Pressley strikes twice to redeem own goal

Falkirk (1) 2 Hearts (0) 2

Hearts captain Steven Pressley pulled his team out of the fire at the Westfield Stadium with an unlikely double to preserve the club's unbeaten league record.

He struck in stoppage time to deny Falkirk a first home win in the top flight since February 1996, but it was a desperately uneven display from the visitors.

"Our bus driver, Alan Scott, who has been with the club for 21 years, lost his father on Saturday night,'' said Pressley. "I told him I would score a goal in his memory because he was a great guy. We showed a bit of steel to come back in the way that we did, and when the equaliser went in it felt like a win.''

That notwithstanding, their lead at thee top of the SPL table has been reduced to three points and they will now visit nearest rivals Celtic on Oct 15 without Julien Brellier, who sustained a broken rib, and, more significantly, Scotland goalkeeper Craig Gordon, who was dismissed for a professional foul 25 minutes into this contest.

Hearts had not been behind in the league until then, but they can hardly claim not to have had advance warning. Russell Latapy had previously gone close on two occasions, including 'scoring' with an indirect free-kick, before he engineered the crucial opening.

Showing exemplary close control, he jinked away from the lumbering Brellier before releasing Darryl Duffy. Gordon rushed from his line to intercept but, like Pressley, he was unable to match the striker's pace and took his legs.

The subsequent red card was as inevitable as the penalty: substitute goalkeeper Steve Banks dived right but Duffy placed the ball to his left.

It was no more than Falkirk deserved but the goal failed to galvanise what had been a complacent performance from the Edinburgh side and Banks did well to hold another Latapy drive low to his right.

Falkirk are one of the few remaining exponents of the outmoded diamond formation but, with Latapy in commanding form at its apex, it was Hearts who looked out of step and Edgaras Jankauskas was cautioned for a blatant dive in the opposition penalty area.

They were more purposeful after the break and Rudolf Skacel forced a fine save from Matt Glennon. Oddly, given their numerical advantage, the home side were content to defend from the 18-yard line, allowing Hearts all the possession they desired.

This paid off midway through the second half when, attempting to deal with a hopeful punt up field, Pressley was short with a headed pass back. Duffy latched on to the loose ball and, although Banks was able to parry the striker's shot, the rebound cannoned off the inrushing Pressley and trickled over the line.

His act of contrition was more than adequate, however. Four minutes later he supplied the final touch to a deep Skacel free-kick to set up the grandstand finish. We were into the second minute of added time when the Scotland defender struck again, following up after Glennon had parried Skacel's shot, although the goalkeeper appeared guilty of hesitation in moving for the rebound.

Duffy's assessment was abrupt. "The goals we lose are unbelievable," he moaned. "They are all down to our errors. Would any other SPL team throw away a two-goal lead against 10 men? I doubt it."

Taken from telegraph.co.uk