CRAIG'S OUT OF THE GORDONARY

THE notion that yet another Scottish Cup shock could have taken place at Tynecastle with the home side 2-0 up sounds absurd, yet Partick Thistle did come perilously close to dumping Hearts.

Head coach Graham Rix reckoned Thistle should have won, Jags boss Dick Campbell was adamant his side should have won but it was the brilliance of Scotland international Craig Gordon that ensured the Second Division men didn't win.

Gordon proved just why he is Walter Smith's first-choice keeper with a quite incredible stop to block a deflected Billy Gibson free-kick midway through the second half.

Thistle were in the ascendancy when Gordon somehow contorted his body and changed direction mid-flight to paw Gibson's well struck effort to safety.

It was the pivotal and gravity-defying moment of a dramatic match and one Thistle defender Sandy Hodge could not quite comprehend.

Hodge said: "Craig Gordon has made a couple of great saves and they had a couple of great finishes. I suppose that is the difference in quality between the Premier and the Second Division.

"A lot of people wrote us off but we prepared all week and firmly believed we could cause an upset.

"I couldn't believe Gordon's save. I was actually following the ball and it was behind him when he saved it. But that's what you expect from Scotland's No. 1. He's not first choice for no reason."

At the death 10-man Hearts were desperately clinging on and the sense of relief at the final whistle was palpable as Rix's team booked their place in today's semi-final draw.

Rix was honest enough to admit afterwards that his team were second best although the irrelevance of the performance and importance of the result will not be lost on the Hearts coach, who already has three FA Cup Final wins on his CV.

The Englishman triumphed at Wembley with Arsenal as a player and twice as a coach during his spell at Chelsea and now stands 90 minutes away from claiming another little slice of history north of the border.

However, Hearts must head into the last four clash minus suspended Roman Bednar and Julien Brellier.

The influential Brellier picked up an injury-time booking for deliberate handball while Bednar, a second-half replacement for Callum Elliot, lasted just 10 minutes before getting himself dismissed for two separate acts of stupidity.

The Czech striker's first caution came moments after Deividas Cesnauskis had put Hearts 2-0 up with a sublime individual strike in 62 minutes. Bednar needlessly prevented Ricky Gillies from taking a quick free-kick and was yellow-carded by referee Craig Thomson, standing only a few feet away.

To compound his earlier indiscretion Bednar was then sent packing when he attempted to con Thomson into awarding a penalty.

But, to his credit, the official was perfectly placed to spot Bednar's theatrical dive as he launched himself over keeper Kenny Arthur when clear through on goal.

Blatant cheating might be acceptable on the continent but it is a cancer on our game and all steps must be taken to stamp it out, so full marks to Thomson for calling it perfectly.

Fortunately for the Czech forward his moments of madness didn't cost Hearts although he didn't do his team-mates any favours.

The game should have been wrapped up when he walked in the 70th minute with the Jambos, who have won 14 of 17 home games this term - 11 of them without conceding -two goals to the good and in control.

Edgaras Jankauskas gave them the lead after just five minutes when he rose unchallenged to bullet home Paul Hartley's pinpoint cross.

Thistle then had the bulk of possession and fashioned a hat-trick of chances with Paul Ritchie, Stephen McConalogue and Billy Gibson all going close before Hearts doubled their advantage.

Indeed, it came just after Gordon had denied Gibson and Cesnauskis's goal was worth the admission money alone.

There appeared little danger when the Lithuanian collected the ball near the corner flag but a burst of pace left Darren Brady for dead and before the Thistle sub looked up Cesnauskis had rifled a ferocious effort into the top corner.

Yet, still Thistle refused to lie down and Mark Roberts threw them a lifeline when he ghosted past Hartley and took Steven Pressley to the cleaners before curling a sublime low shot into the bottom corner.

Hodge said: "Mark does that kind of thing day in day out in training and it's usually me who gets twisted and turned. I'm glad to see Steven Pressley can get turned just the same as me."

Sensing the home team's vulnerability the visitors thrust men forward and with time running out Brady was presented with a golden opportunity to level the tie.

An intelligent dummy by Roberts allowed Adam Strachan's centre to drop invitingly at Brady's feet but with the goal at his mercy the substitute blasted over and Thistle's last hope of salvaging a deserved replay was gone.

It was a bitter pill to swallow for dejected Partick boss Campbell, who couldn't contain his enormous sense of disappointment.

He said: "I don't like being the glorious losers and I'm not interested in everyone saying well done Partick Thistle. I'm very angry because we are out of the Cup.

"I never ever thought we would be lambs to the slaughter because I knew all the pressure would be on Hearts. We had so much possession and there's no doubt we deserved at least a replay. Anyone watching the game could see that.

"But Hearts scored with two magnificent strikes and all credit goes to them but they know they got out of jail. I'm pig sick."

The experience left Rix equally drained although his over-riding emotion was simply one of relief.

Rix said: "I was just relieved to hear the whistle as we were hanging on at the end. I think Partick deserved to beat us to be honest.

"We didn't play fantastically well although we had a few players with knocks and a few of them were ill.

"We knew it would be a tough game and Partick never gave us a second on the ball from the first minute until the 90th."

MAN OF THE MATCH

Scott Boyd (Partick Th)

Moment that changed the match - Gordon's wonder save from Billy Gibson.

Hearts - Gordon 8, Neilson 6, Fyssas 6, Pressley 5, Webster 6, Skacel 5 (Mikoliunas 4), Jankauskas 6, Hartley 7, Cesnauskis 7 (Berra 3), Elliot 5 (Bednar 2), Brellier 6. Subs not used: Banks, Aguiar.

Partick Th - Arthur 6, Murray 6, Hodge 6, W Gibson 7, Smyth 7, Boyd 8, J Gibson 6, McConalogue 6 (Gillies 5), Ritchie5 (Brady 4), Roberts 7, Strachan 7. Subs not used: Colin Stewart, Snowdon, Craig.

Taken from the Daily Record