Levein hoping is just start of Ibrox success things to come

RANGERS 0-1 HEARTS

MARK BONTHRONE

NOT for 22 games had Hearts beaten Rangers - a run stretching back an incredible six years.

It was even longer since the Jambos had won at Ibrox, January 1996, an Allan Johnston hat-trick stunning the hosts.

However, last night, Joe Hamill’s well-taken strike five minutes after the interval shattered the club’s Rangers hoodoo to give the visitors a win few in the stadium could argue they didn’t deserve.

Craig Levein’s men have been threatening a victory against the Old Firm on their own patch this season, the full three points snatched from their grasp against Celtic back in April when they surrendered a two-goal lead with just two minutes left on the clock.

They also ran Rangers close just before Christmas when, despite a fighting performance, they were edged out 2-1.

However, few in the 47,467 crowd would have expected them do it last night when the teams were announced to reveal a visiting side without captain Steven Pressley, Alan Maybury, Phil Stamp, Mark de Vries and Andy Kirk.

And while it may be pointed out the 1-0 victory over Alex McLeish’s men came in an end-of-season match when neither team had anything at stake, that should be weighed up against the serious selection problems Levein had to contend with.

The Hearts side was littered with young players with five of those that took the field aged 21 or under and, as Levein said after the game, he hopes the experience will now give them the belief they can go to Glasgow and win again.

And those youngsters certainly came of age as they turned in a stubborn defensive display to frustrate their opponents while hitting on the counter-attack at every available opportunity.

There were some hairy moments, particularly late on as the home side threw everything but the kitchen sink at Hearts, but in the end they deservedly held out for a famous win.

And boss Levein was absolutely delighted with the result.

"Our performances against the Glasgow teams have been getting better in recent years and it’s really pleasing to finally get the monkey off our back," he said. "I don’t want to go over the top because I know it’s an end-of-season game, but the most important thing for me is that the players now have the experience of winning somewhere like this and I’m delighted to have got the three points."

And Levein had special praise for his young players, who coped admirably with the daunting Ibrox atmosphere.

He said: "We tried to pick a team that would keep possession of the ball and I think from the game you could see that Janczyk and Hamill aren’t fazed by playing anywhere.

"They are the type of players who will take the ball under pressure and I was very pleased with them last night.

"I felt they both grew up a little bit and Graham Weir, of course, also did really well up front. I forget sometimes that he is so young because he seems to have been around the first team for a good few years. They are the future for the club and I have a great belief in the players that remain here. I think the future is very good. We are hungry and want to achieve more. I don’t think we fear anybody now and I’m delighted with that because it’s taken a while to get to this stage."

And the Hearts boss revealed that a first-half miss from Hamill had helped him to take his second-half opportunity when it came along.

Levein said: "Joe had a chance in the first half and could have taken a touch but hit it early. He said that himself, it wasn’t me that said it, and I think that was maybe at the back of his mind.

"He looked like he was going to hit it early again but them composed himself and it was a great finish.

"He is going to be a really good player and he just needs to believe in himself a little bit more. I think this goal and this result should definitely help that."

The visitors had been given an early scare in the third minute when a Stephen Hughes cross to the front post was cleverly flicked on by Michael Mols towards Steven Thompson but with the striker just eight yards from goal the ball was just behind him and he failed to connect.

Rather than fall back and defend, the Jambos rallied and six minutes later they, too, had a good chance to open the scoring.

Steven Boyack delivered a long deep cross from the right touchline which Alan Hutton seemed to misjudge in the air, mis-hitting his clearance straight to Hamill on the edge of the box.

The winger could have taken a touch and brought the ball closer to goal but he chose to hit it first time and sent his effort just wide of Allan McGregor’s left-hand post.

With half an hour on the clock, captain for the night, Scott Severin, who was immense from start to finish, saw his powerful header from a Boyack corner headed off the line by Hutton with McGregor well beaten.

Eleven minutes from the break, Craig Gordon again showed his worth to Hearts when he pulled off a great stop to deny Mikel Arteta.

The Spaniard tried to surprise the stopper by shooting from a free-kick from a tight angle and despite looking as though he had expected a cross, Gordon moved his feet quickly to get down at his near post and turn the ball behind.

After the break it didn’t take long for the Gorgie men to break the deadlock although from Rangers’ point of view the goal was definitely avoidable.

Boyack played a hopeful ball down the right touchline that Hutton was first to reach but with Hamill closing he tried to play the ball back to McGregor only to woefully under-hit his back-pass.

Hamill was on to it in a flash, advanced on the Rangers goal and coolly slipped the ball beyond the outrushing McGregor from 12 yards.

That sparked the inevitable Rangers onslaught but despite having the lion’s share of possession they rarely looked like earning a share of the spoils.

Thompson flashed two headers wide when he probably should have done better and Mols had a shot comfortably saved by Gordon but other than that the Ibrox team proved ineffective in front of goal.

Indeed, in the final minute, a long ball from Severin was chested down by substitute Kevin McKenna into the path of Paul Hartley, who went racing clean through.

The former St Johnstone man, perhaps unaware of just how much time he had, took one touch and then lashed the ball goalward from the edge of the area only to see it fly just wide.

However, in no way did that take the shine off what was a night to remember for the Jambos.

Taken from the Scotsman