ROBBIE: I'M NOT A CHEAT

MASTER of the mighty throw Robbie Neilson last night denied he had cheated to put Hearts on the brink of history.

Siroki Brijeg boss Ivica Barbarich -clearly stung by his side's 3-0 defeat -accused Neilson of stepping over the Murrayfield touchline with a trademark throw-in that led to the Jambos' first goal.

But the defender said: "He is is being a bit picky when he is accusing me of that.

"If I did step on to the pitch, I was completely unaware of anything untoward taking place.

"I took the throw and the linesman let it go unpunished."

Neilson was delighted with the result that came courtesy of a Branimir Anic own goal in 54 minutes, a strike by Senegalese internationalist Ibrhaim Tall and a late goal by Roman Bednar.

It gave the Jambos a welcome cushion going into next Tuesday's return leg qualifier in Bosnia and left them within touching distance of a place among the Champions League elite for the first time in their existence.

Neilson added: "Their keeper was a bit wary of coming out for cross balls and hopefully we can take more advantage of that in the away leg.

"This was a good result for us and 3-0 is a great scoreline to take with us to Mostar.

"The three goals give us a decent cushion but we know from experience the Bosnians will be a different side over there.

"We played Zeljeznicar a few years ago in the UEFA Cup and beat them at Tynecastle and it was an entirely different team that turned up for the away leg.

"Hearts grind out the result in the end and we failed to take our early opportunities but we did well to win 3-0 and we managed to keep a clean sheet as well so that was really pleasing."

Meanwhile, striker Roman Bednar admits he thought he'd blown the Jambos' chances after mising three glorious opportunities in front of goal.

The Czech hitman revealed he was beating himself up about the scorned chances until he struck after 84 minutes.

Bednar said: "It was great to get that third goal because I was very angry with myself as I had missed three fantastic chances and I felt I had let the team down by not taking them.

"I did not score and I was so down because I felt that I would maybe regret them by the end of the game as were really struggling to break them down.

"Sometimes I score and other times I do not but I was doing everything I could to get a goal especially as it was a Champions League game."

However, Bednar insists the tie is far from over despite Hearts holding that massive three goal advantage for the second leg.

He said: "This goal could be so vital to us as it gives us a decent lead top take over to Bosnia.

"It is only half-time and I don't think the tie is finished.

"It will be a different game for Hearts in Bosnia and it will be very hard for us but I feel we can go through to the next round of the Champions League and we are confident after gaining that result.

"We had some chances and we knew that if we scored one we could get another and then I got a third which could prove to be the killer goal of the tie.

"It was not easy because Siroki made us fight all the way and they were difficult opponents."

Now Hearts can at least cast one eye towards this Friday's Champions League draw in Nyon which could result in a mouthwatering clash with Liverpool, AC Milan, Arsenal, Ajax, Valencia or CSKA Moscow.

Skipper Steven Pressley praised his team for keeping cool.

He said: "We spoke before the game about the patience we would need to show and we did that.

"Make no mistake, European football is very difficult and they were avery good side.

"In the end, the pressure paid off and we got a fantastic 3-0 win. It was an excellent performance.

"At times the crowd showed their frustration and European football is not easy.

"But we stuck to the task and we had spoken at half-time about patience. It may have taken 90 minutes to get the breakthrough.

"But the important thing is we did not concede goals and we have a very good cushion for the second leg in Bosnia next week."

Taken from the Daily Record