Hearts 5 - 0 Falkirk

ROB ROBERTSON at tynecastle December 27 2005

Scorers: Hartley (20), Skacel (25), Elliot (41, 90), Pospisil (73)

Hearts have set themselves up for a mouthwatering table-topping clash against Celtic on New Year's Day. Their win over Falkirk is the best they have played under manager Graham Rix and on a par with most of their displays under previous coach George Burley.

There was huge pressure on Rix and his players after a string of below-par performances, but they answered their critics in style with a polished showing.

Two goals from young Calum Elliot, his first for the club, and others from Paul Hartley, Rudi Skacel and substitute Michal Pospisil set the seal on a fine display.

Falkirk did themselves no favours through their on-field indiscipline. The worst offender was Stephen O'Donnell, who was sent off after just 22 minutes following two bookable offences.

He was cautioned after just eight minutes for a foul on Hearts captain Steven Pressley and then compounded the problem with a rash challenge on Elliot in the centre circle. Despite O'Donnell's protests, referee Stuart Dougal had no option but to send him off.

However, it provoked the ire of John Hughes, the Falkirk manager. Indeed, his reaction to Dougal's display appeared, on the face of it, over the top. He said: "This was a hard enough place to come when we had 11 men, but at 1-0 down

I felt we were still in the game, then the sending-off changed all that.

"A good ref might have just calmed it down and taken the sting out of the game. Football is about getting stuck in and being competitive.

"If Johnny Giles, Dave Mackay or Billy Bremner were on the park today, there would be nobody left on the park because of the way Dougal went about his business. I don't think he has any respect for Falkirk Football Club."

Hughes refused to elaborate on why he thought that, and revealed he kept turning to the stand to make eye contact with two people he had in the stand to analyse Dougal's performance.

Regardless of what Hughes thought of the referee's display, there was no getting away from the fact his side were completely outplayed by a Hearts team who started at a breakneck pace.

Rix praised the way his side had gone about their business and confirmed that Portuguese Under-21 internationalist Bruno Aguiar from Benfica would arrive next week with a view to joining until the end of the season.

The midfielder has played 18 times for the Lisbon side but has struggled to win a starting place under their Dutch manager, Ronald Koeman.

Said Rix: "I don't want to talk too much about him, as I just want to concentrate and enjoy what was a great performance from us. It was an important game for us to win and, because of that performance, you could see the confidence and self-belief coming back.

"I said to my players before the game that we owed the supporters a big performance and we gave them one. I thought we played at a very good tempo from start to finish, and I am delighted for young Calum, as these two goals will give him great confidence."

Although the arrival of Aguiar can be looked on as a boost for Hearts, it also throws up some intriguing questions.

The midfield area is the strongest part of the Hearts team and, unless the club know a top player like Hartley or Skacel is set to leave, it makes no sense to bring in another midfielder. That debate will concern Hearts supporters.

Rix's side played with great width, getting down the wings as when Burley was in charge. They took the lead in 20 minutes when a deflected shot from Skacel was pushed away by keeper Matt Glennon into the path of Hartley, who had all the time in the world to slot home from eight yards.

Two minutes later, O'Donnell was sent off, and then Skacel scored with a magnificent long-range effort. Elliot scored his first goal three minutes from half-time, then Pospisil scored in the second half before Elliot got the fifth in the last minute.

At the end, the Hearts supporters were chanting, "Bring on the Celtic," and the Parkhead club will realise they will be facing a Tynecastle outfit which is returning to top form. Hearts' experienced players, such as central defenders Pressley and Andy Webster, are back to their best.

Pressley and Hartley were among the main men who organised a private meeting of first-team players before the Falkirk game to try to build team spirit and figure out how to improve performances. The discussions have clearly worked.

Hearts (4-4-2) Gordon; Neilson, Pressley, Webster, Fyssas; Cesnauskis, Hartley (McAllister 78), Brellier (MacFarlane 65), Skacel; Elliot, Jankauskas (Pospisil 69). Subs: Banks, Simmons, Berra, Wallace

Booked Cesnauskis

Falkirk (4-4-2) Glennon; Lawrie, Ireland, Milne, McPherson; Lima, Scally, O'Donnell, Latapy (Thomson 53); Gow (Moutinho 63), Duffy (McBreen 68). Subs: Ferguson, McStay, Rodrigues, O'Neil

Sent Off O'Donnell (23) Booked O'Donnell, Lima, Milne, Thomson, McBreen

Referee S Dougal

Scorers: Hartley (20), Skacel (25), Elliot (41, 90), Pospisil (73)

Taken from the Herald