Another tall tale in a fantasy season for Hearts

Hearts 2
Hartley (70)
Berra (87)

Kilmarnock 0

JUST when we thought we had seen everything from Hearts in this bewildering season, they conjured up something else totally unexpected on Saturday. Ibrahim Tall made a first-team appearance for the club.

In becoming the 35th player to be used by Hearts since the campaign began, the 24-year-old Senegalese international defender finally ended his long wait for his debut. A reputed salary of around £9,000 a week has presumably helped the patience of Tall, who was recruited on the last day of the August transfer window at the behest of club owner Vladimir Romanov, provoking a distinctly underwhelmed reaction from then manager George Burley.

Accounts of Tall's performances in the reserve team were less than impressive and coach John McGlynn suggested in January that the former Sochaux player was poised to depart without ever troubling the first team appearance statistics.

After 25 minutes of Saturday's game, however, Tall at last emerged from his well-worn seat on the bench to form the unlikeliest of central defensive partnerships with young Christophe Berra and went on to help Hearts claim the victory which guarantees at least UEFA Cup football for the club next season and took them five points clear of Rangers in the race for second place in the Premierleague and a Champions League qualifying slot.

Tall's involvement came as a consequence of a knee injury sustained by Jose Goncalves, the big Portuguese stopper having started alongside Berra. Andy Webster, for the second successive week, found himself "rested" by interim coach Valdas Ivanauskas while captain Steven Pressley was sidelined by a back injury.

After a nervous beginning, which was understandable given that his last taste of senior football came all of 11 months ago when he appeared as a substitute for Sochaux in the French League at Paris St Germain, Tall proved competent enough to ensure there was no great inquest into Ivanauskas' decision to omit Webster.

"I found it difficult to adapt at first in Scotland," admitted Tall afterwards, "and I was injured three or four times as well, but I was always confident I would play for Hearts. I'm happy to have finally got my first game and that it was a 2-0 win in such an important match.

"In France, I played in both central defence and at right-back, but in the reserve team at Hearts I have always been playing right-back so it was difficult for the first five or ten minutes to play in the middle. After that it was okay because everyone else in the team talked to me and helped me.

"I want to play all the time and prove to everyone I am a good player. It made it harder for me in January when the club signed so many new players, many of them defenders, but I never thought of asking to leave. I have a three-year contract and I want to stay. I think the club is good enough for Champions League football and I would like to be a part of that."

When Ivanauskas was then quizzed about Webster's absence, which will inevitably be linked to the breakdown of talks on a new contract for the Scotland defender whose current deal at Tynecastle has just one more year to run, he initially seemed to suggest it would be temporary. "Andy was rested," said the Lithuanian coach. "He is a very experienced international player and we need him in the future."

When asked if Webster would return to the side for next Saturday's derby against Hibs at Easter Road, however, Ivanauskas was non-commital, saying only: "He is just one player in a big quality squad."

Such intrigue will remain low on the list of priorities for the Hearts supporters so long as their team remain on course for a historic Champions League place. They were worth their victory in a vibrant contest with a dogged Kilmarnock side, although it required a brilliantly struck free-kick from Paul Hartley to make the breakthrough 22 minutes from time.

The points were wrapped up in the closing stages when Scotland under-21 international Berra forced home his first goal for the club from close range after some delightful work by Deividas Cesnauskis had caused confusion in the visiting defence.

It was a painful blow for Kilmarnock whose own hopes of a UEFA Cup place have receded considerably. For the second match in a row, they were left to curse a controversial call by the match officials just before half-time.

The previous Sunday, it had been Steven Naismith's erroneously disallowed goal against Celtic, here it was referee Eddie Smith's failure to award a foul against Berra when he tripped Danny Invincibile on the edge of the Hearts penalty area.

"Danny is an honest lad and he says he got in behind the defender and his heels were clipped," said Kilmarnock manager Jim Jefferies, choosing his words carefully. "The problem is probably that if he (the referee) gives a foul, he has to send the defender off as it was a clear goalscoring opportunity. It's the second week in a row we haven't got a break in the 43rd minute of a game, so I definitely won't be taking No. 43 in the lottery.

"I can't criticise my players. They were up against formidable opponents, a team who will probably win the Scottish Cup and qualify for the Champions League, but we weathered the early period of the game when Hearts always start well. Who knows what might have happened had their player been sent off in that incident just before half-time?

"I didn't feel Hearts looked like scoring in outfield play, I felt if there was going to be a goal it would come from Kilmarnock on the break. It took a really special free-kick from Paul Hartley to get them in front and you could see the relief they felt."


Taken from the Scotsman