Dominance displayed

Dunfermline 1-4 Hearts
Alan Campbell at East End Park

WHEN Hearts returned from Inverness with three points on September 17, not even the most pessimistic supporter would have expected to wait four months for another Premierleague away win. The Edinburgh side’s poor record on the road has been largely responsible for the drop to second in the table, but the emphatic nature of this victory over a hapless Dunfermline keeps the title dream alive.

The Fifers, of course, were the opposition on the fateful Saturday in October when the news leaked out that Hearts manager George Burley had left the club. Graham Rix has been a largely unconvincing replacement, but with new players coming in to replenish a threadbare squad, the seven point gap behind Celtic is not yet insurmountable.

The latest linked with Hearts is former player Neil McCann, and Rix indicated he will rejoin the club at the start of the week. “There are one or two details to be ironed out,” he said. “I’m confident that in the next couple of days these details will be sorted out, but until he signs I don’t want to tempt fate.”

There were also substitute appearances yesterday for midweek signings Nerius Barasa and Lee Johnson, and with suspensions looming Hearts will need all the resources they can muster.

For Dunfermline, the only good news on a gloomy afternoon was Livingston’s heavy defeat in the Highland capital. Jim Leishman faces continuing financial restraints as he strives to add to a squad creaking with injuries, and yesterday was another morale-destroying result after the 4-3 Scottish Cup elimination by Airdrie. Leishman’s side, to their detriment, had failed to score in seven of ten league games played at East End Park this season – but they should have broken their duck in this match in the opening minute. Greg Ross sent in an inviting cross, but Andy Tod headed just over the bar.

Both sides found it difficult to establish a pattern, but after a dull first quarter an unlikely mix-up brought the game to life. The almost telepathic understanding between Craig Gordon and Steven Pressley broke down on the edge of the Hearts box, causing the loose ball to break to Mark Burchill. He had two opportunities to hurt Rix, the man who signed him for Portsmouth, but Gordon, outside the box, saved his first shot with his feet. Burchill collected and this time tried a lob, but Pressley, covering back, headed the goal-bound effort clear.

If these chances gave the impression that Leishman’s side were in the ascendancy, Hearts proved how wrong the assumption was by taking a monopoly of the possession for the rest of the half. The visitors were aided by some slipshod play by the hosts, and the first ominous sign for the home supporters came when Rudi Skacel’s fierce volley from a Calum Elliot cross was saved by Allan McGregor.

Pressley, despite his earlier error, and Paul Hartley were to go on to control the game and they were both involved in the 28th minute when Hearts took the lead. The midfielder sent a free kick into the box which Elliot tried to convert but his shot flew across the face of the goal to Pressley who knocked the ball into the empty net.

Hearts had several chances, notably from Michal Pospisil and Andy Webster headers, to increase their advantage, but had to wait until after the half-time tea for the cushion. It was cleverly created and executed. Saulius Mikoliunas, who had earlier been denied a decent penalty claim, and Robbie Neilson tricked the Dunfermline defence on the right before the latter played the ball into the path of Pospisil, whose crisp shot eluded McGregor.

Having surrendered a two goal advantage to leaders Celtic in the crucial game between the clubs on New Year’s Day, Hearts, for all their dominance, must have feared the worst when, only three minutes after Pospisil’s strike, Dunfermline pulled it back to 2-1.

Pressley was booked for wrestling with Pars substitute Bartosz Tarachulski on the halfway line as the striker attempted to break clear of the Hearts defence, and from the free kick the ball reached Burchill. This time the striker, who was on loan to Hearts this time last year, dispatched the ball past Gordon from close in.

The visitors were briefly rattled, and had an escape when a Tod shot beat Gordon but referee Craig Mackay had already whistled for a foul by Tarachulski. Buoyed by the reprieve, Hearts went on to extend their lead through Pospisil again and Skacel. It was the Czech midfielder’s 15th league goal of the season, and perhaps an indication that his side are back on course.


Taken from the Sunday Herald