Hearts' show of strength
By Roddy Forsyth at Celtic Park
(Filed: 16/10/2005)

Celtic (1) 1 Hearts (1) 1

Hearts took one point and proved a couple more before the biggest crowd of the SPL season - 60,100 - at Celtic Park. George Burley's side remain undefeated at the end of the first quarter of the league campaign after they once again displayed the resilience required of true contenders.

Against Falkirk in their previous outing they lost their perfect record but showed resolve in adversity by coming back from two goals behind to earn a fighting late draw despite being reduced to 10 men by the dismissal of their goalkeeper Craig Gordon.

Gordon's absence through suspension yesterday was bound to introduce an element of uncertainty to the Hearts defence, especially since his replacement - the former Gillingham goalkeeper Chris Banks - would have to make his full debut in intimidating circumstances.

Yet it was Hearts who opened more smoothly, stroking the ball fluently around the Celtic half in the opening 10 minutes and forcing Artur Boruc into a two-handed tip over his crossbar from Paul Hartley's drive in their first attack.

Hearts, too, were prepared to be rugged in halting Celtic's upfield forays but this was at the cost of free-kicks in dangerous positions and it was from one of these that Gordon Strachan's side took the lead. Alan Thompson played the ball short towards the edge of the box and Shunsuke Nakamura chipped it on towards the back post.

The ball was blocked but not cleared and when it rebounded across the area Craig Beattie struck a shot which took a fierce deflection to sweep beyond Banks. The replacement goalkeeper looked unsteady at times, flapping and missing one cross which had to be booted to safety by Takis Fyssas, but he could not be held culpable for the goal.

Scenting blood, the Celtic fans boomed out their anthems but not for long. Within two minutes Hearts were level, as Rudi Skacel chased a pass back from Paul Telfer and unnerved Boruc into spilling the ball. Skacel was on the floor when the ball broke loose but he kept his cool and scooped his shot into the empty net.

The game settled into a cat and mouse affair, but Burley, the Tynecastle manager, was the more content afterwards. "It's very early in the season but to come here and put on a show is encouraging for the future," he said.

"We certainly don't have a squad as strong as Celtic or Rangers but we'll try to battle until January and stay in contention as long as possible".

Taken from telegraph.co.uk