Craig hails Jambo Kevin

PAUL KIDDIE
IN VICTORIA

HEARTS boss Craig Levein today hailed the match-winning performance of Kevin McKenna after the Canadian smashed a dream hat-trick in the Jambos’ 4-1 victory over the Pacific Coast All Stars in Victoria.

Watched by his family at the Royal Athletic Park, the Calgary-born star grabbed a first-half double as Graham Weir’s strike partner and then completed his treble with a second-half header after dropping back into defence.

It was a memorable moment for the 24-year-old, whose mother and father, brother, sister-in-law and niece were all in the stand to see his goals help Hearts ease to their first victory of their pre-season tour of British Columbia in the early hours of this morning. And Levein was quick to heap praise on the Gorgie star, who once again underlined his penalty-box instincts with three excellent finishes against the home side.

"It was good for Kevin as there was a lot of his family here and he is one of their national players," he said.

"He played up front in the first half and scored a couple of goals and then dropped back in the second half and still scored. I thought he had a great game." Hearts stepped up a gear from their opening tour draw against Canada B in Vancouver on Tuesday to record a convincing win ahead of this weekend’s clash with Millwall, a fixture which should prove by far their most difficult game of their three-match tour.

They could even afford the luxury of a missed penalty from skipper Steven Pressley in the first half and Levein declared himself well satisfied with the 90 minutes.

"The Canadians were fast, strong and aggressive and it was quite a competitive game for us, which was good," he said.

"We played a little bit better than our first game and we managed a few goals which was decent as in these pre-season matches the players get encouragement when they score goals.

"I have no complaints after that performance. We got out of it what we needed to get out of it but the biggest test is on Saturday against Millwall."

Dennis Wyness scored for the second game running after coming off the bench at half-time and Levein is pleased with the manner in which the competition for striking berths is shaping up.

He said: "Dennis got another goal and I thought Graham Weir looked hungry. This is a big year for him after we lost Gary Wales and Andy Kirk.

"Mark de Vries is our No.1 striker but it’s good to see some competition up front.

"I also thought Neil Janczyk did well. He was struggling with blisters on his feet but there is no doubt he is a class player, especially when the game is played at a slow pace."

Taken from the Scotsman