NO CONSOLATION FOR CAMPBELL

Partick manager Dick Campbell was 'pig-sick' after his side crashed out of the Tennent's Scottish Cup with a 2-1 quarter-final defeat by Hearts at Tynecastle.

A fifth-minute header by Edgaras Jankauskas gave the Gorgie men a dream start, and Deividas Cesnauskis' 63rd-minute drive appeared to ensure a safe passage for the Edinburgh side.

But Roman Bednar, who had replaced Calum Elliot, was sent off in the 70th minute after picking up two yellow cards - the second for diving inside the Jags penalty area after rounding Thistle goalkeeper Kenny Arthur.

Jags midfielder Mark Roberts then scored for the visitors to ensure a tensioned-filled finale - and the nervy home side were more than relieved to hear the final whistle.

Campbell could not contain his disappointment.

"I'm pig-sick. One thing I don't want to be is a glorious 'lose' and I don't want to hear 'Well done Thistle'. I'm not interested in that," he said.

"There was an opportunity for us, but the thing is we are out the cup.

"We were beaten by two magnificent strikes of quality but we didn't fall down and we had three or four good chances in the first half.

"We got at them and ended up with five players up in the last 15 minutes of the second half, and Craig Gordon proved why he is probably the best goalkeeper in Britain with an absolutely magnificent save from Billy Gibson."

Thistle goalkeeper Kenny Arthur played down the incident which resulted in Bednar being sent off, preferring to praise Craig Gordon for his wonder save from Gibson's shot which had taken a deflection off Jankauskas.

He said: "I've seen them given. But it's the referee's decision and it's got nothing to do with me.

"I'm not sure if I caught him - but it was an attempt to get the ball.

"I never feared the referee was going to send me off, because he showed a yellow first.

"You can talk about us missing chances but you've got to give credit to Craig Gordon. It was the best save I've ever seen in any game I've played in.

"It didn't help us - but you have to give him credit for that."

Gordon was modesty personified, saying: "It's very high praise - but I don't know about that.

"It was a good save at an important time. We scored just after that to give us the cushion to eventually put us through.

"The shot took a fair deflection. It was going down low to my right and it came off Edgaras and came back towards the middle of the goal - but I got a decent hand on it.

"I don't know if I've made a better save before - but the one against Motherwell here earlier in the season wasn't bad!"

Hearts director of football Jim Duffy insists he will wait on television evidence before deciding what to do about Bednar, who will miss the semi-finals through suspension.

He said: "If there was no contact then the referee was quite right to give a yellow card.

"If there is no contact and a player tries to seek an advantage then there is no complaint - but until we see television pictures it's difficult to say."

The Edinburgh side seemed comfortable enough with their lead, but as the first half wore on there were signs that Partick were finding more belief.

Partick forced a couple of corners in quick succession, the second on the half-hour mark coming to an end when Sandy Hodge's header from Adam Strachan's cross was blocked by sheer numbers.

Unusually, the Hearts players came out for a second warm-up after the break - perhaps an indication that head coach Graham Rix was less than happy at how his side had ended the first period.

In the 63rd minute it appeared the worry was over for the home side when Cesnauskis drifted inside the Jags penalty area past Gibson and curled an unstoppable left-foot shot from 16 yards past Arthur and into the top corner.

But in the 70th minute, substitute Bednar - who had been booked for encroaching just after Hearts' second goal - was sent off.

The Czech striker went through on goal with only Arthur to beat and went to ground after rounding the Jags goalkeeper .

The home fans were stunned further when the referee showed a second yellow card, judging Bednar to have dived.

The Jambos were shocked again in the 75th minute when Roberts curled a shot from the edge of the penalty area past Gordon and into the corner of the net.

It was a nervy last 15 minutes - but the Edinburgh side survived.

Taken from sportinglife.com