOIRA GORDON AT TYNECASTLE

HEARTS 1 McKenna 18
LIVINGSTON 1 McMenamin 73

IF ONLY Hearts players had shown the same killer instinct as their fans, who continue to go for the jugular, this would have been another easy three points for them.

At it is, one sensed manager Craig Levein was only half joking when he said that if there was a hard route to securing third place, then they were destined to travel it. Gifting Livingston a share of the points, leaving the gap between themselves and chasing Dunfermline at eight points, they have made life a little nervy for themselves.

As usual, with the team still looking fairly comfortable in their quest for third place and the automatic UEFA Cup place, despite their suicidal tendencies, it’s the club’s place of residence next term that continues to dominate the thinking of the Hearts support. On their way to the ground the Gorgie die hards were again issued with a red card to show to Chris Robinson as they maintain the pressure on the chief executive to quit. But, obviously having heeded the pleadings of manager Craig Levein, the demonstrations have been coordinated to get the point across while causing as little disruption as possible to the playing personnel.

Two concerted efforts at 3.30pm and then 4.30pm got the message across in short sharp fashion as the vast majority of the Tynecastle fans vented their spleen, before following the instructions on the card to "then get right behind the team".

Their team needed more than vocal support though. They needed someone who could turn possession into profit in the shape of goals. With top scorer Mark de Vries ruled out through a throat infection they lacked a cutting edge. The fact Hearts huffed and puffed, without being able to bring the house down, came back to haunt them.

Kevin McKenna, playing up front in the absence of the big Dutchman, had given the home side the lead in the 18th minute when teenager Christophe Berra rose to meet a Steven Boyack corner before the ball broke for the Canadian at the back post and he blasted it into the net.

Prior to that, Berra had headed over and Jon Paul McGovern’s loose pass almost allowed Alan Maybury onto the scoresheet, his drive just squeezing across the face of the goal and narrowly wide. The goal did little to jolt Livvy into life and it continued to be a fairly monotonous flow of maroon jerseys towards Roddy McKenzie’s goal.

An Andy Kirk shot initially looked to be going well wide but curled back round and almost found the target in the 20th minute, while another Boyak corner eventually broke to McKenna but this time his stab at goal was foiled by the keeper.

Having passed up so many opportunities to kill off the game, there was always the chance that David Hay’s men would come back at Hearts. They had managed a late goal against Rangers to grab a point earlier this week and looking more competitive in the second half they got their reward when young Colin McMenamin extended his recent run of good form.

A headed Andrews clearance from his own half in the 73rd minute caught out Hearts captain Steven Pressley, whose header was far from convincing, and allowed the sprightly striker to dart in on goal, round Craig Gordon and slot home the equaliser.

Levein said that prior to last week he would have been hard pushed to recall any costly errors by his captain, but was disappointed that it was now two in one week. "I was backpedaling," explained Pressley, who insisted he would allow the recent misdemeanours to dent his confidence, "and trying it to get it clear but I got under it."

That seemed to put the fear of god into the home rearguard and they wobbled a bit as a revitalised Livingston then chased a winner. David Fernandez found himself through one on one with Gordon with less than 10 minutes left, while his incisive passing was also allowing teammates in behind.

Moments after Maybury had fired a ball across the face of McKenzie’s goal, which the in-sliding Kirk missed at the back post by centimetres, Livingston pulled off an almost carbon copy, this time Fernandez feeding David McNamee, whose cross narrowly evaded substitute Richard Brittain.

It was looking ever more likely that Livingston might just pull off the unthinkable and inflict what would have been only Hearts third home league defeat of the season, but in the end no-one on either team seemed to want to take the chance to steal the headlines.

"This just showed that one goal is not enough if we’re going to make silly mistakes," bemoaned Levein. The Hearts fans are now just hoping that the silly mistakes do not extend to decisions made off the park and that at least their place at Tynecastle can be guaranteed for next season.

Hearts: Gordon; Pressley, McKenna, Webster; Neilson, Berra (Severin 86), Kisonorbo, MacFarlane (Hamill 90), Maybury; Boyack (Wyness 68), Kirk. Subs not used: Weir, Moilanen.

Livingston: McKenzie, McNamee, Dorado, Andrews, McAllister; McGovern (Brittain 74), McLaughlin, Lovell, Makel; McMenamin (Snowdon 82), Fenandez. Subs not used: Arthur, Walker, Creer.

Referee: J Underhill.

Taken from the Scotsman