Falkirk 1 - 2 Hearts

Scorers: Falkirk – Gow (45); Hearts – Hartley (22), Jankauskas (81)

As an advert for short-termism, the outcome of this match would seem to serve as a vindication to trigger-happy chairmen everywhere. Don't be misled. This was not the proverbial 'short-term boost' which increasingly desperate chairmen (or owners) bank on when they dismiss their managers.

It was less, if anything, to do with the Romanovs and everything to do with the Hearts players' ability to shrug off the surrounding mayhem and gouge out full points in their quest for a Champions League place. No group of players deserve a tilt at UEFA's premier competition next season more than they do. You almost grudge their owner and chairman the opportunity, though.

Being forced to endure weeks like these, particularly for the second time in five months, can only be counter-productive to players – their ability to cope with it this season has been nothing short of remarkable. After George Burley's more shocking departure last October, they beat Dunfermline 2-0.

They even managed a point against Dundee United last month, 24 hours after finding out that their manager was not in charge of team selection and their owner, Vladimir Romanov, had decided to drop two of their key players, Andy Webster and Robbie Neilson. Webster was absent again on Saturday, though the party line was that he had a stomach bug.

In adversity they have flourished, which says everything about their unity of purpose and nothing of their owner's readiness to put them in such a position.

Under Graham Rix, it is fair to surmise that they would have won this game too. Given that they beat Falkirk 5-0 in December under him, you could also argue they may have done so more emphatically. Whether long-term he was the right man for the job is a different story.

In the long run, Romanov may be proved correct in his decision to make the change, but to dismiss Rix when he did defied logic. Had Edgaras Jankauskas not stabbed home the winner with nine minutes left, and Rangers been allowed to close the gap further, you can be sure that that very point would have been repeated ad nauseam.

Craig Gordon, the Hearts goalkeeper, conveyed the magnitude of the result. "It's a huge performance and a huge win," said the Scotland No.1, who saved Alan Gow's penalty in the 45th minute, before the striker netted the rebound to cancel out Paul Hartley's opener.

"We really needed that, especially after the week we've had. I think a lot of people are looking for us to fall flat on our faces, but we've risen to the occasion."

Of the managerial merry-go-round, he was sanguine. "It might be hard to believe but you start to get used to it now. You don't get immune to it, but these things happen."

John Hughes, the Falkirk manager, also praised the character of the visitors. "You have to give them credit. They lost their captain [Steven Pressley went off with a head wound at half time which required three stitches and is a doubt for next week's Tennent's Scottish Cup semi-final against Hibs], they lost their manager earlier this week and they came here and dug it out. I just wish we could do that."

In fact, Falkirk certainly deserved to take something from this match.

Hughes' side matched up to their opponents in the physical battle and were well worth a share of the spoils before the late Jankauskas counter.

Hughes claimed afterwards that he is starting to feel like a stuck record, but there was less evidence of the individual errors which have consistently undermined his side's season.

Karl Dodd, the centre-half who made his debut, looks to be an assured acquisition and Hughes was keen to emphasise the youthfulness of his side. "[Mark] Howard, [Mark] Twaddle, [Stephen] O'Donnell, [Patrick] Cregg and [Liam] Craig are all 19, Tiago [Rodrigues] is 22 and [Alan] Gow, 23. It's the youngest team in the Premierleague and to compete with a real good side like Hearts, all credit to the boys. Every one of them gave me everything."

Eight bookings, four on each side, tell the story of a tempestuous encounter which apparently carried on in the tunnel afterwards. Rudi Skacel, whose cross set up Hartley's opener, was said to have got involved in some post-match taunting of the Falkirk players, who had been irate at the Czech midfielder's readiness to hit the deck throughout.

"There was diving but that's part and parcel of the game now," said Steven Thomson, the Falkirk midfielder. "That wasn't the reason we got beat. We need to defend better. We need to pick up points because we don't want to be looking over our shoulder all the time. We want to get away from Livingston."

Taken from the Herald