Pereira leads Hearts revival

Patrick Glenn at Rugby Park
Sunday November 14, 2004
The Observer

Kilmarnock recalled the day in 1965 when they won the league championship - beating Hearts 2-0 at Tynecastle - by producing one the heroes of that team, Davie Sneddon, to make the half-time draw.

It is about as close as the current Rugby Park side are likely to come to the ultimate glory. There is, however, every chance they would have repeated that victory of 39 years ago over the same opponents were it not for the appearance as substitutes of Hearts strikers Mark de Vries and Ramón Pereira, these two bringing a new dynamism to the visitors as well as setting up Dennis Wyness's equaliser of Peter Leven's first-half goal.

Kilmarnock taking the lead would have been something of a shock based purely on the balance of play - emphatically in Hearts' favour - that had preceded it. But the sense of surprise was heightened by the identity of the scorer.

Fifteen minutes before, Leven, a forceful midfielder, had been withdrawn to the left-back position as a result of the thigh injury to Freddie Dindeleux that forced him to leave the field, replaced by midfielder Gary Locke.

This change had seemingly done little to enhance the home side's prospects of inflicting damage, already low as they struggled to impose themselves in midfield or in forward areas. Indeed, Hearts, with Paul Hartley apparently blessed with the power of multi-location - he appeared all over the field - had been largely untroubled in either area.

But when Leven pushed upfield to lend support at a throw-in, the ball was moved quickly across the field before arriving at the feet of Gary MacDonald. Leven moved into the left side of the penalty area, MacDonald's through pass was perfectly weighted and the finish was impressive, Leven hitting the ball with the outside of his left foot far to the left of Craig Gordon.

While the visitors had looked the more assured and the more fluent of the two, their supporters must have experienced the growing conviction that they would struggle to make an impact in the vicinity of Alan Combe in the Kilmarnock goal.

With their highest-rated forwards, De Vries and Pereira, fit enough only for a place on the bench, the drafting of Kevin McKenna, a natural defender, into attack alongside Wyness would inevitably mean a certain lack of mobility. McKenna is the kind of target to which the adjective 'moving' can rarely be applied.

Two shots from McKenna and Wyness, each saved easily by Combe, were the sum of their efforts during the first half and it would be desperation on the part of John Robertson, the Hearts manager, that would see the removal of McKenna and young Joe Hamill and the arrival of De Vries and Pereira early in the second.

Robertson's unease sprang from the sight of Kilmarnock drawing encouragement from taking the lead, the home side for much of the time thereafter more convincing in their midfield and forward work. When Leven released Craig Dargo with a long ball from defence, the little striker seemed to be clear of challengers, but turned back inside and lost possession.

That was the kind of movement that, until the introduction of De Vries and Pereira, seemed to have deserted Hearts. The Dutchman and the Spaniard gave a breathtaking demonstration of what had been missing when they combined to produce the equaliser for Wyness.

When Locke carelessly lost possession, Robbie Neilson slipped the ball short to De Vries, whose loping stride carried him deep into the Kilmarnock half before he released a perfectly measured pass to Pereira, gliding through the inside-right channel.

Pereira had obviously seen Wyness make the run far to his left even before he took delivery and immediately swept the pass out to the striker, who from six yards out to the left of goal hooked the ball left-footed past Combe.

Taken from the Guardian/Observer