Terrible Trio strike up in perfect scoring harmony

THE language of football writing, like the game itself, has become more robust over the past half century. When the directors of Hearts sat down in 1955 to record their verdict on the side's record 5-0 win over Hibernian in the fifth round (last 32) of the Scottish Cup, they paid tribute to the 'Terrible Trio' of Alfie Conn, Willie Bauld and Jimmy Wardhaugh in words which could have been used to enthuse over a concert at the Usher Hall. According to the directors' minute book, the performance of Conn, Bauld and Wardhaugh, who scored all five goals in the club's most emphatic cup win over their oldest rivals, was the work of "three men in harmony with no equals".

In the annals of Hearts' history perhaps no names trip off the tongue together more readily than the three forwards whose individual skills were surpassed only by the sublime understanding of their work as an attacking unit. Arguably Hearts' greatest ever player - although there's also a case for Bobby Walker - Dave Mackay, who returned to Edinburgh this week to attend a number of functions before Sunday's semi-final at Hampden, remains an unabashed fan of Conn, Bauld and Wardhaugh.

"I was a Hearts supporter as well as one of their players and just to be in the same room, never mind on the same pitch as Conn, Bauld and Wardhaugh, was such an honour for me," the former club captain recalled yesterday. "They all had their own special skills - Conn had great movement, Bauld was fantastic in the air and Wardhaugh had a sixth sense for a goal. Whenever I saw photographs of goalmouth incidents in the newspapers, Jimmy was always in the six-yard box. But what made the Terrible Trio so special was how well they played together. Individually they were exceptional, but collectively no one could touch them."

No quarter is asked or given in Edinburgh derbies and even the author of the Tynecastle match programme was sanguine beforehand about the likely result of this tie. He reckoned form in front of a crowd of nearly 46,000 would count for less than fortune. Yet, as it turned out, form did count for something. The Hearts side which ended a trophy drought lasting half a century by hoisting the League Cup the previous season was eager to meet a new challenge. Moreover, Hearts had already defeated Hibs three times that season and their league form was more consistent.

Not that Hibs were short of quality themselves. The 'Famous Five' of Gordon Smith, Bobby Johnstone, Lawrie Reilly, Eddie Turnbull and Willie Ormond (who first played together in 1948) were still all present and correct and, according to most reports, were the neater, more fluent outfit when the contest got underway. The ebullient Smith was as graceful and threatening on the wing as ever and Hearts had goalkeeper Willie Duff to thank for making outstanding saves from Reilly and Bobby Combe.

"From what I remember of the match, we didn't cover ourselves in glory that day," admitted Reilly yesterday. "Bobby [Johnstone] left Hibs soon after and the team was starting to come apart a wee bit at that time. It was just one of those games where nothing went right for us and we never got off the back foot."

Although the rivalry between the clubs was intense, players on both sides were friendly and Reilly often played golf with Bauld. He remembers one game at Gleneagles when the pair of rival centre-forwards arrived on the first tee only to be recognised by a works outing from Edinburgh. "They saw Willie and I and told us to go first," he said. "We were both shaking like leaves but managed to get our drives away. Of course, we duffed our seconds, but we were out of sight by then!"

That sense of camaraderie is still evident today and Mackay will attend the dinner in Reilly's honour at Easter Road on Friday evening. More than 50 years ago, though, it was the strength of Mackay and John Cumming in midfield which enabled Hearts to blunt Hibs' cutting edge.

"The Terrible Trio always scored a lot of goals and that game was no different," Mackay observed. "But, you know, my favourite player of all time was John Cumming. Maybe it was because I was a wing half and so was he. But John was so courageous and unselfish. Conn, Bauld and Wardhaugh grabbed all the headlines against Hibs in that cup tie, but I think John and I played our part as well.

"I remember the following year, we defeated Celtic in the Scottish Cup final and John was badly cut. When he came back on with a sponge to wipe away the blood, I told him I would head the ball whenever Beattie, the Celtic goalkeeper, kicked a clearance. But he wouldn't hear of it, of course."

While Hearts could depend on Mackay and Cumming, Hibs were less well equipped to disrupt the lines of supply to the Terrible Trio. Hearts scored with their first attack after 17 minutes. From a well struck corner, Bauld was left unmarked and won the ball in the air. Wardhaugh was astutely positioned to divert the ball with another header into the net.

Over the next eight minutes, the King of Hearts put the game beyond the reach of Hibs. Johnny Urquhart's fierce shot wasn't held by Willie Miller, the Hibs goalkeeper, and Bauld did the rest. An error by Johnstone - a poor clearance which deflected off a Hearts player - then fell kindly for Bauld, who scored the third with a clinical left foot shot.

Hibs continued to play some decent football but lacked the finishing touch of their rivals. As the second-half unfolded, Jim Souness produced the killer pass in the 67th minute which enabled Wardhaugh to score the fourth before Conn completed the scoring nine minutes later with a solo goal.

Although the credit for Hearts' triumphs of the 1950s is rightly laid at the door of Tommy Walker - the manager took up his post in 1951 - the roots of the club's golden age can be traced to the work undertaken by Davie McLean in the previous decade.

"Davie signed me and most of the other players who went on to be such important parts of Tommy Walker's team," reminded Mackay.

The Fifer, according to Albert Mackie in his book The Hearts, was a " quiet, contemplative, pipe-smoking man from Buckhaven". Perhaps McLean saw something of himself in the self-effacing Walker. At any rate he brought Walker back to Tynecastle as his assistant in 1948 and groomed the former Hearts and Chelsea man (best known for scoring a penalty as a 19-year-old against England at Wembley in 1936 after the wind blew the ball off the spot three times) for management.

As well as recruiting Walker in 1948, McLean also signed the incomparable Bauld that autumn and began the policy of investing in young players. (He'd signed Conn in 1944 and Wardhaugh in 1946). McLean guessed such a side would take at least five years to blossom but believed the end product would flourish for a decade. In a sense, McLean sacrificed personal and short-term glory for the greater good of the club.

His youth policy duly matured in 1954 when Hearts won the League Cup and the stage was set for the Scottish Cup triumph of 1956 as well as the zenith of the championship-winning sides in 1958 and 1960. One of the most noted features of Celtic's European Cup winning side was how the 11 players who triumphed in Portugal were all born within 30 miles of Parkhead. Similarly, in the Gorgie side of the 1950s, the players were all drawn from Lothian and Borders.

Mackay, for one, was an Edinburgh lad who only ever wanted to play for Hearts. Unlike players today who covet a move to the Premiership, Mackay was distraught when Tommy Walker sold him to Tottenham Hotspur for £30,000. "I'd broken my foot a number of times and each time it happened I was out of action for longer," he said. "I think the directors were concerned if it happened to me again then I'd be finished. So they took the money from Spurs. Ironically, I never broke my foot again, and my career in England was very successful. I had nine years with Tottenham and three with Derby before going into management.

"But I was a Hearts man through and through and never asked to leave. With players like Alfie, Willie and Jimmy for team-mates, why would I?"

Taken from the Scotsman