Pressley slip lets lethargic Livi off the hook

COLIN LESLIE AT TYNECASTLE

Hearts 1 McKenna (18)
Livingston 1 McMenamin (73)

LIKE a corporation bus, you wait for what seems like eternity for a Steven Pressley mistake, and then two come along at once. The Hearts captain, uncharacteristically culpable in his side’s defeat at Partick seven days earlier, bungled again to allow Colin McMenamin to snatch a point for Livingston who, until that pivotal moment, had been passengers.

McMenamin’s equaliser galvanised Livingston into a late flourish, and it speaks volumes for the character of Pressley that he maintained sufficient concentration after his mistake to snuff out a dangerous low cross by David McNamee in the dying moments.

Certainly, Craig Levein was not holding his skipper responsible for the slip-up which cancelled out Kevin McKenna’s first-half opener and cost the Tynecastle team a victory that would have made third place and qualification for the UEFA Cup a formality.

"It was just one of those things. You can count on one hand the mistakes he’s made since I’ve been here, and now he’s had two in a week," said the Hearts coach, who conceded that if there’s a hard way to qualify for Europe, then his players will surely find it.

"Until they got the goal we were comfortable," added Levein. "They got a lift from that, and to be honest they could have scored again."

The comfort zone Hearts resided in for 72 minutes may well have been their undoing, as Livingston looked to be having a real off-day and their lethargy perhaps lulled the home team into a false sense of security.

Even the Hearts supporters had grown tired of what was developing into a one-sided contest, busying themselves by hurling paper aeroplanes fashioned out of the red-card protest leaflets shown to chief executive Chris Robinson.

Hearts started brightly and completely dominated the first half, the eager Robbie Neilson providing an effective outlet on the right wing, and Steven Boyack - making his first start since September - at the centre of most of their meaningful moves before he was replaced by Dennis Wyness after 69 minutes.

Boyack’s accurate dead-balls were also causing chaos in the Livingston defence, and from his 18th-minute corner on the left, Hearts took a deserved lead. Christophe Berra managed to glance the ball into the path of Kevin McKenna at the back post, and the big Canadian kept his composure to squeeze the ball in low with his right foot from six yards.

Deployed in attack, McKenna was proving a handful for the Rangers-bound Marvin Andrews and his defensive partner, Manu Dorado, and only a goalline block five minutes from the interval from the well-positioned Trinidadian denied the Hearts striker a carbon-copy of his earlier goal.

Hearts could and should have been more than one up, and their profligacy was punished when Livingston finally awoke from their slumber and contributed something to the game 17 minutes from time.

A corner from Alan Maybury led to an almighty scramble in the Livingston penalty area, and although Berra’s effort may have been charged down by a hand, the box was too congested for referee John Underhill to make any hasty decisions, allowing the visitors to hit Hearts on the break.

The back-pedalling Pressley completely misjudged a long, speculative ball and his header skidded into the path of the onrushing McMenamin, who brought the ball under control with a textbook first touch, drew it wide of the flailing home goalkeeper Craig Gordon, and angled it into the empty net.

McMenamin, who first made a name for himself at Annan Athletic in the East of Scotland League, is visibly growing in confidence, and his strike on Saturday made it a goal against each of the country’s top three teams in a seven-day spell. "The quality of his finishing in the last week has been top class," noted Livingston coach David Hay after the game. "There’s a real shortage of goalscorers in Scotland, and if Colin carries on like this he’ll do well in the game."

David Fernandez, who has been able to observe the progress of McMenamin from closer quarters, went further, comparing his style to that of the scourge of Celtic, Villarreal’s Sonny Anderson.

"He’s quick, two-footed and his finishing is tremendous," said the Spanish forward, who was nursing a sore back after the game. "He created the chance for his goal himself - it was a great first touch. I thought in the first half he was the only one who really did a job - chasing everyone and fighting for every single ball."

Fernandez admitted that Livingston had started way off the pace, and while he struggled to impose himself in the first half, the striker, on loan from Celtic, emerged as the most potent danger as the West Lothian side looked more likely to pinch a late winner.

However, at the other end Andrews did well to block a goal-bound effort from Wyness after Roddy McKenzie had parried a 25-yard drive by Patrick Kisnorbo.

First, Fernandez latched on to a Lee Makel pass inside the box and saw his rasping right-foot shot saved by Craig Gordon, then he appeared to be held back just outside the box by last-man Neilson, only for Underhill to deny him a free-kick - a decision he was still smarting from after the game.

"It was unbelievable, I think everybody saw it," said Fernandez. "I was running with the ball and had a chance to score and the guy just grabbed me with both hands."

If Livingston had sneaked a victory, though, it would have been a miscarriage of justice, but Hearts must learn to turn possession into goals when the opportunities arise.

Referee: J Underhill. Attendance: 10,352

Taken from the Scotsman