Hearts get a spot of fortune

MOIRA GORDON
AT EAST END PARK

DUNFERMLINE 1 Wilson 33
HEARTS 1 Hartley 60 pen

IT WAS the second time in the space of a few days that Lee Miller had been involved in penalty incidents and both times they were given. Yesterday, though, without the intervention of any assistant referee or any major hoo-ha, the decision went in his favour. The Dunfermline players certainly felt aggrieved, but it’s unlikely John Yorkston will be launching a bid for an inquiry into the incident.

"In these situations, you can do one of two things," said Dunfermline manager David Hay, who also saw a last-gasp header from Andy Tod ruled offside by the assistant referee. "You either accept the decisions for what they are, which I will do, or you can complain like other people and maybe get the decisions going for you in the next game. From where I was, the penalty looked debatable but the referee was close and gave it."

The perceived sinner, Scott Wilson, was also angered, claiming that even Miller had confessed it was a soft penalty. "The boys are gutted. We feel as though we’ve been cheated. We feel we’ve been punished for something that happened on Wednesday. That might not be the case but that’s what it feels like. It’s all roundabouts but does that mean we’re now due something in our next game, against Celtic?"

Miller, however, claimed the two penalty situations were completely different. "The two of us went for the ball and he collided with me and I landed flat on my face. He was climbing all over my back. I was just decked. I had a free header but it’s one of those things. Everyone has an opinion but it’s the referee’s decision, the same as it was the other night."

But if the Hearts board were concerned that the loss of a point on Wednesday could prove costly then it would be interesting to hear what they make of this result. Getting anything against either side of the Old Firm is treated as a bonus by the rest of the league, but up against a Pars side still struggling to find form this term, surely the inability to secure all three points from this should be considered the bigger calamity.

Whether physically drained by their own, ultimately futile, exertions midweek or still mentally exhausted by the subsequent fallout, they never came close to replicating the display they gave against Rangers at Tynecastle. If they had they would have steamrollered a side which is still battling to escape the relegation dogfight.

"I’ve told them I won’t accept that first-half performance again," seethed Hearts manager John Robertson. "These boys matched Rangers toe to toe so there’s no excuse not to come out and match Dunfermline toe to toe."

But hotheaded Lithuanian Saulius Mikoliunas wasn’t the only noticeable absentee. The application and workrate of Wednesday night was also missing and Dunfermline deserved to take the lead. By far the busier of the two teams in the opening period Darren Young and Simon Donnelly worked away at stretching the visiting defence and forced stops out of Craig Gordon.

A side who are struggling to find goals this term, it was Wilson who eventually ventured upfield to open the scoring. In the box for an Iain Campbell corner in the 33rd minute, the central defender bulleted the ball beyond Gordon.

The fact that Hearts have deemed it necessary to question the integrity of decisions taken during the controversial defeat at the hands of Rangers meant that referee Charlie Richmond was always going to be under close scrutiny and when the calls failed to fall in the Gorgie club’s favour, it wasn’t long before the travelling fans embarked on their first rendition of "Are you Davis in disguise?" It was almost inevitable.

The chants grew louder when he chose to book Deividas Cesnauskis for his overly- elaborate rolls after the little Lithuanian was felled. But while that may have been a tad harsh, the fact is the referee did little wrong throughout the 90 minutes and Barry Nicholson was man enough to admit afterwards that he was the man who wandered offside in the final seconds, forcing Steven Craven to put his flag up.

Hearts by that time had taken the upper hand, no doubt courtesy of their half-time wake-up call from Roberston, and had enough chances to merit their share of the spoils. They could even have staged their own smash and grab act. Sub Mark Burchill could have given them the win in stoppage time but his header was blocked on the line by Campbell, who, like his team-mates seemed hellbent of ensuring they salvaged something for their earlier effort.

Hearts will bemoan the fact they could have taken more from the game and when UEFA Cup places are decided at the end of the season, if the European adventure goes to someone else, it is this match more so than Wednesday’s which will have been a major contributing fact. But as far as Wilson is concerned, the same could be said of their own battle to avoid the drop.

"We’re a team that is finding goals hard to come by and are having to fight and scrap for everything so, to be honest with you this [the penalty decision] has been a real boot to the balls and we know that could cost us at the end of the season."

Hearts have opened a can of worms with their antics of the past couple of days. It may have helped win them win a penalty and a share of the points yesterday, but it seems it may not have won them may fans amongst the opposition.

Taken from the Scotsman