Oz teenager Park signs up for Hearts

HEARTS have completed the signing of Australian youth internationalist Matthew Park from Frankston Strikers after getting international clearance for the midfielder.

Park has signed a two-and-a-half-year contract at Tynecastle and made his debut for the club yesterday as the under-19s defeated Rangers 1-0 in the quarter-final of the SFA Youth Cup by virtue of an Andy Driver strike.

He was recently involved at under-17 level for Australia in their qualifiers for the Asian Under-17 Championships against Laos and Indonesia, but is delighted to have defected to the northern hemisphere to further his career.

"Everything has been done and dusted so Matthew is raring to go now," said youth academy director John Murray. "It's been manic trying to get all the paperwork sorted but it's completed now. The boy is happy to be here and is looking forward to progressing with Hearts."

Frankston have been paid an undisclosed amount of compensation for 17-year-old Park, who came on as a last-minute substitute at Murray Park yesterday as the Hearts youth side progressed to the cup semi-finals.

The draw for the semi-finals will not be made until the completion of the other quarter-final between Celtic and St Mirren, which takes place on Friday. Livingston and Aberdeen are already in the draw along with Hearts.

Attempts to secure the Bulgarian youth international Branimir Kostadinov are on hold for the moment as the striker is back in his homeland on duty with his national youth side. However, the club will meet officials from the SFA upon his return in an effort to sort out education for the 16-year-old.

Brazilian midfielder Samuel Almeida Camazzola is preparing for a return from injury for the reserves tomorrow against Motherwell at Forthbank Stadium in Stirling, kick-off 2pm.

Taken from the Scotsman