Focus on derby as Hearts caught napping

PAUL KIDDIE

WHAT must have gone through John Robertson’s mind when he saw Chris Sutton bury a header in the back of the Hearts net after just three minutes of their Tennent’s Scottish Cup semi-final is anyone’s guess.

The Jambos had gone into the Hampden Park showdown with Celtic confident of upsetting the holders for the second week in a row following the impressive league triumph at Parkhead.

They reckoned a repeat of the form which had stunned the Glasgow giants eight days previously would give them a great chance of booking a return ticket to the National Stadium for the final at the end of next month.

Key to that notable success was the early goal from Lee Miller which allowed the Gorgie outfit to build a foundation on which to construct their challenge.

Valiantly as they tried, though, the men in maroon found the task of completing their first back-to-back victories over the Hoops for five years beyond them.

Hearts were just not good enough on the day. But what might have been, though, had they not conceded so early.

Robertson had no doubt tried to drill home to his players the importance of keeping things tight at the back. Unlike last weekend, though, Hearts suffered the start which their fans must have been dreading as the Glasgow giants seized the initiative before many of the 38,505 supporters had even settled into their seats.

Fit-again Sutton, recalled to the midfield, timed his run between Steven Pressley and Andy Webster to perfection and as Craig Gordon came out to punch Alan Thompson’s cross, the Englishman got there first to bullet home a header from six yards.

So much for Plan A then. To their credit, though, Hearts refused to crumble and worked tirelessly to make life as difficult as possible for a Celtic side stung by the 2-0 defeat the last time the teams met.

The Tynecastle team gave as good as they got for the remainder of the half with both sides finding it difficult to create any clear-cut openings - Joe Hamill had his side’s best chance after great work by Paul Hartley and Mark Burchill, the winger seeing his shot smack into Joos Valgaeren.

The introduction of David Cesnauskis for the injured Robbie Neilson - the full-back was able to finish the half despite badly spraining his ankle after 15 minutes - helped galvanise Hearts in the second period. But before the Lithuanian could make an impression on proceedings, the Jambos were left with a mountain to climb after the lively Craig Bellamy had doubled Celtic’s advantage four minutes after the restart.

Luck deserted Hearts as John Hartson’s header rebounded off Paul Hartley into the path of the loan signing from Newcastle United and as he swivelled and shot with his left foot, a cruel deflection off the studs of Webster was enough to deceive Gordon at his near post.

"It was disappointing to lose the opener when we did but Alan Thompson can deliver the ball on a sixpence and Chris Sutton is the best in the business at gliding away from defenders," said Robertson.

"Until the second goal went in I thought it was a pretty even match. After we went two behind, though, it was a long way back."

There was a mountain to climb indeed but with substitutes Cesnauskis and fellow-countryman Marius Kizys - he started from the bench to make way for top scorer Hartley - looking in the mood, the Jambos clawed their way back into proceedings on the hour mark.

And what a goal it was from Cesnauskis.

Played in down the right-hand side of the area by Jamie McAllister, the Lithuanian playmaker took everyone by surprise by first-timing a magnificent lob over the helpless David Marshall in the Celtic goal.

Spurred on by the glorious strike, Hearts then enjoyed their best spell of the game as they pushed for an equaliser. Kizys had a shout for a penalty waved aside after a tangle with Sutton and the two Lithuanians then combined with Webster to give Burchill a shooting chance 12 minutes from time. Jackie McNamara was alert to the danger, though, and his near post block denied the former Celt from repeating his goal-scoring heroics of the previous Saturday.

That was the closest Hearts came to breaching the Bhoys rearguard for a second time, Celtic actually coming closer to scoring with Gordon diving full-length to fingertip the ball away as Bellamy looked set to pounce.

So the Scottish Cup fairytale wasn’t to be but while they were beaten, Hearts were by no means disgraced with their manager feeling optimistic about the future.

"At half-time I spoke to the players about the need for composure and getting our passing going, to get the ball wide and get in behind Celtic," he said.

"Although we did that pretty well, I thought overall that Celtic did enough to win the match. There is no-one more disappointed with the result than myself but I thought that we showed when we get the ball down and pass it we’re more than a match for anybody.

"We have got to try to keep improving but I think we are moving in the right direction.

"The goal which Cesnauskis scored just shows the quality which the lad has. He is keeping Saulius Mikoliunas out of the Lithuanian national team so he must be a good player.

"After we managed to get one back I thought we might just squeeze a second one in the half-hour which remained."

It wasn’t to be, though, and Hearts have little time to feel sorry for themselves with Wednesday’s derby showdown against Hibs now looming large on the horizon. With Tony Mowbray’s outfit having slumped to a 2-1 defeat to Dundee United in the first semi-final on Saturday, both teams now know that third place in the SPL is the only route into the UEFA Cup next season.

With five points currently separating the Edinburgh rivals, the Easter Road side has a clear advantage with the onus on Hearts to make some significant inroads into the deficit on Wednesday evening.

"We have a big derby game coming up and while we are five points behind Hibs, we have home advantage on Wednesday and have to try to make the most of that," said Robertson. "It will be another very tough match but there is the opportunity to close the gap on them and that is what we will be trying to do."

Taken from the Scotsman