Hearts forced to flutter

Hearts (2) 2 Livingston (0) 1

Hearts will discover tonight the identity of their semi-final opponents but they may need to solve an identity crisis of their own if they are to progress further.

For 45 minutes they were utterly in control and should have been five or six goals to the good. Instead, they ended up hanging on to win by a single goal following a schizophrenic performance.

Livingston began with veteran defender Greg Strong as a lone striker while last season's top scorer, Derek Lilley, was asked to play on the right of a five-man midfield.

The folly of that system was exposed within a minute when Lee Miller found the space in a crowded penalty area to send a header from Jamie McAllister's free-kick arcing over Colin Meldrum and into the net.

McAllister, a CIS Cup winner with Livingston last season, increased that lead with his first goal for Hearts in the 10th minute, an emphatic volley from a Saulius Mikoliunas cross.

Livingston manager Richard Gough effectively admitted his error at that stage, with Strong ordered back into the back four and Lilley pushed up front. "Plan A backfired," he said.

Livingston's defending was still calamitous, though, and Miller, McAllister and Burchill all squandered promising opportunities while Miller should have been awarded a penalty after being barged off the ball by Gus Bahoken.

Craig Easton and James McPake were pushed into service alongside Lilley and they reduced the deficit on the hour in controversial circumstances. The Hearts back line froze when the assistant-referee flagged for offside against McPake but Jason Dair ran from deep to send in a cross which Easton headed home.

Match details

Hearts (4-4-2): Gordon; Neilson, Webster, Berra, Wallace; Michelins (Cesnauskis 79), Simmons (McFarlane 67), Hartley, McAllister; Burchill (Wyness 83), Miller.
Subs: Moilanen (g), Kizys.
Booked: Berra, Webster.
Livingston (4-5-1); Meldrum; McNamee, Deloumeaux, Bahoken (Stanic h-t), Dair; Lilley (Horvath h-t), Easton, Wilson (Vincze h-t), O'Brien, McPake; Strong.
Subs: McKenzie (g), Hand.
Booked: Vincze, Horvath.
Referee: A Freeland.


Taken from telegraph.co.uk