Burley takes pleasure in manner of comeback

STUART BATHGATE

GEORGE Burley was not so much relieved as proud after seeing his Hearts side bounce back from 2-0 down to preserve their unbeaten record against Falkirk yesterday. The Tynecastle manager had seen the fates conspire against his team, but then took great pleasure in the way in which they recovered to take a point thanks to two goals from Steven Pressley, whose own goal had added to the lead Falkirk got from a Darryl Duffy penalty.

"Things can go against you and that was the case today," Burley said. "Falkirk were the better team in the first half, then when we lost the second you begin to think maybe it's not our day. Then we showed our character, and I thought we were the better team in the second half. We passed it well, had good possession, and never dropped our heads. When you're 2-0 down with ten men anything's a bonus, so I'm pleased."

Steven Pressley had scored twice in the one game before - for Dundee United longer back than he would care to remember - but never had he managed three. Burley joked that the captain would keep the match ball, but the player himself was simply pleased to have hit back with two at the right end after his own goal had given Falkirk a 2-0 lead.

"The goals were for our bus driver, Alan Scott, who lost his father on Saturday night," Pressley said. "He has been with the club for 21 years, and I said to him today I'd score a goal for him. Unfortunately the first one was at the wrong end.

"But it's been a very good day for ourselves. Once we went down to ten men we showed fantastic spirit, and I think that is going to be very important in the weeks and months ahead.

"I just thought we weren't aggressive enough in our play in the first half. But in the second half we were, and I thought we were the better side then."

The dismissal of Craig Gordon will deny the goalkeeper a 100th consecutive competitive appearance for Hearts, but both Burley and his Falkirk counterpart John Hughes offered words of sympathy for the Scotland No1. Burley accepted that, while Gordon had tried to make contact with the ball, he had actually done so with Duffy and therefore had to go.

Hughes suggested that red cards for goalkeepers might be applied retrospectively. "I know that's probably never going to happen, but they spoil the game," he argued. "It gave us the advantage and we took it. We got at them and we were creating chances. Then if we could have held on for five or ten minutes after we had scored our second we might have gone on to score again. But the other thing happened - they scored and went on to get their second.

"It's self-belief. I said to them we're allowed to beat Hearts at Falkirk Stadium. We're allowed to beat them at Tynecastle. We're allowed to beat the big boys.

"Maybe if we'd been in the SPL a year and this was our second season we would have won. I'm very disappointed for the players."

Duffy pointed, out, however, that Falkirk will not have the luxury of playing a second season in the SPL and then gaining self-belief unless they play well enough in this campaign.

"The goals we give away are unbelievable," the striker said. "No-one scores World Cup goals against us - it's mostly down to our errors."

Taken from the Scotsman