Hearts shatter Hay's hopes

ALAN PATTULLO AT EAST END PARK

Dunfermline 1
Mehmet (60)

Hearts 3
Webster (33), Hartley (pen 66)Hamill (84)

Referee: H Dallas. Attendance: 4,405

DAVID Hay’s sweet relationship with the CIS Cup was last night ended in a manner which was not quite as unfortunate nor abrupt as that which saw former team and current cup-holders Livingston ejected from the competition on Tuesday night against Motherwell. However, his Dunfermline side can still consider themselves well beaten in the end after a second half in which Hearts’ dominance brought reward in the shape of two match-winning goals from Paul Hartley and substitute Joe Hamill.

Dunfermline’s own ‘supersub’ Billy Mehmet had briefly brought the home team back into the tie with a goal which cancelled out Andy Webster’s opener but it brought relief for only as long as it took a determined Hearts side to compose themselves again, with Hartley converting a penalty awarded just after the hour mark. It means prospective new owner Vladimir Romanov will step into a club eagerly preparing itself for a cup semi-final in the new year when he finally takes over the reins from current chief executive Chris Robinson next month.

On a night which spelled frosted windows and strangled water pipes, the East End Park synthetic pitch was proving no more resistant to the chilly weather, with the players slipping and sliding across the surface. It even acted to thwart one of its own with the home team’s Craig Brewster fluffing a chance after good work on the left from Thomas Butler, with underfoot conditions seemingly to blame.

Hearts were moving the ball around more freely but carved out fewer chances. Manager John Robertson had remained true to his word and granted the still unproven Dennis Wyness a chance to impress in attack. He lined up alongside target man Kevin McKenna with Ramon Pereira dropping to the bench. it was interesting to observe what effect the change of manager might have on a player plainly in search of confidence, particularly one well known to Wyness from their days together at Inverness Caledonian Thistle.

On early evidence it was a case of normal service resumed with Wyness displaying all the signs of a man stricken by doubt. But Wyness persevered and played well enough for his performance to later be hailed as evidence of the "real Dennis Wyness" by his exultant manager. He could not quite adorn this better showing with the goal he perhaps deserved, though he came close.

A corner from the left was knocked straight out for a throw-in to Hearts. When Robbie Neilson is about this is as good as a corner for Hearts and his customary giant throw was hurled back into the box. The right-back might as well have tossed in a hand grenade such was the panic caused in the home defence. A Pressley header was cleared only as far as Andy Webster, whose own effort via forehead was leapt on gleefully by Wyness as it sped towards the net. In a mark of the man, he later acknowledged the ball had already crossed the line.

Hay wasted little time when in re-jigging and sent his side out for the re-start in a 3-5-2 formation, with Andy Tod switched to a defence in which he always looks more settled. He and Brewster created little joy for each other in attack in the opening half and so Derek Young was pushed up front instead. Brewster hardly had time to get acquainted with his new partner before he was replaced just 12 minutes into the half to the clearly heard anger of the home support, with Mehmet coming on.

This swap might not have met with immediate approval but took only two minutes to merit acclaim when Mehmet latched on to a poor clearance and saw his not entirely well-hit shot creep into the net via the tip of one of Craig Gordon’s fingers and also his right-hand post. Rarely has a ball required longer to reach a final destination but the wait was worth it for Dunfermline fans, who exploded with joy at the eventual consequence of Mehmet’s first touch.

The wily Hay could afford himself a wry smile as he watched the jubilant home crowd frolic due to a gamble of his own urging and which had been so roundly dismissed just moments earlier. But he would have been advised to appreciate this burst of satisfaction since Dunfermline watched as this tie swung almost immediately away from them again.

In the first instance it was a fortunate penalty award which allowed some daylight to appear between the teams, with Richie Byrne adjudged by referee Hugh Dallas to have felled Neilson in the box. Hartley minded neither the whys or wherefores and planted his penalty into the bottom corner of Derek Stillie’s net with the flourish of a player free-basing confidence at present. Substitute Hamill made the game safe for Hearts eight minutes before the end when he managed to inject rare power into side-footed shot from the edge of the box after Hartley had found him with a corner. Stillie was left without a chance, and likewise his team.

Dunfermline: Stillie, Byrne, Scott Wilson, Tod, Butler, Scott Thomson, Nicholson, Mason, Labonte, Brewster (Mehmet 58), Derek Young (Donnelly 78). Subs not used: Bradley, Ross, Langfield.

Hearts: Gordon, Maybury, Pressley, Webster, Kisnorbo, Neilson, Stamp (Hamill 67), Hartley, McAllister, Wyness (Weir 84), McKenna. Subs not used: Berra, Moilanen, Pereira.

Taken from the Scotsman