Hearts kicked into shape by Valdas

Falkirk 1
Hearts 2

IF Hearts could justifiably stand accused of not displaying enough desire in recent weeks as the brief tenure of Graham Rix petered out, then Valdas Ivankauskas has instantly imparted the importance of passion in football.

The weekend trip to Falkirk was always destined to come under the "hazardous" category for a group of visiting players who had to return from the dead at the same venue in October to scrape a 2-2 draw. This time they secured a priceless victory with the kind of tenacious qualities that Rix so admired, but rarely saw.

Ivanauskas, pictured below, has pinpointed an area of Hearts' play which required attention, and boy has he attended to it in the few days since Rix's dismissal last Wednesday. There were more than a few Hearts players who were actually applying themselves in an over-zealous manner.

Not that Falkirk were standing graciously by and allowing their opponents to swing the boot. No side managed by John Hughes would ever be permitted to adopt such an attitude so, with the hosts every bit as committed as their guests, what developed was a game littered with physical confrontation and over-the-top tackling. In short, a bit of a kicking match.

That Hearts emerged victorious says much for the impassioned messages of Ivanauskas in the build-up to this match - and during it. The Lithuanian emerged several times from the dugout with arms waving and expletives being propelled into the air.

It was not a superficial performance for the benefit of his principal employer, Vladimir Romanov, who sat behind him in the main stand with his ever-analytical eyes. No, Ivanauskas cares a great deal about what may become of this most extraordinary of seasons at Tynecastle, and he isn't afraid to tell us so.

"We needed a second goal in the first half and we were unlucky not to get it. The second half was fine and we won the match. Calum Elliot came on in the second half and did very well for us. It's not news that he has a big chance of winning awards this season and he has a big career ahead of him."

Ivanauskas refused to risk Scotland international defender Andy Webster, who had been feeling the effects of a stomach bug at the end of last week. In his place was the towering Portuguese centre-back, Jose Goncalves, who enjoyed only his second start since arriving at Hearts in January.

As the teams warmed up, Deacon Blue's Dignity rang round the Falkirk Stadium through its PA system, a rather ironic choice of music at the end of another tumultuous week for Hearts. But in the end, the players restored some of the dignity lost by the club after the rather extreme midweek actions of their majority shareholder. For that they deserve immense credit. There was a freshened impetus about the visitors virtually from kick-off, and it was interesting to note that Goncalves was favoured to partner Steven Pressley over the recent central-defensive deputy, Christophe Berra.

Paul Hartley's early free-kick was cleared only to Rudi Skacel, who stung the palms of Mark Howard in the Falkirk goal by adjusting his body to strike with his left foot from 16 yards. Pressley then suffered concussion in an aerial challenge that would eventually lead to the skipper's half-time substitution but Hearts' opening goal would have dulled much of the skipper's pain.

There was rather an extensive build-up to Hartley's 22nd-minute goal, which began with a neat Hearts move just inside the Falkirk penalty area involving Roman Bednar and Edgaras Jankauskas. The Lithuanian was stopped from shooting by Falkirk's Patrick Cregg, who did win the ball but nonetheless had to commit the now-illegal act of tackling from behind to do so.

Falkirk then broke down their left and Liam Craig curled the ball in for Tiago Rodrigues to glance a glaring opportunity inches wide with Pressley still off the pitch having his head bandaged. Seconds later, Hearts were on the offensive again with Skacel, and from his low, driven cross Hartley flicked in the first goal.

From then it seemed entirely plausible for Hearts to take full command of the game but, instead, they were to be found wasting too much time indulging in petty play-acting, with Skacel by far the worst culprit. The Falkirk support, not to mention their players, rapidly lost patience with the Czech as the first half wore on.

The subsequent stop-start nature of the match, with foul upon foul, allowed the hosts to gain a foothold in proceedings and they proved on a few occasions that they could threaten through a combination of mobile attackers and wide men with the intent to run at Hearts' full-backs.

Their persistence paid off when Bednar handled Alan Gow's free-kick in stoppage time after Pressley had committed a disputable foul on Pedro Moutinho. Gow stepped up only to see his initial penalty effort repelled by a full-length Craig Gordon dive to the right. The forward scored the rebound, however, with Gordon again showing remarkable reactions to get a hand to the ball before it bounced up into the roof of the net.

Berra entered for Pressley as the second half began, and Skacel was further antagonising his opponents, Jack Ross and Cregg in particular, with his exaggerated simulation. The animosity led to a wild tackle from Cregg on Julien Brellier long after the Frenchman had played his pass. The Falkirk player was not cautioned although, had the referee witnessed the incident fully, Cregg would almost certainly have walked for violent conduct.

Liam Craig then went in late on Robbie Neilson before Mark Twaddle took Bednar out, again from behind, which provoked a mini shoving match with Hartley at its centre. At that point, referee Alan Freeland was on the verge of losing control.

Brellier exacted some sort of revenge of his own with a disgraceful tackle on Craig, and he could also have seen red on another day. Skacel had often been fouled by Ross in the game, but his insistence on making the most of every tackle had become a major source of irritation to everyone connected with Falkirk. In the 60th minute he was again impeded by his direct opponent and, after a few rolls on the turf, he got up to walk for three strides with an exaggerated hop. In the next second, he was running down the flank unrestricted as space suddenly emerged with Takis Fyssas in possession - not an aspect of player behaviour that people in Scotland take kindly to.

Jankauskas became the third player of the day who could have been red carded when he executed a knee-high challenge on Twaddle. But, if nothing else, the referee was consistent in his leniency.

Hearts become more nervous in defence as the second period progressed but their clinching goal was a thing of beauty, largely thanks to substitute Calum Elliot. Brellier fed Jankauskas in the centre circle for an instant pass out to the teenager wide right. Elliot carried the ball towards the penalty area before angling a perfectly weighted pass to Jankauskas in the inside left channel.

The Lithuanian manoeuvred the ball onto his right foot, and as his shot deflected off Ross it trundled over the goal line almost in slow motion. But Hearts cared not, they knew they'd won the game despite there being nine minutes remaining.

There was still time for Ivanuaskas to voice his intense disgust at another late challenge, this time from Falkirk's Stephen O'Donnell on Hartley, but the trackside animation seemed to be a positive aspect of the day for Hearts.

One game in charge, one keenly-contested victory. Valdas Ivanauskas wouldn't have it any other way.

Taken from the Scotsman