Hearts pushed to the limit

Pressley appeared to have sealed his team’s defeat when a bizarre own goal after 68 minutes gave John Hughes, the Falkirk manager, and his team a 2-0 lead against ten men. Amazingly, though, Pressley then single-handedly dragged his troops up by the bootlaces with two goals, the second in injury time, to salvage a point.

Two wonderful dips of a shoulder from Russell Latapy put the first spoke into the wheel that was Hearts’ dream start to the season. The veteran playmaker sold Julien Brellier, the Hearts midfield player who later departed with a suspected broken rib, a double shimmy before sending a precise through-ball into the path of Darryl Duffy.

The striker reached the ball just an instant before Craig Gordon, the Hearts goalkeeper, and was tripped. It was a clear penalty and Iain Brines, the referee, added insult to injury by sending off Gordon. Steve Banks was brought on for Michal Pospisil and the substitute goalkeeper’s first job was to pick the ball out of his net after Duffy sent him the wrong way from the spot.

Hearts were facing a stiff examination and seemed out on their feet after Pressley’s freak own goal. The backtracking defender watched in horror as a rebound cannoned off him and rolled agonisingly into the net.

But, almost immediately, he sprinted upfield to make it 2-1, cleverly flicking home a dangerous free kick from Rudi Skacel and he levelled by bundling home from close range as the Falkirk fans screeched for the full-time whistle.

Next stop for the league leaders is Celtic Park. “We will go there with a positive attitude,” Pressley said. “Why shouldn’t we? We’re top of the table.” Fitting that again he should have the last word.

Taken from timesonline.co.uk