Four-goal Hearts show they have a head for heights

STUART BATHGATE
AT ALMONDVALE

HEARTS are occupying the dizzy heights at the top of the Bank of Scotland Premierleague, and the worrying thing for their opponents is that they are displaying no symptoms of altitude sickness.

They had previously won some games in style, and others by toughing it out: here they tried a half of each, and the outcome was a resounding success which restores their lead in the league table to five points.

Not since season 1983-84 had a Hearts side won their first five matches of a season. This sixth win in a row has eclipsed that, and equalled the feat last achieved 91 years ago. The team which did that back in the Edwardian era was then broken up by the First World War, and has been held in reverent memory by the club's supporters ever since.

This present side will surely never occupy such a hallowed place in the history of Hearts, but the fact they have emulated the great pre-war team in that one respect does at least show what a great improvement has been wrought so quickly.

Rarely can a team with so many new signings have blended so quickly. The Scots core of the side has a lot to do with that, but so too does the enthusiasm of the foreign recruits. Rudi Skacel, for instance, after scoring for the sixth match in succession, might have been forgiven for wanting to showboat just a little.

Instead, his commitment was such that on several occasions he was seen tracking back and putting in tackles on the far side of the pitch from his usual left-midfield berth.

And, while George Burley has introduced a more attack-minded approach, the defence has played a big role in the early success.

Craig Gordon, in particular, was magnificent yesterday. In an ideal world he would have prevented the Livingston goal either by clutching the ball cleanly or palming it wide instead of letting it fall into the path of Paul Dalglish, but he more than compensated for that minor blemish with a series of splendid saves.

Long before Gordon was called into action, however, Hearts had seized control of the game. In the opening minutes Skacel saw a shot deflected for a corner, then Livingston's Richard Brittain was booked for a foul on the Czech. The Hearts No8 was clearly in the mood to make it six out of six, and he did so before ten minutes had elapsed. The Livingston defence was badly stretched by the time Roman Bednar crossed from the left to back post, and when Paul Hartley headed back across goal none of the home side could stop Skacel strolling in and scoring from around five yards out.

Scott Boyd and Roddy McKenzie then prevented Edgaras Jankauskas from making it 2-0, but the doubling of Hearts' lead was only delayed. When it came, it owed something to the accuracy of Jamie McAllister's free-kick, awarded after Manu Dorado had tripped Bednar, but was more down to a glaring failure by Livingston to mark their men. Andy Webster was the target for McAllister, and the centre-back probably had no-one within five yards of him when he stepped in at the back post to head into the net.

The third goal, the best of the afternoon, was created by the guile of Bednar. Staying just onside, he latched on to a neatly angled through ball from Jankauskas, closed in on goal, then cut out McKenzie with a diagonal ball to Hartley, who had the simplest of tap-ins.

Three down after little more than half an hour, Livingston looked woeful. What they lacked in cohesion, however, they partially made up for in effort, with their new Irish international signing Graham Barrett looking particularly eager to make an impact.

Five minutes before half-time a free-kick from Dalglish skimmed the bar on the way over, and was an indication that the match had reverted to two-way traffic. Then, just before the break, another free-kick gave Livingston the goal they badly needed.

Fouled by Julien Brellier on the edge of the box, Barrett took the award himself. Although goalkeeper Gordon stopped his effort on the line, Dalglish was first to react and tapped in.

Livingston made a decent effort to reduce the deficit further at the start of the second half, and seven minutes after the restart Neil Barrett - like his namesake Graham, making his debut for the West Lothian side - was not too far away with a diving header.

Not long after that Dalglish ran through on goal only to send the ball wide of Gordon. Steven Pressley was incensed the assistant referee had not flagged for offside, but it was a warning to Hearts that they would not be able to cruise their way through the rest of the match.

The introduction of Stephen Simmons helped restore Hearts' edge in midfield, and just after the hour mark the visitors got the goal which finally killed off whatever faint hopes Livingston retained.

Neil Barrett pulled McAllister's jersey just as the Hearts player attempted to execute an overhead shot in the box, and Hartley's cleanly struck penalty gave McKenzie little chance. To their credit, Livingston attempted to fight back again, and they did bring out a breathtaking double save from Gordon, when he first punched out a cross and then, from a starting position on the deck, managed to tip a Derek Adams volley over the bar.

That moment of excitement excepted, however, the final half-hour was uneventful compared to what had gone before.

Taken from the Scotsman