Brave Hearts are denied as ref bottles it over Boumsong

PAUL KIDDIE
AT IBROX

THE Hearts players did themselves proud with a courageous performance against Rangers at Ibrox - unfortunately the same can’t be said of referee Dougie McDonald.

The whistler has incurred the wrath of the Gorgie club in the past, most notably when former boss Craig Levein had a well-documented spat with the SFA over his performance in a game at Kilmarnock.

This time it was John Robertson crossing the official off his Christmas card list after his handling of the match in Govan yesterday.

The bone of contention on this occasion was McDonald’s decision to allow Jean-Alain Boumsong to remain on the park after fouling Mark de Vries in the area.

The whistler certainly called it right when he awarded Hearts a penalty with just 15 minutes on the clock after the striker was sent tumbling. However, he called it wrong when deciding a yellow card was sufficient punishment for the Frenchman, who had denied the Tynecastle striker a clear goal-scoring opportunity.

When confronted by a furious Steven Pressley prior to Paul Hartley converting the spot-kick, McDonald indicated that in his view De Vries was heading away from goal after latching on to Andy Webster’s powerful clearing header from inside his own half.

That may well indeed have been the case - but the front man could still have scored had it not been for Boumsong’s illegal challenge.

It all must come have come as a chronic irony for the suspended Alan Maybury, whose red card last weekend against Motherwell was as a result of John Rowbotham deciding the Irishman had denied Martyn Corrigan a clear scoring chance despite being considerably further out than De Vries was at Ibrox.

Dundee’s Jonay Hernandez was also the victim of a similarly dubious decision at Tynecastle recently when he was sent off for a foul on Kevin McKenna just inside the area.

It’s a issue which concerns players and managers but all they ask for, as Robertson stressed afterwards, is consistency from officials in the interpretation of the rule.

"We didn’t go to Ibrox to try to sit in, we went looking to score as many goals as we could and with one or two decisions, it could have been our day," said Roberston.

"When you are six yards out and you’re going to get a shot in I think it’s a pretty good goalscoring opportunity as opposed to last week when the guy was 14 yards out and not getting to the goal.

"All coaches and managers are looking for is clarification of the rules. What is the difference between six yards out and 14 yards out. The referee said he thought it was a free-kick and not a goalscoring opportunity. Dougie is an honest guy to be fair but you just wonder when you’re going to catch a break as last week didn’t appear to us to be a goalscoring opportunity and we lose a man and yet this week we have a centre forward six yards out and it’s deemed a non-goalscoring opportunity.

"You have to take these things but the players were gutted at the result."

Whether a numerical advantage at that stage would have ultimately altered the eventual outcome is unknown. However, what is not open for debate is that without the imposing Boumsong on the park for the remaining 75 minutes, Hearts would have enjoyed a much better chance of repeating their shock triumph of last May when Joe Hamill’s goal was enough for victory.

Watched by Lithuanian millionaire Vladimir Romanov - who is poised to buy out Chris Robinson - and the soon-to-be-appointed director of football Anatoly Byshovets, the conquerors of Basel came to Ibrox intent on giving a good account of themselves. And they can feel rightly disappointed at not taking anything from the 90 minutes.

With just two changes from the UEFA Cup success - Patrick Kisnorbo and Paul Hartley returned in place of the suspended Maybury and Michael Stewart, who dropped to the bench, Roberston’s men defied their weariness to dig deep and push Rangers all the way, the 3-2 defeat a bitter pill for the men in maroon to swallow having contributed hugely to a highly-entertaining encounter.

True to their manager’s attacking instincts, Robbo’s men pushed forward at every opportunity and came so close to seeing their efforts rewarded against opponents also high on confidence following the comfortable midweek UEFA Cup win over Grazer AK.

After seeing Dado Prso (twice) and Peter Lovenkrands come close as the interval approached it appeared the Jambos would reach the interval with their lead intact.

However, Rangers drew level 60 seconds from the break, with the unfortunate Jamie McAllister bundling home Lovenkrands’ cross with Fernando Ricksen waiting to pounce at the back post.

With the news filtering through at half-time that Celtic had only managed a 2-2 draw at Dundee, everyone expected the home side to come out all guns blazing in search of the win which would take them back to the top of the SPL for the first time since October 2003.

Hearts’ task looked all the more tough with Pressley failing to reappear for the second period, a groin injury seeing Christophe Berra pressed into action for the first time at Ibrox.

While the young stopper showed some good awareness in twice getting the better of Prso as Rangers did indeed threaten early in the second half, the visitors found themselves trailing after 55 minutes.

A long ball from Zurab Khizanishvilli dropped between McAllister and Craig Gordon into the path of Nacho Novo and as the keeper raced off his line, the striker supplied a delicate lob to nudge the hosts ahead.

Hearts’ heads could have dropped at that point but with Robertson immediately responding by replacing Dennis Wyness with Graham Weir, the Jambos hauled themselves level with 66 minutes on the clock.

De Vries, a constant thorn in the Light Blues’ side, was the man who did the trick, holding off Marvin Andrews to head home Hamill’s cross into Stefan Klos’ left-hand corner.

With Rangers rocked on their heels, Hearts suddenly became the more likely side, Weir almost capitalising on hesitancy from Andrews before De Vries wasted a great opportunity by heading over McAllister’s inch-perfect delivery from the left from just outside the six-yard box.

When Gordon produced a stunning one- handed save to keep out Andrews’ header, it appeared as if Hearts would get the point their efforts deserved.

With ten minutes remaining, though, Rangers restored their lead. Ricksen dispossessed Stewart midway inside the Hearts half, the ball eventually finding its way out to substitute Stephen Hughes whose cross was headed home from close range by the diminutive Novo.

Gordon then launched into a verbal tirade at assistant referee Andy Davis, the keeper convinced the ball had run out of play for a goalkick in a move immediately prior to the match-winner.

"Craig thought that in the move before the third goal that Nacho Novo had over-run the ball and it had gone out. One or two of the players thought it had but the linesman was standing a yard away so I am assuming he got it right," said Robertson, who was delighted with the performance of his team.

"I thought it was a fantastic game with two teams going out to win all three points.

"But Rangers showed their character and that is why they are sitting top of the league at the moment. I thought we played great. Man for man we matched them all over the park and after starting well in the first couple of minutes they couldn’t get near us.

"We settled down, passed the ball around them and through them and then got our lead through a penalty. Despite getting the penalty, though, it was a decision which went against us.

"We played very well, though, and that is the most important thing for me. The players were down as it is harder to take when you play so well and come away with nothing.

Taken from the Scotsman