Robbo left at fever pitch

BARRY ANDERSON
AT EAST END PARK

GEORGE FOULKES conceded on national radio prior to kick-off on Saturday that Hearts’ outrage over the well-documented penalty incident against Rangers had filtered through to the players and unsettled them.

Certainly, in their first-half display against Dunfermline, the men in maroon thoroughly backed up their chairman’s theory.

In short, John Robertson’s men were woeful. To such an extent that the flu-ridden manager had to forget his own pounding head at the break and lambast his charges for their lack of application. Robertson would likely have chosen a Lemsip over a half-time cup of tea for himself, but whatever was added to his players’ interval refreshments seemed to do the trick.

One down as they re-appeared, a much-improved level of performance - inspired once again by interim captain Paul Hartley - saw Hearts level the match and almost steal victory as Dunfermline were pinned to the edge of their own penalty area for nearly the entire second 45 minutes.

The equalising goal, naturally after the week Hearts have endured, had to be controversial. This time, instead of being on the wrong end of a hotly-contested penalty decision by an official, the Capital side were the recipients when Scott Wilson impeded Lee Miller - yes, him again - in a challenge in the box and referee Charlie Richmond instantly pointed to the spot.

Hartley sent Derek Stillie the wrong way, and Robertson’s side were back in business. After the match Wilson alluded to the fact that perhaps officials are feeling sorry for Hearts after losing to Rangers in cruel fashion and as such Mr Richmond was keen to redress the balance, but that is simply not the case.

Despite protesting innocence, Wilson appeared to clamber over Miller and force him to the ground as they ran for Joe Hamill’s flighted free-kick.

Hearts from then on resembled a possessed animal, sensing the opportunity to claim an unlikely three points. That they had to do the chasing was, of course, down to the languid nature of their play in the first half, during which Wilson rose almost unchallenged to head Iain Campbell’s corner in off Craig Gordon’s crossbar.

But that tells only half the story of the opening period. The inconsistency that goes hand in hand with deploying youngsters was exemplified by Hearts, to the point where Robertson was moved to point out to his squad during their half-time lecture that some of them, young and old, are playing for new contracts at Tynecastle.

Christophe Berra and Lee Wallace, 20 and 17 respectively, looked ill at ease on Dunfermline’s synthetic surface as Georgi Hristov and Simon Donnelly at times tormented them in the first half on Hearts’ left. Robbie Neilson at right-back, although subdued, could find himself a little unfortunate to be hooked at half-time for Neil MacFarlane as Robertson changed his tactics.

"We changed things around at half-time because there was no way I was accepting that level of performance from a Hearts team," said Robertson. "We could have been out of it after 45 minutes.

"I told the players that many of them are still hoping for new contracts with the club and as such they should be playing for them. They seemed to take that on board and the was an improvement for the second half.

"In the end, it’s a game that we could have lost by half-time but we managed to get level and very nearly won it. If we’d been on our game from the beginning then I believe we would have won."

The alteration, which saw Hartley and MacFarlane deployed as deep-sitting midfielders in a 4-2-3-1 formation for the second period, transformed the side, but still at times there was a conspicuous craving amongst the Hearts rearguard for the steadying influence of club captain Steven Pressley, absent through the same flu virus which was choking his manager.

Dunfermline on the other hand were possibly best served by two of their young defenders, full-backs Greg Ross and Campbell. Ross is only 17 but already has considerable physical presence and self-assurance that gives others around him peace of mind. Campbell turned in a similarly impressive display, topped off with his corner assist for Wilson’s opener.

Prior to that Gordon had made sound saves from Hristov after a neat turn and shot in the penalty area after 16 minutes, and Donnelly, who took advantage of Wallace’s hesitancy in clearing to test the keeper low at his left-hand post two minutes later.

Hearts had a long-range volley by Miller tipped over for a corner by Derek Stillie.

Alarmingly for Robertson, the only other Hearts contributions to the first half were from the travelling supporters in the East Stand. In good humour, they peppered the play with chants of "Miko, Miko", in support of their ostracised Lithuanian winger Saulius Mikoliunas, and "SFA - you’re havin’ a laugh", which surely requires no explanation.

The Jambos will clearly back their club to the hilt on the issue of demanding an inquiry from the game’s governing body into last Wednesday’s controversial decision, even if few others in the game appear willing to do likewise.

Thankfully for the fans, their minds were roused by the on-field action from their side in the second period. After Wallace had to be rescued by an alert Gordon for being short with a headed pass-back, Miller took advantage of Wilson’s slip in trying to defend Deividas Cesnauskis’ cross on 55 minutes but could only flash his shot wide. That, though, was a prelude of things to come.

Five minutes later, Wilson and Miller chased Hamill’s curling free-kick from the Hearts right and the striker tumbled. Referee Richmond awarded the penalty and was promptly surrounded by a posse of home players, led by Wilson, protesting. The former Rangers defender took his frustration too far and was booked for mouthing.

Hartley watched all of this unmoved. From his deep position in midfield he had helped to drive the side forward on several occasions by carrying the ball well into Dunfermline territory before trying a telling pass to a team-mate. Now he had to do it on his own, and he didn’t flinch in dispatching the ball to Stillie’s right.

His zealous celebrations were justified as he displayed exactly what the cause at Tynecastle means to him with a clenched fist aimed at the Hearts support. For a former Hibs player, that is saying something.

From then on Hearts were almost in total control. Cesnauskis began having a real go at Dunfermline from his wide-left position and young Ross was pushed to the limit to keep him under control. Two corners from the Lithuanian revealed uncertainty in Dunfermline’s defence that hadn’t previously been apparent, and as a result a Jamie McAllister shot was cleared off the line by Campbell.

In between, Cesnauskis went on a meandering run across the box before making way for McAllister to drive the ball low from 25 yards. Stillie saved and Wilson cleared as Dunfermline wobbled. Then, in the final minute, Hearts substitute Mark Burchill almost stole the winner from Dennis Wyness’ cross, diving with Campbell on the six-yard line as the Dunfermline defender’s back got in the way of Burchill’s header.

In the dying seconds, Hearts sought to quicken the heartbeats of those fans who hadn’t made their way out the exits. Dunfermline’s Jesper Christiansen floated a cross to Andy Tod who stole in behind the static Hearts back line to nod the ball past Gordon. The linesman’s flag was up before the net bulged, but whether he was correct or not was a tight call.

Justice for Jambos? Maybe. But Dunfermline were left raging by the decision, and it’s hard not to feel their frustration.

Taken from the Scotsman