On-form Hearts destroy Pars

By Ian Roache

A MASTER class from Hearts saw Dunfermline taught a lesson at East End Park on Saturday.

The Jam Tarts put on a show at the Pars’ stadium unmatched by any opposition team for a long, long time.

The skills displayed by the likes of Rudi Skacel, Paul Hartley and Julien Brellier were sublime at times and the home side got off lightly with a 4-1 defeat.

The second half in particular was a treat for the visiting fans and if Hearts keep this up they could still give Celtic something to think about in the race for the championship.

If anything, there was too much showboating, with Skacel indulging in a few “I’m not worthy” salutes towards his own supporters while play was going on.

Dunfermline face the other Edinburgh team this Saturday and they will be hoping Hibs don’t cause them half the problems their city counterparts did.

They then go back to Easter Road four days later for their CIS Cup semi-final against Livingston, so it’s fair to say that double-header in Leith will go a long way to deciding the fate of their season.

Things looked grim as they were pushed and pulled all over the park by Hearts.

And the Pars can’t seem to break away from SPL relegation rivals Livi, who sit just a point adrift in bottom spot.

However, such was the polish and shine of the visitors’ performance that it may be better to judge them in the weeks ahead.

The likes of Bartosz Tarachulski, who came on as a half-time substitute for Lee Makel, had little chance to impress as the defence was run ragged at the other end.

“It is difficult when the strikers do not have many chances to score,” said the Polish frontman, whose contract expires in May.

“Hearts are a very good team and they made it extremely hard for us.”

“There is an important spell for the club coming up and, while it is nice to be playing Livingston in the cup semi-final, our priority is the league.”

The Pars will be without striker Derek Young for those games and a few beyond as he undergoes a hernia operation today.

“That will be him out for six weeks,” said manager Jim Leishman, who added that he expects Simon Donnelly and Yannick Zambernardi to make comebacks in the reserve fixture against Motherwell at New Bayview this afternoon.

Leishman was gracious towards the Jam Tarts in his summing-up of the match, saying, “Hearts are strong at this moment in time and they played some good football.

“They were the better team on the day and we just have to take it on the chin.”

The Tynecastle men got off the mark on 28 minutes when skipper Steven Pressley nudged the ball over the line after Calum Elliot had made a mess of his shot.

They went two-up with a perfectly-crafted counter on 54 minutes.

Saulius Mikoliunas flicked the ball to full-back Robbie Neilson, who found Michal Pospisil with his cutback and the striker clipped his shot inside the near post.

The hosts hit back four minutes later when Mark Burchill fired the ball home from close range after an Iain Campbell free-kick eventually found its way to his feet.

The ball was in the Hearts net again on 62 minutes but Greg Ross’s fine low shot counted for nothing as referee Craig Mackay had already awarded a free-kick against the Pars.

That was a decision that baffled Leishman.

“Mark got his seventh goal out of 12 starts then just after that we got the goal disallowed,” he added.

“I didn’t see any incident whatsoever but it was dis- allowed and Hearts went up the park and scored.

“People say that maybe Bartosz committed a foul, but I didn’t see anything, although I heard the whistle blowing before the ball went into the net.”

The Tynecastle side made it three when Pospisil was left unmarked to head home, then Skacel got the goal he deserved nine minutes from time when he drilled the ball low into the net.

The notion that it could have been worse for Dunfermline was hammered home in the closing stages when Skacel fired the ball in from way out left and his cheeky chip crashed against the bar and flew downwards, just a few inches from the goaline.

While Hearts prepare to unveil new signing Neil McCann, probably tomorrow, Leishman laughed off the Pars’ inability to tempt the Scotland man to East End Park.

“I spoke to Neil McCann’s agent about something else and cheekily said, ‘What is Neil doing?’

“I think it was the £500—he couldn’t cope with having spare dosh! We were just two digits out…a week!”

There should be a French left-sided player coming in next week, though.

Also, Freddie Daquin may have returned home last week but Leishman added, “We might do something later on in the month.”

Taken from the Courier