Little return for Dempsey at Tynecastle

JAMES DOONAN

DUNFERMLINE haven’t won at Tynecastle since 1990 and there was little chance of that record being broken on Saturday as a rampant Hearts side stormed to a deserved 3-0 victory.

It was a particularly miserable afternoon for Gary Dempsey who was making his first start since October and deployed as a make-shift striker.

"This wouldn’t have been the game I’d have chosen for my first game back," Dempsey admitted. "I’m delighted to be back in the team but I’m not happy with the way I played."

Midfielder Dempsey was drafted in to fill the void up front after striker Billy Mehmet called off with the flu. However, the diminutive Irishman caused few problems for the giant Hearts rearguard.

"It was hard but you’ve just got to get on with it when the manager asks you to do a job," said Dempsey.

After going behind on 11 minutes to a Dennis Wyness header the Fifers withstood merciless pressure from the home side who contrived to miss three sitters before half-time.

The contest was effectively ended a minute after the break when Ramon Pereira hammered the ball high past goalkeeper Derek Stillie. And soon after the Jambos were enjoying a three goal advantage thanks to a Paul Hartley penalty. It was hard to take after Dempsey and his teammates believed they had weathered the storm and felt confident at the restart.

"I think going in only 1-0 down at half-time we felt the Gods were looking after us," Dempsey continued. "But losing the goal after 90 seconds [of the second half] was a big blow and it was an uphill task from there on."

However, he was quick to praise John Robertson’s side, adding: "They’re a hard team at the best of times but when they’re playing as well as they are at the moment, especially at Tynecastle, they’re a tough team to beat. We probably lacked the firepower to cause them any problems. In fact I think we only had one shot on target which really says it all.

"To be fair, other than the back four the rest of us weren’t at the races. We worked as hard as we could, but Hearts were just better than us on the day."

Manager Davie Hay suggested that the constant stream of injuries had stretched his meagre resources to breaking point, revealing that striker Noel Hunt, who featured in the second half, had, like Dempsey, been rushed back into action. "Gary Dempsey has been out for eight weeks but he was forced to play, and Noel’s been out for ten. I think our injury problems caught up with us today," he said.

"Even when we changed it at half-time they scored so quickly that the game was over. It could have been a heavier defeat but perhaps Hearts took their foot off the pedal."

Taken from the Scotsman