Woeful Hearts pen 'Well mystery

PAUL KIDDIE
AT FIR PARK

JUST how a team could plumb the depths so soon after scaling such glorious heights is a mystery which Agatha Christie would have been proud to pen.

Hearts travelled to Motherwell on the crest of a wave having swept aside Kilmarnock in the Tennent’s Scottish Cup fourth round replay with a magnificent display of attacking football.

Expectations were therefore high going into the Fir Park encounter but the performance of the men in maroon was as disappointing as it was unexpected.

Hearts were woeful. Boss John Robertson shouldered the responsibility for the worst display since his accession to the Gorgie throne over three months ago. The buck indeed stops with the manager but his players should take a long hard look at themselves after slumping to their fourth defeat of the season at the hands of the Steelmen.

True, they have had a hectic schedule over the last few weeks and the legs may have been weary. Even so, they should have been capable of much more.

Lithuanian imports Salius Mikoliunas and Deividas Cesnauskis grabbed all the headlines after their outstanding displays helped dismantle Killie in Ayrshire on Wednesday evening, the latter making a goal-scoring debut just days after arriving at the club.

For whatever reason, though, neither seemed to fancy the Lanarkshire challenge and failed to make any kind of impact on proceedings. As many a frustrated manager has found, consistency can often be a problem with foreign imports but the new men were not alone at the weekend.

As Robertson acknowledged afterwards, holes could be picked in the performance of almost every one of his starting XI, with only goalkeeper Craig Gordon emerging with any credit on a depressing afternoon for the visitors.

"Apart from Craig Gordon, we just weren’t at the races," said the Hearts boss, who made just the one enforced change from the Kilmarnock triumph with Christophe Berra replacing the suspended Andy Webster.

"I was embarrassed for the supporters as they deserved much better and it would have been more than two had it not been for Craig’s performance. That’s the highs and lows of football. Against Kilmarnock we were quite magnificent but against Motherwell we didn’t perform and they deserved to win, no doubt about it.

"It was an embarrassing performance and I take full responsibility as I prepare and pick the team and decide the tactics. I obviously got it wrong on Saturday.

"I apologise to the fans and I’ll make sure they don’t have to watch another performance like that again. We didn’t play well and all the plaudits have to go to Motherwell. I don’t want to blame the players as they have seen us through for a long time now. "

The Jambos had gone into the game desperate to atone for their recent loss to their hosts in the CIS Cup semi-final and anxious to keep the pressure on Hibs in the race for third place.

However, much of the good work in recent weeks which had seen the Gorgie outfit slash their rivals’ advantage to just three points before kick-off was wiped out within 39 minutes of the start. That’s how long it took for the home side to establish a 2-0 lead - and miss a penalty.

Hearts successfully erased a similar deficit in the Easter Road semi-final to force the cup tie into extra time but there was never any danger of such a feat being repeated on Saturday. They now trail the Hibees by six points after crashing to their first league defeat of 2005 and much work will be required if the ‘best of the rest’ crown is to be retained for the third season running.

While Kilmarnock appear to be favourite opposition for the Jambos this season, they must be sick of the sight of Terry Butcher’s outfit, who have now taken nine points from Hearts in the SPL and booked a CIS Cup Final appearance at Hampden at their expense. "That’s four times we have faced Motherwell this season and four times they have beaten us," confirmed Robertson.

"Their fans were singing about wishing they could play us every week and I’m not surprised."

And for the fourth time in as many meetings this season, Hearts conceded a penalty against Motherwell. As against Killie in midweek, young Lee Wallace was the guilty party when he brought down Scott McDonald with 13 minutes on the clock.

Former Jambo Jim Hamilton assumed the spot-kick duties but he let his old club off the hook with a quite dreadful attempt, his weakly struck shot allowing Gordon to make the simplest of saves.

That should have given the visitors the impetus to force their way into the match but it was Motherwell who continued to dominate and it came as no real surprise when they took the lead after 25 minutes.

Steven Hammell’s initial shot was well blocked by Gordon, who had narrowed the angle well, but the keeper was helpless as McDonald latched on to the loose ball and drilled home the opener. Gordon then did well to save McDonald’s angled drive before Kevin McBride’s header landed on the roof of his net.

That was in the 38th minute and 60 seconds later the Steelmen doubled their advantage courtesy of some poor defending. An error from Steven Pressley let in Marc Fitzpatrick and he capitalised on hesitancy between Stephen Simmons and Wallace in the box to drive home No.2.

The Jambos came out early for the second half intent on clawing their way back into the game but after an all too brief flurry which saw Simmons’ shot held by Marshall, the action soon had an all too familiar look about it.

Gordon was forced to throw himself to his left to keep out Fitzpatrick’s shot in the 54th minute and two minutes later he fingertipped Hamilton’s header over the bar. The best Hearts could offer was a move involving Simmons and Lee Miller with 68 minutes gone. The striker’s cutback found substitute Mark Burchill in the six-yard box but his contact wasn’t sufficient enough to beat Marshall.

The Jambos enjoyed some pressure in the latter part of the second half but a Mikoliunas corner which the midfielder sent straight out of play summed-up the afternoon.

"I was thrilled as Hearts are difficult to beat," said Butcher. "If you let them play they will destroy you as they showed at Kilmarnock. But our workrate was terrific and it was a solid performance."

Taken from the Scotsman