Bednar shows off the luxuries of Rix

Ewan Murray at Almondvale
Monday March 6, 2006
The Guardian

Hearts restored their eight-point advantage over Rangers in their quest for the second Champions League place yesterday, but were made to fight as hard as they have done at any stage this season for victory by a determined Livingston performance.

A strike from the substitute Roman Bednar three minutes from time edged this often tempestuous encounter, but the home side will feel aggrieved after contributing to a closely contested 90 minutes in which the teams were separated only by Hearts' ability to call on strength in reserve when it mattered most.

Much has been made of Vladimir Romanov's signing policy, which saw 11 players arrive at Tynecastle during the January transfer window to boost Hearts' first team squad to 35, but it is on afternoons like this that such abundance can and did prove decisive.

Hearts' head coach Graham Rix was without the core of his team, with the captain Steven Pressley suffering from a virus and the influential midfield duo of Paul Hartley and Julien Brellier suspended, but Hearts retained focus and the necessary desire after Rangers had applied pressure with victory at Falkirk on Saturday.

Perhaps the best insight into Rix's embarrassment of riches came afterwards from his opposite number, Livingston's manager John Robertson."We looked at Hearts' possible replacements for the three who were out, but there were about 27 of them," he said, only partly in jest.

Livingston, who are seven points adrift at the bottom of the table, were more than equal to Rix's men during the opening half, but fell behind due to the kind of twist of fate which has plagued their troublesome season.

Bruno Aguiar, a former Benfica midfielder who was one of those January signings, hit a speculative shot from 18 yards which cannoned off the unfortunate Richard Brittain and looped over Roddy McKenzie for a fortuitous opening goal. Brittain's state of mind improved dramatically on the hour mark, though, as his free-kick from just five yards off the left touchline deceived everyone in the Hearts' area for a well-merited equaliser.

Craig Gordon then saved brilliantly at point-blank range from Allan Walker, a stop that was to prove pivotal as Hearts pushed in front thanks to a cute near-post header from Edgaras Jankauskas. The goal was Jankauskas's fourth goal in three games and the culmination of superb wing play by his Lithuanian compatriot, Deividas Cesnauskis. Yet Livingston's spirit did not wane despite their lowly league position, and the full-back Dave MacKay volleyed a stunning fourth goal of the afternoon past Gordon from the angle of the 18-yard area.

Bednar, who had been introduced 60 seconds before MacKay's goal, made an impact for positive reasons, having been sent off only 10 minutes after coming off the bench in the Scottish Cup win over Partick Thistle eight days earlier. The Czech striker's burst was perfectly timed to collect Martin Petras's long and quickly taken free-kick which pulled the Livingston defence badly out of position. Bednar supplied a typically powerful finish for the winner.

"We knew we had to win," admitted Rix. "That was the most important thing after results on Saturday. A lot of SPL sides would love to be able to put Roman Bednar on with 15 minutes to go; I think that speaks volumes for the strength of our squad."

Robertson, who can only dream of such a situation, refuses to recognise he is now staring relegation in the face despite his side being unable to return any form of tangible reward from arguably their best team performance of the season.

"Football can be a cruel game, and it was cruel to us today," said the Livingston manager, who is also Hearts' record scorer and a former Tynecastle manager. "But anyone who is honest can see that wasn't the performance of a Livingston team who are certain to be relegated."

Man of the match: Bruno Aguiar (Hearts)

Taken from the Guardian/Observer