Confident Hearts swift alive and well at Tynecastle

STUART BATHGATE AT TYNECASTLE

Hearts 3 - McKenna (33), Hartley (81) Wyness (90)
Dundee 0
Referee: C Thomson. Attendance: 10,172

THERE was, literally, a striking difference in Hearts’ play on Saturday. Throughout much of the season so far they have been deprived by injury of most of their front men, and as a result have struggled through a succession of scoreless draws and single-goal defeats.

Against Dundee, although Mark de Vries was still out because of a poisoned toe, caretaker boss Peter Houston had the luxury of starting with Kevin McKenna and Ramon Pereira up front, then introducing two other strikers, Graham Weir and Dennis Wyness, pictured below, later on. The result: three goals, several shots which came back off the bar, and, in general, a reassuringly confident display from Hearts as they look forward to their UEFA Cup tie against Schalke.

Indeed, there was no sign whatsoever of the lack of leadership which some had feared. Craig Levein may be gone to Leicester City, but Houston knows what makes the players tick, and in Steven Pressley the club has the sort of on-field leader which every coach dreams of.

It was ironic, then, given his immense contribution in terms of organisation, that Pressley should have missed his most glaring opportunity to contribute to his team’s success. In the first match of the season at Dens Park, Hearts beat Dundee by a single goal, which came from a Pressley penalty. This time it was only after the same player missed from the spot that they were roused into action.

Coming after a failure at Celtic Park, this was the second consecutive penalty miss from the captain - and his fourth in all recently, counting two in pre-season friendlies. Pressley will now pass the spot-kick responsibilities to someone else, most likely Alan Maybury, the surest striker of the ball in the team.

The penalty award was, nonetheless, the crucial moment of the match. Jonay Hernandez’s dismissal for the trip on Kevin McKenna left Dundee a man short for the best part of an hour’s play, and Hearts’ patient exploitation of their numerical advantage eventually paid off. Dundee had been the better team for the first 20 minutes or so, during which time Craig Gordon had had to look sharp to save from Fabian Caballero and Steven Lovell. But, once McKenna dinked in the opening goal from a Pereira through pass, it was always going to be an uphill struggle for Jim Duffy’s side.

The visitors fought gamely to get back into contention, but as the match wore on they were doing more and more work deep in their own half. Some of that work, notably by Stephen McNally on the right side of defence, was of commendable quality, but it never looked like being enough to stop Hearts scoring again.

Eventually, within two minutes of Weir coming on for Patrick Kisnorbo, the pressure told. The substitute set up Paul Hartley in the right, and, with the presence of Weir and McKenna to his right possibly being a distraction to Derek Soutar in the Dundee goal, Hartley drove the ball through the narrow gap between Soutar and the near post.

With the points secure, Hearts brought off Pereira, whose dribbling runs into the box had been entertaining if a touch too selfish on occasion. His replacement, Wyness, rounded off the afternoon with the third goal, a fierce, cleanly-hit shot which gave Soutar no chance.

With Hibs losing at Kilmarnock, the result took Hearts to fourth in the table. Given the injury problems they have had, that is a reasonable position to be in, and, if De Vries and Pereira are ever able to play a run of half-a-dozen games together, a few defences will be in for some bruising afternoons.

Dundee found it hard enough to cope with Pereira, who is tenacious on the ball as well as speedy. But the Taysiders need not be too disheartened by this defeat: their work rate was commendable, and there was a spell in the second half when they enjoyed some pressure and might even have sneaked an equaliser from a flurry of corners. All the same, Hearts would still probably have gone on to win the match, as the loss of Hernandez was simply too great for Dundee to overcome.

"The penalty definitely had a huge bearing on the game," Duffy said. "We started really well and were up for it. In terms of attitude I’m delighted with the players." Houston, who will join Levein as first-team coach, gave a similar verdict on his players, being tribute to them in what was probably his last match with Hearts. "These guys have been different class for us. "They work their socks off and are willing to learn. The new manager is inheriting a right good solid group of players."

Houston will head south this week provided the managerial vacancy at Tynecastle is filled, but will not officially be Levein’s No2 - that position will go to a former Leicester player who is at present employed on the youth side of a Premiership club.

Far from being disgruntled by apparently being relieved of his second-in-command position, Houston said he and Levein understood completely the need for someone with a first-hand knowledge of English football to be involved at Leicester.

"We need all the help we can get. It doesn’t matter a jot if I’m not called assistant manager. Craig knows that, if he’s called away by other duties, I can take a decent training session and build a rapport with players."

That rapport was plain to see at the end of Saturday’s match. The handshakes between Houston and the Hearts players were to mark a job well done - not just against Dundee but over the past few years, during which time he has made a substantial contribution to Hearts’ steady progress.

Taken from the Scotsman