Hearts display hallmarks of elite

Hearts 2 - 0 Kilmarnock

IF an unstinting self-belief, combined with dogged determination, are the deciding factors in who will claim the right to a place in the Champions League qualifiers, then Hearts can be all but certain of joining the elite next season.

The Tynecastle side pummelled a resolute Kilmarnock defence for much of a frustrating first-half without reward for their efforts and, under any circumstances or within a team with even a hint of fragility about them, the heads could have gone down.

However, under Valdas Ivanauskas this Hearts team seem to grow in confidence with every passing week and they simply continued in the same vein, probing and pushing forward certain in the knowledge that the breakthrough would eventually materialise.

That it did, in the shape of another breathtaking Paul Hartley free-kick followed by a late header from Christophe Berra - his first goal for the senior squad - and Hearts now find themselves in a commanding position with just four matches remaining. This result also ensured that Hearts will at least be playing UEFA Cup football next term, but that has always been merely a secondary aim for the Tynecastle side, and the fact that his players did not give up was the source of the most pleasure for the first-team coach.

"I was happy with the players' performances," said Ivanauskas. "We had many chances in the first half but we didn't manage to score with any of them.

"When you lose shots like that you just have to wait for the next chance to come and we scored two good quality goals in the second half. Roman Bednar had a few chances and did not score, but it is good that he is in the right place and we have other players who can also score goals for this team."

The visitors had arrived at Tynecastle still nursing their own hopes of clinching a place in the UEFA Cup and they received an early sight of goal when Danny Invincibile was brought down. Garry Hay stepped up to take the resulting free-kick from 25 yards out but succeeded only in cannoning the ball straight off the Hearts wall. Fortunately for the Rugby Park side, it fell to former Hearts midfielder Allan Johnston who sent it back in to the danger area but Gary Wales' header was easily dealt with by Craig Gordon.

That was to be one of only two real chances the Ayrshire side would carve out but Hearts passed up a golden opportunity to open their account when Bruno Aguiar caused the visitors all sort of problems down the left flank, working his way almost to the by-line before cutting the ball back for Edgaras Jankasukas only for the striker's first-time effort to be blocked by Alan Combe.

However, the keeper's efforts only served to send it into the path of Roman Bednar and 99 times out of 100 you would have expected the Czech forward to slot home but he somehow blazed the ball over the bar instead.

The same man had another chance to give Hearts the edge and again they had the ever-creative Aguiar to thank for having a hand in carving open the Killie defence.

He was in the middle of the park this time and sprayed the ball out wide left for Takis Fyssas, who in turn sent the ball spinning into the danger area, and Bednar caught it on the turn but his shot fizzed just over the crossbar.

Kilmarnock defender Frazer Wright was fortunate to escape a booking when he hauled Bednar down just a couple of minutes later as the frontman was about to pull the trigger but it at least handed Hearts the opportunity from a dead ball situation.

There was never any doubt that free-kick specialist Paul Hartley would take it but he could only turn it past Combe's right-hand post.

Hay then gave Hearts a helping hand when his misplaced pass landed at the feet of Rudi Skacel, who spun on his heels to home in on goal. A buzz of expectancy raced round Tynecastle like a Mexican wave but the Gorgie hitman sent his fierce effort just wide.

Ivanauskas' plans suffered a blow when the unflappable Jose Goncalves was forced to limp out of the action midway through the first-half and he was replaced by Ibrahim Tall - unbelievably only now making his debut after signing from Sochaux while George Burley was still at the helm.

A driving run from Saulius Mikoliunas saw Hearts push up the park yet again and when he stabbed the ball out wide to Aguiar a chance looked on. Hartley flicked the ball on in the danger area but when Bednar forced it into the net the goal was chalked off for the use of a hand.

The home supporters were the ones breathing a sigh of relief just before the break when Danny Invincibile was played on by Colin Nish only for him to be clipped right on the 18-yard line by Berra. It looked a foul but referee Eddie Smith waved play on, much to the disgust of Jim Jefferies and Billy Brown who looked to be in danger of doing themselves some damage as they jumped around protesting the decision in their technical area.

Determined to find a way through, Jankauskas then played the ball into the area, anticipating the run from Hartley and it was weighted perfectly but the midfielder, playing some of the best football of his career this season, skied it despite having time and space. Hearts eventually got the reward their pressure deserved though when Skacel went down under a challenge from Wright 25 yards from goal. Hartley again offered his services and this time it was a beauty as he sent a curling free-kick into the net, leaving Combe with not a hope of reaching it high to his left.

Hartley took the plaudits for that one but Craig Gordon's role was equally important at the other end as he ensured his net would remain intact, diving bravely at the feet of Simon Ford just as it looked like the defender would force the ball home. The big keeper had had virtually nothing to do in the preceding 73 minutes but the importance of that save could not be emphasised enough as news filtered through that Rangers were drawing 1-1 with Aberdeen.

The Jambos made sure of the points with four minutes remaining with a first goal for Berra but it was Deividas Cesnauskis who played a starring role, jinking his way past two Killie defenders out wide on the right and drilling the ball low across Combe's goal. The initial shot was blocked but that only served to delay the goal by a couple of seconds as Berra was on hand to ram past Combe from a couple of yards.

The only cause for controversy was the omission of Andy Webster from the squad, despite the fact that captain Steven Pressley had been ruled out of the match by a back strain, but Ivanauskas moved to dispel rumours that the defender had been left to sit in the stand because of a breakdown in contract talks, saying: "Andy was rested, he is a very experienced player and an international player.

A minute's a long time in football ...

WITH just over 20 minutes remaining on Saturday afternoon, Kris Boyd's goal for Rangers against Aberdeen looked set to cut the gap to second-placed Hearts to just one point.

However, Paul Hartley's 70-th minute free-kick strike, allied to former Jambo Scott Severin's goal for the Dons - scored almost simultaneously at Ibrox - swung the balance in the Jam Tarts' favour.

In the blink of an eye, that one-point gap became a five-point margin to leave Hearts on the brink of Champions League football.

Taken from the Scotsman