Hearts march on in style

GLENN GIBBONS
CHIEF FOOTBALL WRITER

EVEN a second-half confrontation with his regular sparring partner, referee John Rowbotham, could not dilute John Robertson’s euphoria as Hearts moved impressively into the Tennent’s Scottish Cup quarter-finals with a 3-1 victory over Kilmarnock at Rugby Park last night.

Having drawn the first match 2-2, Robertson’s team in this replay had their opponents on the hook from the moment the 17-year-old full-back, Lee Wallace, opened the scoring and never allowed them to wriggle free.

Striker Lee Miller and Lithuanian debutant Deividas Cesnauskis having added two more goals, Robertson was summoned by Rowbotham midway through the second half on the testimony of fourth official Cammy Melville.

"I didn’t quite understand it," said Robertson. "The fourth official seemed to take umbrage at a comment I made to Donald Park [the Hearts coach]. But he said my demeanour was inappropriate. I don’t know what that means." Rowbotham satisfied himself with a short warning to the manager, with no official disciplinary action taken.

Robertson, like the assembled media after the match, was intrigued by reports that Anatoly Byshovets, the former Russia manager, would not be arriving at Tynecastle in any role. It had been reported by the BBC that Byshovets, whose prospective role at Tynecastle had been ill-defined, was no longer interested in working for Vladimir Romanov, the club’s principal shareholder, in Edinburgh.

"It’s not something I know anything about," Robertson said. "Whether he was coming as director of football, or in a scouting capacity, I don’t know. Donald Park and I just get on with our main job, which is to get the football side of things right."

The duo certainly got it right last night, as the two Lithuanians celebrated what was Independence Day in their own country with exceptional performances. Even Jim Jefferies, the Kilmarnock manager, was very impressed by the two foreigners.

"Hearts have a very solid base in defence with [Steven] Pressley and [Andy] Webster," said Jefferies. "But the flair came from the Lithuanian boys. I thought the lad making his debut [Cesnauskis] was outstanding."

"It’s no surprise that they should have made a contribution so quickly," Robertson added. "We play the kind of football they like and are used to. We like to play it on the ground, get forward, make good passes and score goals. That’s what we did tonight and I thought we played very well from start to finish. Young Lee Wallace scored an exceptional goal. He ran about 70 yards and actually dinked the ball over the goalkeeper [Allan Combe], so it was a terrific finish.

"He’s an encouragement for the other younger players at the club and we have a few of them. But there’s good competition now for places.

"They all know they have to produce if they are to get into the team."

Meanwhile, Hearts received a further boost yesterday with the news that Patrick Kisnorbo will be ready to return to competitive action within a fortnight. The Australian has stepped up his rehabilitation programme after going under the knife last month to have a cartilage problem on his knee mended.

Taken from the Scotsman