Hearts' double act tears up the script

Celtic 0
Hearts 2 Miller (8), Burchill (19)

Referee: H Dallas. Attendance: 59,562

FEW Celtic supporters will have any difficulty in recalling that, the last time the league championship was closely run, in 2003, Hearts’ come-from-behind victory at Tynecastle seven matches from the finish did more damage to the Parkhead side’s prospects of retaining the title than Rangers themselves could manage when losing the Old Firm match at Ibrox a week later.

Nor will the vast majority readily forget that Mark Burchill’s equaliser for Dundee in the 1-1 draw at Dens Park a fortnight earlier had similarly jolted the reigning champions with a reminder that long odds-on favouritism carries no guarantee of success.

Without those unscripted disruptions, there would never have been the impossible drama of that famous last day two years ago, when Rangers wrested supremacy from their fiercest rivals by a solitary goal.

With the former Celtic striker and the Edinburgh club now united, anyone with a sense of history and a belief in coincidence might have received news of this latest result not so much as a shock as an inevitability. Those who were there to see it did not require a knowledge of the recent past to prepare them for the likelihood.

That Hearts would carry off the three points became a virtual certainty the moment Burchill coolly scored the second goal. Even with less than a quarter of the match completed, it had become apparent that Martin O’Neill’s side were off-colour to the point of sickness and that John Robertson’s players were in no mood to be merciful.

There was a raggedness about Celtic, from start to finish, which the Tynecastle side exploited with the chilling stoicism of a professional gunman. In summary, Hearts enjoyed a result that was thoroughly merited by a performance that was entirely creditable.

One of the Old Firm’s traditional strengths has been their opponents’ weakness. This is never more tellingly emphasised than in those moments when visitors to Celtic Park or Ibrox create, or are afforded, opportunities which, in less hysterical environments, they would convert as a matter of course.

There is a tendency among the prospective scorers to lose their nerve and hurry their attempts either off target or weakly into the arms of a goalkeeper who should be an irrelevance. On this occasion, Burchill and Lee Miller went about their work with a composure and a conviction that simply reflected those qualities in the rest of their team-mates.

From back to front, Hearts were suffused with a self-certainty that is normally exclusive to Celtic. The home team were unsure of themselves, unimaginative in forward areas and generally about as threatening and incisive as a rubber knife.

That they should contrive, and squander, only two authentically golden opportunities throughout suggests that, even without those goals from Miller and Burchill, the best the champions could have hoped for was a scoreless draw.

Ross Wallace, who replaced the blundering Stephane Henchoz in the 36th minute, spurned the first of those chances when, sent clear on the left of the area by Craig Bellamy, he seemed to become unnerved in the manner usually expected of an opposing player at Parkhead and pulled his shot wide.

That occurred just a few seconds before half time and, with Hearts already two ahead, it may be argued that it could have altered the course of the match, by encouraging Celtic and their supporters and planting doubts in the minds of the Hearts players. That hypothesis is certainly unfair on Craig Gordon, Robbie Neilson, Steven Pressley, Andy Webster and the prodigious Lee Wallace, the back four whose self-belief, diligence and vigilance throughout the afternoon were unrelenting.

It is also one with which O’Neill himself was clearly uncomfortable. "I wouldn’t say that Wallace’s miss cost us the chance to come back," said the Celtic manager. "It might have made a difference of sorts, but we don’t know. What we do know is that we lost because we deserved to.

"We didn’t play well, we didn’t create enough chances and, basically, didn’t do enough overall to win the match. We would normally create a number of chances here on our own ground in both halves. We didn’t do that today and I wouldn’t put the blame on any individual. We were simply poor.

"But these are always tough games. Hearts aren’t going to come here and simply roll over. They never have and they were never likely to start today."

Henchoz made a fatal blunder when, instead of heading the ball out for a throw near the touchline, he sent it straight to Miller, whose instant pass through the inside-left channel was taken in his stride by the speeding Burchill and drilled low to the left of David Marshall.

That execution, and Miller’s own close-range header when the ball bounced off Marshall’s body, testified to the composure and confidence of the visitors throughout the match. And this without one of their more celebrated players, the suspended Paul Hartley.

Robertson was as calm in the aftermath as his players had been in the heat of competition. "I’ve said it before, that Donald Park [his coach] and I believe in attacking football," said the Hearts manager. "That’s what we tried to do today and what you always have to try to do against the Old Firm.

"Sometimes, a team of Celtic’s quality will push you back, but when that happened today, our defenders were outstanding. Those early goals gave them a shot in the arm, but there were some titanic performances out there, from Craig Gordon, Elvis (Pressley), Webster, and our two full-backs. They all showed great belief in themselves."

MATCH AT-A-GLANCE

Worthy winners? Without a shadow of a doubt. Celtic side made no serious threat on Craig Gordon’s goal.

Value for money? When a win at Parkhead comes once every five seasons, Hearts fans would have paid double to see this. Ticket sales will be brisk in Gorgie for next week’s cup semi-final rematch.

Key issue? The potentially fatal blow to Celtic’s championship hopes.

Star turn? Andy Webster. Mopped up efficiently with the rest of the Hearts defence.

Taken from the Scotsman