Jam Tarts preparing to party

WHATEVER alternative therapies Hearts are indulging at present, they are having the desired effect.

Yesterday was the club's most comprehensive defeat of Celtic since the inception of the Premier League in 1975, and consequently Valdas Ivanauskas has one hand and four fingers on the Champions League place he so blatantly craves.

Whether it was down to Rima, or the mystical Pyjama Man, or some other unorthodox medic is of little significance, for Hearts were scintillating, unstoppable even.

The Tynecastle support couldn't care even if the coal man was influencing their players right now, because continuing in this vein on Wednesday against Aberdeen will affirm their right to a place in the second qualifying round of Europe's premier competition. Of course, the traditional coaching techniques practised by Ivanauskas and John McGlynn would have had a fairly significant part to play in the sidesweeping of Gordon Strachan's recently-crowned champions, in addition to any new-age physiotherapy. The Hearts management team, last week's nonconformity at Easter Road aside, are rapidly proving themselves as a prosperous combination.

With glorious sunshine overhead, Celtic's travelling supporters were always bound to arrive in Edinburgh with a mind to celebrate their title triumph at the home of the club who have remained their closest challengers. "Here for the party, we're only here for the party," they chanted.

A portion of their confidence was derived from recollections of their last trip to Gorgie, when their side gave Hearts two goals of a start and still scored three times to take the points on January 1. That day, the hosts had loped into their two-goal lead with strikes in the sixth and eighth minutes.

So, when Paul Hartley's free-kick was headed into his own net by Stephen McManus before the Hearts midfielder supplemented that goal with a searing second two minutes later, the entire stadium seemed overcome by feelings of déjá-vu.

The question was: Were the Hearts of Ivanauskas possessed with sufficient mettle to see out the match the way they couldn't when under the influence of Graham Rix on New Year's Day? Because in all honesty, as the tenth minute approached, no-one could deny that the balance of play had been even with neither side truly deserving to be behind let alone confronting a two-goal deficit.

Celtic had spurned a glaring opportunity as early as the second minute when Stanislav Varga nodded a deep Shunsuke Nakamura free-kick down to the feet of Dion Dublin. His precise flick found McManus unmarked and onside four yards from goal but Craig Gordon's point-blank save was to be one of three crucial interventions that would earn him a justified clean sheet.

McManus was Celtic's hero at New Year with two late goals to prise the 3-2 victory, however, soon after being denied by Gordon's fist the defender was nodding his side behind as his afternoon took on a distinctly unpleasant complexion. Hartley's free-kick from the Hearts left was swirling and dangerous, but it required a clip off McManus' head to send it soaring beyond the surprised Artur Boruc in Celtic's goal.

When Varga fouled Roman Bednar just outside the visitors' penalty area in the ninth minute, Hartley again was poised. This time Boruc was even less prepared, for the Scotland midfielder didn't wait for his opponents to ready themselves. He had a quiet word in the ear of referee Alan Freeland as he placed the ball on the turf, and after obtaining permission from the official to take the set-piece quickly, he sent the ball searing into the top left corner of the net.

The response of the home support was laced with sarcasm. "Here for the party, we're only here for the party," they taunted in retort.

"I asked the ref if I could take it quickly and he said 'yes'," said Hartley of his strike. "I saw the goalkeeper trying to line up his wall and thankfully the shot went in. At 2-0 you always think back to the last game at New Year but we were very focused coming out for the second half. The start had been very important. We did that in the New Year game too, going two up early doors, but the third killed the game for us this time."

That came close to arriving in only the 15th minute when Rudi Skacel's penetrative run saw him lash the ball off Boruc's right-hand post as the Celtic defence quaked. However, on 63 minutes, Roman Bednar did the necessary with Hartley again a major conductor. He cushioned a header to the surprisingly quiet Bruno Aguiar on the edge of his own penalty area at a time when Hearts had Celtic snapping at their heels for every ball. The Portuguese fed the industrious Deividas Cesnauskis in the right-back area.

Hartley had the ball returned to him after the Lithuanian had advanced near to the halfway line, and the Scotland internationalist pivoted to send an accurate pass through to Bednar, who was in line with the last Celtic defender and therefore onside despite visiting hands springing up in hope. Bednar steadied himself to curl the ball round the advancing Boruc.

Without realising it at the time, the Czech had put his side in position to secure their biggest victory over Celtic since November 1991, when goals by George Wright, Craig Levein and Scott Crabbe produced a 3-1 success, with the consolation strike being delivered by Tommy Coyne.

Neil Lennon was fortunate not to be ordered off moments later when he pushed Aguiar at a free-kick. The Celtic captain had been cautioned for an altercation with Skacel on 56 minutes, during which he claims Skacel spat at him. As a precautionary measure, Strachan withdrew his irascible skipper soon after and replaced him with Stilian Petrov.

Gordon had denied Maciej Zurawski with another remarkable stop in the 51st minute but he was to save his best, if you'll pardon the pun, for last. With three minutes left, Petrov drove into the Hearts penalty area with the kind of impetus that has frequently brought him goals in his Celtic career but, ignoring Robbie Neilson's despairing tackle, the Bulgarian could only watch as Gordon tipped his ferocious shot over the crossbar.

At that point, it crossed the mind that this match could easily have been heading for a 3-3 draw were it not for the home goalkeeper. "Celtic played well and probably could have had a couple of goals," admitted Hartley. "There was no way they were going to come here and lie down to us.

"It was a must-win game for us and it's pleasing that it's in our own hands now. If we win on Wednesday we're in the Champions League."

Should that possibility come to pass, the supporters genuinely will be there for the party.

Taken from the Scotsman