Jags turn cup tie into a real heart-stopper

Hearts 2

Partick Thistle 1

A GAME that paints Deividas Cesnauskis as his side's talisman and Roman Bednar as the villain of the piece would always be described as strange on the evidence of early-season Hearts. So Graham Rix was thoroughly justified in exhaling a sigh of relief at full-time on Saturday.

No-one at Tynecastle could have predicted that a place in the Scottish Cup semi-finals would be achieved by virtue of an inspired Cesnauskis display, possibly his best since arriving in Edinburgh from FBK Kaunas a year ago. Even more surprising was that this victory over a resilient and brusque Partick Thistle group was attained despite the dismissal of Czech striker Bednar on 70 minutes for two bookable offences, failing to retreat at a free-kick and diving in a futile attempt to win a penalty.

The sum total of these violations was barely worthy of the subsequent red card administered by referee Craig Thomson, if you believe football to be the man's game it once was. However, with the game's rules having been changed to outlaw virtually every minor offence, the official would have come in for heavy criticism from his superiors had he not brandished cards at Bednar. The laws of the game today state that both Bednar's offences were worthy of a yellow card, and therefore the striker can blame no-one but himself for a dismissal which forced his team-mates to retreat and cling to their lead, and his head coach to release a few more beads of sweat.

But to dwell extensively on Bednar's faux pas would be an injustice to Cesnauskis. The Lithuanian's productive display, first on the right flank from where he scored a sensational second goal for Hearts, and then on the left after Rudi Skacel had been substituted, was the kind Vladimir Romanov intended the people of Edinburgh to see when he sent the player over last January.

Sandy Hodge, Partick's left-back, had a torrid time attempting to curtail Cesnauskis and was one of three visiting defenders left trailing in the wake of the winger's mazy run before his explosive left-foot shot put Hearts two in front.

Of course, the home side should have affirmed their footing in the Scottish Cup semi-finals long before then. Partick had attempted to exert a modicum of authority by switching ends with Hearts having won the coin toss at kick-off.

This forced the Tynecastle side to shoot into the Gorgie Road end for the first time this season, and could perhaps explain Skacel's quiet performance given that he has never scored at the southern end of Tynecastle. But five minutes in and Edgaras Jankauskas was rising to power a pinpoint Paul Hartley cross beyond Kenny Arthur. Plans seemed to be falling into place at that point. Then Hearts stopped. Stephen McConalogue and Adam Strachan began making increasing progress down the Thistle right, exploiting a hesitant home side and executing dangerous crosses in front of home supporters who were becoming increasingly restless.

Scott Boyd looped a header inches wide from Mark Smyth's free-kick before McConalogue, under pressure, scooped his finish over Craig Gordon's bar after Andy Webster and Takis Fyssas had collided trying to clear a cross.

Partick were slowly taking control and making it increasingly hard to accept that they were sitting third in the Second Division.

With Hearts looking seriously disturbed at half-time, Rix sent his players out early for the second period accompanied by fitness coach Tom Ritchie.

They undertook a series of short sprints designed to alleviate the lethargy, and a sprightly beginning to the second half was the outcome.

That said, Thistle did pull possibly the save of the season from Gordon on 57 minutes. Ricky Gillies touched a free-kick to Billy Gibson and his 25-yard rasper deflected off Jankauskas and made its way towards the opposite side of the goal from which Gordon was headed. The keeper's athleticism and instinctive reactions saw him miraculously claw it out.

"I was following the ball in," said Hodge. "I couldn't believe it when he pulled it out. I think it was actually behind him when he saved it. But that's why he is Scotland's number one."

Then came Cesnauskis with a second goal virtually out of nothing after he had taken a Robbie Neilson throw at the corner flag and cut inside. You suspected then that the tie was over, but no-one reckoned for Bednar's intervention.

The Czech was introduced as a 61st-minute replacement for the tired Calum Elliot, and 60 seconds later prevented Partick taking a quick free-kick on the edge of the Hearts penalty area to bring his first yellow card. His next act was to chase a Julien Brellier pass and out-run Smyth on his way to goal.

As visiting goalkeeper Kenny Arthur invited Bednar on to him by refusing to come off his line until the last second, the striker knocked the ball away from the keeper but proceeded to take another step towards him and fall theatrically with no contact having been made.

Referee Thomson was soon at his back to issue a second yellow and then a red card, forcing Hearts into desperate defending with one player less.

When Mark Roberts picked up a Steven Pressley header and dribbled beautifully past the Tynecastle captain and Paul Hartley to slot home for his side after 75 minutes, everyone inside the stadium sensed a rousing of the visitors.

Darren Brady, a Partick substitute, could easily have levelled after Roberts dummied Strachan's teasing cross from the right. Brady came in at the back of Roberts but was leaning back as he struck a ball begging to be knocked into the net from just six yards. The full-time whistle brought boos from a minority of Hearts supporters dissatisfied with their afternoon's entertainment. The intent was always to make it through to the semi-finals though, and that had been achieved.

The rebirth of Cesnauskis was also very apparent. "I was not playing under George Burley earlier in the season but now Graham Rix trusts me and plays me a lot more," said the Lithuanian. "Burley had his squad prepared in his mind and I was not included. I was a stranger. Now I only want to play for Hearts and I would love to stay here beyond the summer."

Hearts must do without Bednar in the semi-final, something that director of football Jim Duffy admitted was needless.

"We didn't say anything to him about the incident, but we told him he should have put his foot through the ball and scored anyway.

"If there wasn't any contact then the referee is quite right to give him a yellow card. But it's impossible for us to tell if the goalkeeper clipped him. We'll look at everything and make a decision. I prefer to look at these things from a football point of view, not a referee's point of view.

"If you are going through at pace and you try to hurdle a challenge then it's a different way of looking at it."

The bottom line is Hearts made it through. Stumbling through the semi-final would also be tolerated if it secured the club's place at Hampden on May 13. But there is also the possibility that the kind of nervousness evident at Tynecastle on Saturday could ultimately destroy the Scottish Cup campaign.

Taken from the Scotsman