OUT-OF-FAVOUR Senegalese internationalist Ibrahim Tall netted his first goal for Hearts as the Jambos came from behind to draw 1-1 with Dunfermline in their SPL Reserve League clash at East End Park.

The visitors struggled to get into the game in a disappointing first half and found themselves behind at the break.

Polish strike star Bartusz Tarachulski put the Fifers ahead after 25 minutes with a well-struck shot from the edge of the area following a blunder by Gary Tierney. But Tall cancelled that effort out 20 minutes from time with a near-post header from Matthew Doherty's free-kick.

Although outplayed by the Gorgie outfit in the second period, the Pars could have snatched victory in the closing minutes. Smith found himself with an ideal shooting chance but just as the goal seemed to open up for the front man, Tierney was on hand to atone for his earlier aberration and deflected the shot behind.

Coach John McGlynn was pleased by the manner in which his players turned things round after the break.

"We said at half-time we didn't think we could play as badly as that again," he said. "We were much better in the second half and I thought we dominated the game after the break. We deserved to get the goal back although, having said, that despite dominating it was difficult to see where the goal was going to come from at times."

Jamie Mole, who made his top-team debut when he started the CIS Cup clash against Livingston at Almondvale earlier this season, brought some much-needed urgency into proceedings after replacing Graham Weir.

The youngster is highly regarded by the Tynecastle coaching staff and McGlynn added: "Jamie is a handful. He's strong, quick and has two good feet. He could have scored after coming on yesterday and overall did well in the time he was on the park."

The match also gave fit-again midfielder Neil MacFarlane another valuable 90 minutes under his belt, while Lithuanian internationalist Saulius Mikoliunas featured for an hour.

Hearts: MacDonald, Tall, Tierney, Berra, Wallace (Armstrong, 46), Driver, Neill, MacFarlane, Mikoliunas (Doherty, 60), Thorarinsson, Weir (Mole, 74).

Taken from the Scotsman