DUNFERMLINE 1 Simmons 62
HEARTS 2 Bednar 15; Pospisil 77

NO SUCH thing as gently easing back into the new season, then. By the time this match was over and the Scottish country music was being pumped out over the public address system, an assistant manager had been dismissed to the stand, a striker dispatched for an early bath and three goals scored to keep the fans engrossed.

The fact that two were netted by the visitors guaranteed them a happy trip back to the capital but in their wake they left a fuming Dunfermline side. It was manager Jim Leishman's right-hand man Craig Robertson who had to leave the dug-out late in the second half when the fourth official complained about his behaviour. That decision came just minutes after Andy Tod had received his second yellow card, his tackle on Hearts' Julien Brellier doing the damage.

"Craig thought their boy went down too easily after Andrew tackled him and he was incensed by that," explained Leishman. "But he wasn't speaking to the referee or the fourth official, he was speaking to John McGlynn [the Hearts coach]. They are good pals and were talking to each other in the dugout, that's all they were doing but they had to shout so they could hear each other. Ask John McGlynn if he was offended."

Brellier may have made the most of the challenge but it was a loss of discipline which the home side had been threatening to succumb to ever since Hearts re-established their lead in the 77th minute. That goal came from a free-kick just outside the Dunfermline box and the fact that the offender Sol Bamba strongly disputed the initial award was a key factor in the unravelling of the home tempers. The anger simply heightened when Bruno Aguiar, taking the free-kick, was denied by the junction of post and crossbar and Michal Pospisil reacted first to stab the ball beyond Dunfermline keeper Roddy McKenzie, with defender Christophe Berra following in to make sure.

It would have been a blow to the home side regardless, but the sense of injustice simply heightened the hurt. A match which had been growing more and more combative could have raged into a war were it not for Hearts' greater composure and it served them well as they left East End Park with all three points.

With Celtic posting their intentions, ensuring their 4-1 win was in the bag before Hearts had even kicked off their challenge for the title, the onus was on last term's runners-up to match them.

Against a Dunfermline side imbued with five summer additions it was always going to be more difficult. As well as former Tynecastle goalkeeper McKenzie, the back line was strengthened by the imposing presence of Bamba, the midfield welcomed Phil McGuire and Calum Woods and Noel Whelan started up front, but didn't hang around long as an early ankle injury saw him replaced by Tod in the fifth minute.

Hearts, despite the departure of Rudi Skacel to Southampton, in a move worth £1.6m to the club, the imminent loss of Andy Webster, and the temporary absence of Paul Hartley and Edgaras Jankauskas still had a familiar look to their line-up.

While Skacel will be a loss and everyone at the club will be keen to welcome back the influential Hartley sooner rather than later, the fact his team the character to stand firm when Dunfermline staged their comeback, pleased manager Valdas Ivanauskas, who was happy with the winning start. Although Gary Mason fired the opening salvo for Dunfermline in the third minute, it was off target and minutes later Freddie Daquin's shot was deflected wide for a corner. But the visitors took the lead when Roman Bednar got on the score sheet.

It came at the end of heady spell of tit-for-tat. First the Czech striker had a header from a Mikoliunas cross saved by McKenzie then Dunfermline hit quickly on the break with Daquin testing the Hearts rearguard. From that clearance, Hearts made a charge and as McKenzie rushed out to halt Pospisil, he passed the ball into the box for Bednar to finish.

Hearts held that advantage for the remainder of the first half but in the early stages of the second they allowed their hosts to draw level. It was a Scott Muirhead corner which was met at the back post by former Tynecastle midfielder Stephen Simmons. He claimed he had spent the morning dreaming about scoring against his ex-employers. He beat Brellier in the air and his header into the ground bounced up and over the head of Aguiar, guarding the post.

That was in the 62nd minute and Dunfermline could have actually taken the lead when Daquin beat the offside trap, but one on one with Craig Gordon, the keeper won the stand-off. A pivotal moment in the match, it was costly as six minutes later Miko went down on the edge of the box under the might of Bamba. That, as they say, was that.

Taken from the Scotsman