Naismith leaves Hearts broken

Glenn Gibbons at Tynecastle
Sunday February 6, 2005
The Observer

Every forward step in the Scottish Cup is valuable, lending an unusual preciousness to the late equaliser from substitute Steven Naismith that earned Kilmarnock a replay in this fourth-round tie.

Kris Boyd, a fellow substitute, flicked on a free-kick from the left and Naismith whipped the ball past Craig Gordon from six yards, an outcome that had seemed improbable for most of a second half that did not match the excitement of the first, when Hearts led twice after goals by Dennis Wyness and Lee Miller, either side of one from Colin Nish.

With the top two places in the Premierleague a no-go area for any team outside the Old Firm, the Scottish Cup is perceived by the rest as an annual opportunity to gain the kind of bonus revenue that will help to alleviate financial difficulties that are universal.

This significance amounts to a virtual guarantee of the kind of energetic commitment these two teams brought to their endeavours for most of an intriguing match, in which the ascendancy enjoyed by each of them rarely lasted long enough to establish a pronounced difference.

If Hearts were marginally the busier in forward areas for much of the time, with Kilmarnock goalkeeper Alan Combe pressed into service more often than Craig Gordon in the home goal, it was, by and large, the result of the advantage generally to be taken from playing on their own turf.

Some of the saves made by Combe, especially in the first half, were the result of admirable attempts by the Edinburgh team's players, as opposed to genuine chances. Jamie McAllister and Stephen Simmons, for example, gave the goalkeeper the opportunity to impress three times, but it would have taken a serious blunder by Combe to produce a goal for the home team.

With their more convertible chances, Hearts scored twice and hit a post before the interval, Kilmarnock just as economical in their ratio, with the equalising goal coming from one of only two clear-cut opportunities.

Hearts' opener came at the end of quick and incisive movement on the right, with Saulius Mikoliunas finishing some trickery by stabbing the ball to Robbie Neilson. Reaching the dead-ball line, the full-back delivered a perfect cross that allowed Wyness to glance a header from eight yards to the right of Combe and into the net.

The equaliser was largely the work of Allan Johnston, who twisted and feinted into space on the right before crossing to Nish, the big striker dropping his head to send the ball over the line from six yards.

But the restoration of Hearts' advantage was achieved in spectacular fashion. Paul Hartley carried the ball from his own half into the visiting team's territory before releasing the through-pass to Miller, who, from the edge of the area and pressed on both sides by David Lilley and Liam Fontaine, hit a fierce drive high to the left of Combe.

If there was a noticeable drop in the standard of play, if not in the players' industriousness, after the break, it would derive to a great extent from Hearts' reluctance to take risks in the cause of preserving their advantage and from theiropponents' overeagerness in the chase for an equaliser.

This combination brought an overall deterioration in the accuracy of the passing, until the moment Mikoliunas, with rare perceptiveness, released Hartley through the inside-left channel. The midfielder, with only Combe to beat from an angle, flicked at the ball with the outside of his right foot, but the goalkeeper got down quickly to make the save.

Kilmarnock's most notable opportunity had come much earlier, Lilley heading a corner from Peter Leven over the bar from close range. That was a serious miss, the big defender having been allowed to meet the ball without a challenge.

What could have been a tormenting memory for Lilley was, however, eradicated by the late intervention of his young team-mate, Naismith.

Taken from the Guardian/Observer