Euro exploits leave Hearts heroes jaded

STUART BATHGATE
AT TYNECASTLE

Hearts 0
Livingston 0

WITH only five goals scored and three conceded by Hearts so far in the league, it was predictable enough that this match should end goalless. A touch of tiredness from the home team after their heroics against Braga and a much-improved performance from Livingston also contributed to the stalemate - as did the two goalkeepers with a series of first-class saves.

Hearts have suffered a couple of European hangovers in the past two seasons, and the problem for Craig Levein before this game was deciding how many of the team which began the midweek 2-2 draw were too fatigued to return to domestic duty yesterday. In the end he made only two alterations, one on fitness grounds, the other a tactical decision. Mark de Vries, who had only been able to play against Braga after being given a pain-killing injection, began on the bench. Dennis Wyness took his place up front, and, with most of Hearts’ other recognised strikers either injured or short of match fitness, he was joined in attack by Paul Hartley. The other change from the starting line-up three days earlier in Portugal was in midfield, where Michael Stewart came in for Neil MacFarlane.

The revamped line-up worked well enough, but Levein’s side are clearly in need of the extra cutting edge up front which the return of Ramon Pereira should provide. With the group phase of the UEFA Cup coming up, they will need their squad as close to full fitness as possible if they are not to be stretched to breaking point.

Compared to the loss to Dunfermline after the first leg against Braga, this was at least a committed and purposeful performance from Levein’s side. They certainly began the match anything but sluggishly, with Stewart in particular showing a real appetite for the contest. Jamie McAllister, too, was relishing the match against his old club, and after quarter of an hour came close to opening the scoring with a free-kick which was tipped over by the bar Roddy McKenzie in the Livingston goal.

As Livingston were reduced to committing more fouls in an effort to keep Hearts at bay, it was predictable that the home team’s next chance should also come from a free-kick. This time McAllister touched it to Alan Maybury, who steadied the ball for Paul Hartley, whose low drive was a couple of feet wide of McKenzie’s right post.

Livingston then managed to relieve the pressure, and were awarded a free-kick of their own on the edge of the Hearts box after Michael Stewart had raised his feet too high while making a clearance. With the referee’s hand clearly raised to signal the award was indirect, Craig Gordon allowed Jason Dair to send the ball round the wall and into his net untouched. Dair and his team-mates ran away to celebrate, only to find on turning to face the ball that the game was being restarted with a goal-kick.

Livingston were a significant force in the game by this time, and came close to getting the ball in the net legitimately when a cut-back by the impressive Robert Snodgrass was met by Stuart Lovell. This time, however, Gordon did decide to stop it going in, getting a hand to the ball.

Not to be outdone, McKenzie then produced the save of the half from Wyness. The striker looked odds-on to score when Phil Stamp muscled his way to the bye-line and gave him a low diagonal pass, but the goalkeeper got a strong enough hand on the low shot to send it over the bar.

Right on half-time Steven Pressley committed a foul - a direct one this time - in the same spot as Stewart’s earlier offence. Dair shaped up as if to take it, but Burton O’Brien then ran forward and curled in a chip which clipped a post and went behind.

Given the number of chances created at both ends, it was clear that either side might break the deadlock. In the opening minutes of the second half Gordon had to look lively to save a looping shot from Jim Hamilton, then a drive from Maybury was just wide. Hamilton, Rubio and Patrick Kisnorbo were all booked within minutes of each other as the game increased in intensity, and Pressley soon followed them after another foul on the edge of the box.

Levein sent De Vries on for Wyness in a bid to tip the contest in the home team’s favour, and Joe Hamill came on for McAllister, but the Livingston defence remained calm and well organised.

Manu Dorado became the fifth player to be cautioned following a foul on Hartley, and the game was in danger of petering out in undistinguished style. It livened up in the closing moments, though, and Livingston had substitute Derek Lilley to thank for clearing a Kisnorbo header off the line following a Stewart corner. Hearts still had time to mount another attack, and a cross from Maybury found De Vries on the edge of the six-yard box. The Dutchman struck the ball cleanly, but McKenzie pulled off another excellent save to ensure the game ended goalless.

The point was enough to lift Hearts a couple of places up the SPL table, in fifth place ahead of Hibs and Kilmarnock on goal difference. But, after finishing third for the past two seasons, they will not be satisfied to hover around the top six. Once they get most of their strikers back match fit again, Levein will expect the goals-for figure to stretch further ahead of the goals-against.

Livingston, meanwhile, are again level on points and goal difference with Dunfermline in second-bottom place. They still have just a solitary victory from their eight matches, but the assurance with which they played here will surely help them grow in self-belief.

The display of the 17-year-old Snodgrass on his first start for the club should also provide a considerable fillip to the collective morale at Almondvale. If the teenage striker keeps maturing at the same rate he could quickly become a valuable commodity, and, while Livingston will be unable to hold on to him for long if that happens, while still with the club he could do a lot to help propel them back up the league.

Hearts: Gordon, Neilson, Pressley, Webster, Maybury, Stamp (McKenna 79), Stewart, Kisnorbo, McAllister (Hamill 65), Hartley, Wyness (De Vries 56). Subs not used: Moilanen, MacFarlane, Sloan, Berra.

Livingston: McKenzie, McNamee, Rubio, Dorado, Stanic, Dair, Easton, Lovell, O’Brien, Hamilton (Lilley 70), Snodgrass (McMenamin 78). Subs not used: Meldrum, Snowdon, Libbra, McLaughlin, Kernaghan.

Referee: C Richmond. Attendance: 8,646

Taken from the Scotsman