Hearts still set on place in Europe

Les Roopanarine
Sunday February 13, 2005
The Observer

A resounding 3-0 victory over Kilmarnock at Tynecastle enabled Hearts to make up crucial ground in the race with Hibernian for automatic Uefa Cup qualification. Haunted by the memory of last week's draw with Jim Jefferies' men in the quarter-finals of the Scottish Cup, a game that they led until a crushing 89th minute equaliser from Steven Naismith, Hearts made certain there would be no repetition. Saulius Mikoliunas opened the scoring on 15 minutes, latching on to a beautifully weighted pass from Stephen Simmons to round Kilmarnock goalkeeper Alan Combe and slot home his first goal for the club. Ten minutes later an own goal from defender James Fowler put the home side further behind and the win was completed on 66 minutes with a thunderous drive from on-loan Bristol City striker Lee Miller.

Dunfermline secured all three points against Aberdeen at East End Park, winning 2-1. The highlight of the first half was a ferocious 25-yard volley from Dunfermline striker Jesper Christiansen that crashed against the crossbar. The home side finally broke the deadlock in the 53rd minute, but Billy Mehmet's strike was equalised 20 minutes later by Dons defender Alexander Diamond. The winner was scored with seven minutes left by substitute Simon Donnelly. In the relegation battle at Almondvale, Dundee United secured a vital 2-0 victory to move five points clear of Livingston. The visitors made an impressive start when top scorer Stevie Crawford grabbed his tenth goal of the season. The second was added by James Grady five minutes before the break. At Dens Park, a brace from Steve Lovell steered Dundee to a 2-1 win over Motherwell that leaves them eight points clear of bottom-placed Livingston.

Taken from the Guardian/Observer