Supersub Hamill rescues stuttering Hearts

Maintaining that regrettable habit, they led the way in this match for long spells without really collaring it. Dundee were, in the end, good value for a point and might have absconded with all three had it not been for the concession of a cheap equaliser.

It is now two wins out of eight for John Robertson’s men since early November, an all too slim figure for their corpulent manager. “It’s a point, but I’m disappointed,” he said. “I don’t think we hurt them enough. You can’t dominate like we did, especially in the first half, and not score.”

Hearts did bare their teeth early on. They took the initiative and, crucially, the midfield from the off, capitalising on the home side’s tardiness in the tackle.

Lee Wilkie, fresh from signing a contract extension on Friday, initially looked fit only for a very different kind of signing on. Five minutes in, he could have simply done his job by walloping a loose ball downfield. Instead, he created unnecessary extra work for his fellow defenders, surrendering possession to Ramon Pereira. The Spaniard licked a sumptuous pass to Dennis Wyness, who dinked his shot marginally wide.

Suitably demure, Wilkie redeemed himself and saved Dundee the next time the former Inverness striker materialised in the penalty area. Wyness jockeyed with the leggy defender near the byline, but Wilkie stood up to rebuff his carving drive. That was to mark the end of Hearts’ cycle of visits to Derek Soutar’s domain. Jim Duffy’s side first-footed the box at the other end with Tam McManus nicking a handsome effort just by Craig Gordon’s near post, after an unprecedented gust down the touchline from Neil Barrett.

That put the wind into Dundee’s sails, and their three-man frontline began to buffet the visiting defence. Fabian Caballero, always a force when he presses those tree-trunk thighs into service, summoned a string of solo runs that were invariably undone by his letting McManus and John Sutton in on the act all too belatedly. Phil Stamp’s drooping drive from 20 yards, after the Dundee defence reverted to their bad old ways by leaving him unattended, was about all Hearts could muster in reply.

We were in need of either inspiration or improvisation. In Caballero, Dundee had both. The Paraguayan had the wit to linger in the danger area after Gordon appeared to have dealt definitively with a crack from Steven Robb. After intelligence came invention, Caballero twisting his body to plant a subtle header across Gordon and in at the back post. It was his first goal since May 2003, although he spent eight months out with injury.

Hearts, though, had kept back a moment of boldness of their own. Robertson replaced the rampaging but raw Pereira with Joe Hamill, and inside two minutes his directness paid off. The youngster took root just outside the six-yard box, biding his time while Lee Miller and Wyness combined to his right, before spearing a low shot away from Soutar.

Wilkie, who can be relied upon to bring things to life in either box, then set up Sutton with a forceful knockdown from a corner. The Englishman, however, lacks the poise that is his brother’s trademark, and again here he tanked the ball wastefully into the crowd close in.

“There must have been some sort of improvement here in recent weeks,” smiled Duffy. “I’m disappointed with a draw against Hearts, whereas a few weeks ago I’d have been jumping through hoops.”

STAR MAN: Fabian Caballero (Dundee)

Player ratings: Dundee: Soutar 6, Smith 6, Wilkie 6, Fotheringham 6, Sutton 6, Barrett 7, McManus 7 (Robertson 75min, 6), MacDonald 6, Robb 7, McNally 6, Caballero 7

Hearts: Gordon 6, Pressley 6, Webster 6, Wyness 7 (Weir 60min, 6), Stamp 6, Miller 6, Hartley 7, MacFarlane 6 (Simmins 71min, 6), Neilson 6, McAllister 7, Pereira 6 (Hamill 58min, 7)

Taken from timesonline.co.uk