TRIO GRAND

HEARTS 3 MOTHERWELL 0

IF there's such a thing as a routine day at the office for Hearts, this was it.

The normal, day-to-day chaos that surrounds the club was put to one side and a team who were better than the one they were playing had a comprehensive win they thoroughly deserved.

The satisfaction to be derived from breaking out of a destructive sequence of games that had denied Hearts five of the last six points was heightened by the performances of three players - Edgaras Jankauskas, Calum Elliot and Roman Bednar.

Lithuanian Jankauskas scored one goal that was opportunistic and another that was fantastic in its cold-blooded execution, both of them showing how much he's been missed in a season punctuated by injury.

Teenage Scot Elliot chipped in with his fourth goal in five games, again underlining his credentials for the future.

And Czech Bednar made his return as a sub after a lengthy absence to strengthen Hearts' position as the team most likely to reverse modern history and prevent Celtic and Rangers from entering the Champions League together next season.

On Saturday Partick Thistle go to Tynecastle for a lop-sided tie that holds out no prospect of anything other than a continuation of Hearts' progress towards the Scottish Cup Final the bookies have made them overwhelming favourites to win.

In other words, it wasn't, all things considered, the worst day to be the club's manager. It's just that there's not much fun in it for Graham Rix.

He wears the haunted, hunted look of a man who suspects there's bad news coming round the corner.

Every question he takes after a game is loaded in his mind and his responses are those of a man who feels he's tip-toeing his way through a minefield.

No live interviews with the broadcast media are permitted, presumably because he fears being trapped in the headlights of something awkward that he can't avoid.

His interrogation technique with newspapers is like that of a man who has been brainwashed into believing he should only give his name, rank and serial number.

It's not as if Rix is isolated. His best pal, Jim Duffy, is so close to him as director of football that he donned a tracksuit and stood beside him in the dug-out.

And just to make sure he doesn't feel vulnerable in his dealings with the journalists who have only come to record the return of Hearts as a credible force, the manager is surrounded by a flotilla of spin doctors and PR minders after the match.

Big clubs tend to get major coverage and the absence of the media is the first thing they tend to complain about when they're ignored. And the manager's paranoia is a pity for him because there was a lot to enjoy on the pitch.

Motherwell boss Terry Butcher watched it all unfold through the philosophical eyes of a man who had seen it all before and was therefore left without a trace of bitterness.

He knew when Scott McDonald hit a post with a header that should have been a goal his side were just starting a day when it made no difference what they tried to do.

Hearts took the rebound from the woodwork and raced to the other end of the park to open the scoring for themselves.

Butcher said: "If you don't stand up to Hearts, you get swept aside. You look at them in the warm-up and you think you're about to take on the Harlem Globetrotters."

What Jankauskas lacks in mobility he makes up for with sheer power. He lashed the first goal in after Rudi Skacel's original attempt had been beaten down by stand-in keeper Colin Meldrum.

But the second could only have been a blur for him as Jankauskas propelled a shot from the edge of the penalty area that was still rising and gaining momentum when the net stopped it hitting the M8.

Rix came out of his defensive shell long enough to say: "I was delighted for Edgaras because I know how frustrated he has been as a result of his injury problems.

"And we didn't know how much we'd missed him until we got a display such as that to act as a reminder. Roman's return, coupled with Jankauskas' goals, have lifted the whole club.

"And I was delighted for Calum because he's such a great kid to work with.

"I can't remember Craig Gordon's goal being bombarded at any stage so the defence did their jobs as well.

"Now we've just got to focus on ourselves and keep churning out the results."

Motherwell were left subdued by their early setback and now they have to win their next game, against Inverness Caley Thistle, or face the demoralising prospect of being in the bottom six after the split.

Butcher added: "Caley Thistle have a six-point lead over us and we're at their place next. It's a massive game for us because we need a positive finish to the season.

"We're the chasing club and now we've got a keeper, Graeme Smith, who's developed the groin problem that caused him to miss the game against Hearts but I didn't think Meldrum had any chance with their goals."

That was correct and it would have rounded off Meldrum's day when Takis Fyssas sent Elliot scampering on to his pass before deftly lobbing the ball over the keeper's head and finishing the scoring.

It was the sort of thing Rix should learn to enjoy while understanding no one was about to suggest to him that Vladimir Romanov had picked the right team for the game or that things had looked up, points wise, since Duffy assumed his directorial role at the owner's insistence.

Just because you're paranoid it doesn't mean we're all out to get you.

MAN OF THE MATCH Edgaras Jankauskas(Hearts)

Taken from the Daily Record