HEARTS LEFT BROKEN

MOTHERWELL .........2 HEARTS ..................0

Phil and Kev team up to sink Jambos

Gordon Waddell At Fir Park

PHIL O'DONNELL turned back the clock with a wonder goal to deprive hopeless Hearts of their shot at the SPL's top spot.

A win for the Jambos would have seen them leapfrog the Old Firm and sit at the head of the Scottish pile for the first time in nearly seven years.

But following an awful first half Well destroyed them after the break.

Loan star Kevin McBride drilled home the opener from the spot just before the hour mark after a Robbie Neilson foul.

And less than 10 minutes later O'Donnell put the tin lid on it with a magnificent left-foot volley after a poorly cleared McBride corner.

It was no more than Terry Butcher's men deserved - but Craig Levein will be mystified at his previously unbeaten side's lack of fire.

Both teams came into the clash on the back of 3-0 wins and as you'd expect, changes were kept to the bare minimum.

The Jambos stuck with the same line-up that had so comprehensively hammered Kilmarnock last weekend.

And it's a safe bet Terry Butcher would have stayed solid with his 11 as well had it not been for Jim Paterson missing out with hamstring trouble.

That meant a first start for Irishman Richie Foran in a pretty attack-minded Well line-up.

Sadly though, neither side really got going in a grim opening half hour.

The tone was set when Patrick Kisnorbo and Scott Leitch squared up after a tame clash of handbags at the back post in the second minute.

And apart from two woefully high 25-yarders from Paul Hartley and Kisnorbo in the minutes following, the game was a non-event.

Even the 'Pieman, get tae...' chants from the Hearts fans sounded half hearted - and fell on deaf ears anyway with chief executive Chris Robinson missing the game on club business.

For an unbeaten team who finished so strongly against Killie last week Hearts couldn't find a rhythm at all and gradually Well started to look more potent as they probed for an opening.

Scotland under-21 striker David Clarkson could have had one if he'd been more adventurous just before the half-hour mark.

The 18-year-old burst through the Jambos defence on to a dropping ball and should really have had a first-time crack at the volley. But he opted to take a touch and that gave keeper Craig Gordon the chance he needed to smother at his feet.

A few minutes later Hearts were scrambling again when Scott McDonald, the hero of last week's win over Dundee, cut back for O'Donnell from the left.

But Alan Maybury defied O'Donnell with a great last-ditch challenge inside the six-yard box.

Well fans thought they were ahead from the resulting corner but their eyes were deceiving them as Stephen Craigan prodded the ball into the side net.

Jambos suffered another blow just before the break when an unusually subdued Phil Stamp was forced out of the game with groin trouble.

It may have proved a blessing though, with loan star Michael Stewart getting a decent run in the game in his place.

And Stewart almost made an immediate impact with a tricky delivery in from the right from which Kisnorbo screwed a shot off the outside of the post.

You could only hope the second half would have more about it than the first - but it quickly became evident that hope was forlorn.

Things fell into the same grimy pattern and Andy Webster was rightly booked for a bad foul on Clarkson.

But the Well kid kept coming back for more and again carved Hearts open in the 55th minute.

O'Donnell's surge into the box found him on the left but Clarkson's crafty cutback caught the ex-Celt, Leitch and McBride all unawares and the ball flew to safety with the goal gaping.

Still, within three minutes Motherwell's pressure had paid off. Celtic loan star McBride's free-kick was aimed at O'Donnell but referee Alan Freeland thought Nielson was holding him down and instantly pointed to the spot.

McBride, who scored a penalty in midweek, stepped up again and rammed home past Gordon.

Levein used up his allocation of subs as he tried to turn the tide in the 63rd minute but Well had their tails up and the second was always coming.

And what a peach it was. Steven Pressley's header clear from McBride's corner wasn't strong enough or long enough and O'Donnell absolutely rammed the loose ball into the top corner with his left foot from 14 yards out.

Hearts hadn't been in the game before then - and they were offering nothing to suggest they had what it took to come back either.

They were desperately missing big Mark De Vries up front, not only for his goals but for his ability to hold the ball at that end of the field and bring his midfield into play.

The Jambos' frustration at their poor performance was starting to show as well with Pressley and the otherwise anonymous Ramon Pereira picking up yellow cards in rapid succession.

But Motherwell kept their cool, kept the ball and should really have run out even more comfortable winners with McDonald and Clarkson blowing the chance of another goal after a great twoon-one break in injury-time.

REFWATCH

ALAN FREELAND missed a couple of blatant fouls early on but his five bookings were spot on, particularly the card for Andy Webster who was booked for a foul on Clarkson a full two minutes after advantage had been played. Rating: 6/10.

Taken from the Sunday Mail