No? Ok, tongue-in-cheek comments aside, it is about time that Hearts got a bit of credit for another good performance against one of the Old Firm sides. Despite their championship challenge fading in early January, Hearts played exceptionally well against Celtic last season in all four meetings and were arguably the better side on each occasion, without getting any real reward for it.

That was until the last meeting however, when Hearts ran out 3-0 winners on a day that many 'experts' reflected that the already-crowned league champions didn't exactly try their best to get the result that would have helped out bitter rivals Rangers in their quest to finish 2nd. In reality, Celtic actually played pretty well that day, much better than they did today, but for once didn't get the breaks they'd had in previous encounters.

Today's 2-1 victory was for me a far more emphatic one than that 3-0 game back in Spring. Celtic looked a pretty poor outfit in all honesty, which was surprising, and Hearts dominated most of the match, especially the second half when they came roaring out of the blocks and rarely dropped the tempo.

One very encouraging thing about this result is that it was a patchwork side that Ivanauskas put out today. For a start, we were already missing the highly influential pairing of Paul Hartley and Edgaras Jankauskas, but Valdas also decided to omit Robbie Neilson and Takis Fyssas from the starting line-up for the first time in goodness knows how long. This seemed like a very peculiar decision, especially as the defence was the one area that had looked strong in the games so far this season. But I hold my hand up now and say that the manager got it right. We have a huge game coming up against AEK on Wednesday and Valdas clearly wants to keep his squad as fresh as possible for that game. He obviously felt he could afford to tamper with his team and still get a result today and.....well he was right! That's why he's a manager and us fans are not I suppose.

Not a lot of note really happened in the first half today. Hearts had the bulk of the possession and territorially were slightly superior, but there weren't many, if any clear-cut chances created. Roman Bednar came closest when he got on the end of a whipped-in free-kick from Bruno Aguiar, but he angled his header slightly too much and it went just wide.

There were a couple of strange things in that first half though. One of those was that Celtic just didn't look like Celtic in that new away strip of theirs! I don't think I've ever seen them playing in such a dour, lifeless-looking kit and perhaps that was one of the reasons why their performance was not up to scratch.

The other strange thing was the ludicrously waterlogged patch of the park in Celtic's right-back area. I lost count of the number of times that Neil McCann was tackled by that puddle and indeed, referee Dougal even awarded Hearts a free-kick for a foul on Lee Wallace when he was in fact impeded by the puddle, not Kenny Miller as the referee had thought!

Sadly Robbie Neilson's replacement, Ibrahim Tall, only lasted half an hour after taking a bad knock and it transpired that his injury is quite serious: knee ligament damage. This is a big shame as Tall was starting to establish himself as a first team squad regular and in his time on the park today he looked more than accomplished in the right-back position. We wish him a speedy recovery.

Hearts came out for the second half really pumped up and they took the game to their opponents with a vigour that I don't think we've seen since the first half of last season when George Burley was still the manager.

After just a couple of minutes gone in the half Roman Bednar missed a glaring opportunity to give Hearts the lead. Getting on the end of a left-wing cross he found himself unmarked no more than eight yards out, but was found wanting with his finish. It's the sort of chance I've seen him miss a dozen times and I was just about into mid-rant about how Bednar is not the natural finisher we need when he goes and scores the opening goal! What a goal it was too: Pospisil, for the first time in the game managed to find space and opened up the Celtic defence with a great pass for Bednar to run onto from the left channel. It seemed too tight an angle to come in from to shoot, but Bednar showed great pace, control and composure to bear down on Boruc before placing a lovely left foot shot across the Pole that crept into the bottom left hand corner of the net. Bedlam.

Hearts weren't finished there. Instead of having to weather the usual backlash after you score against the Old Firm, Hearts really went for the throat and they had wave after wave of attack in search of a killer second goal. From one of those, they actually got the goal but it was disgracefully chalked off for offside. Again Bednar was the danger man, timing his run perfectly to get on the end of another defence-splitting pass, he rounded Boruc on the edge of the area and rolled it into the empty net. However the linesman, whom many around us were convinced was a Celtic man after numerous shocking decisions, put his flag up despite Bednar being clearly onside. TV pictures proved that he was at least two yards on and apparently the linesman's name was P Murphy (I kid you not!)....interesting I thought!

Decisions like those have cost Hearts on too many occasions I care to remember in these games and it looked as though it would do so again when Celtic equalised on the break. In all fairness it was an absolutely brilliant goal. Hearts had a corner that was cleared and Celtic played a wonderfully slick passing move all the way from back to front, that ended with Stilian Petrov bursting into the penalty area and blasting it behind the helpless Craig Gordon first time with his left foot. Great stuff.

We now feared the worst but the swing of possession that we expected never really materialised. For the next ten minutes or so Celtic did start to keep the ball quite well, especially after they brought on Neil Lennon. However that move in itself gave Hearts the message that Celtic were clearly happy to leave with a point, given the fact that Lennon had replaced striker Kenny Miller to shore up the midfield.

The home side were soon galvanised and although the free-flowing attacks were now less frequent than before, they continued to look the more likely to score a winning goal.

The game did appear like it was heading for a 1-1 draw until Hearts fans' favourite Lennon hit a slack back-pass that was intercepted by Bednar. The Czech flicked it over Boruc and very coolly rolled it in from the edge of the area on the half-volley. For once the last minute goal went in Hearts' favour and it was well-merited. It was especially fitting that Bednar was the man who got the goal after his wrongly disallowed effort. Our friend Mr Murphy couldn't put his flag up this time because it was a Celtic player who'd played the pass through!

The game was won but it could have ended in even more dramatic style if Bruno Aguiar's amazing 25 yarder had been an inch or two lower, his shot instead crashing down off the underside of the crossbar. He's now hit the bar in three games out of four this season...surely one will go in sooner or later!

So all-in-all a pretty good day's work for a far from full strength Hearts side. It's an early marker to show that they are still capable of playing good football against the better sides, although today their opposition were clearly not at the races. I can't understand why Derek Riordan didn't get a run-out for Celtic either, as he has just the sort of ability they were crying out for today.

Still, that's for them to sort out in the months ahead as I'm sure they will. It's very early days and the Old Firm are rightly the favourites to challenge for the league. But Hearts are going to be in there......and the challenge might, just might last a tad longer than January this season........
Star Player
A lot of excellent performances out there, but for his match-winning contribution I'm awarding it to Roman Bednar.
Player Ratings
Gordon 6
Had basically nothing to do, bar one long-range shot from Miller in the first half.
Tall 3
Sadly had to limp off with knee ligament trouble after half an hour. Pity because he'd looked pretty accomplished at right-back.
Wallace 7
Given a surprise run-out ahead of Fyssas and grabbed his chance very well. Some particularly good work going forward in the second half.
Berra 8
Another completely solid performance from our find of the season so far. Never gave Celtic a sniff.
Pressley 7
Some awkward looking clearances in the game but marshalled the unfamiliar-looking defence well and 'refereed' the game in true Richard Gough-style when he needed to!
Brellier 6
Came onto a good game the longer it went, but he only gets a 6 due to too many slack passes in crucial areas of the field. To be fair on most occasions he did help to get back and retrieve the ball though. Great presence in the midfield
Aguiar 7
After a typical Aguiar first half (neat and tidy but not really an influence) he really played well in the second. Got much more stuck in and sprayed some great passes around the park, looking much more like the midfield general we'd like him to be.
McCann 6
Felt a bit sorry for him today, as he was given the difficult task of playing in that first half against a right-back and a huge puddle! Not much came off going forward, but really put in a shift and helped out Lee Wallace a lot by giving him an outlet at all times.
Mikoliunas 7
He seems to be the first player that the fans will turn on, but Miko did well today. Like most of the players, he really came onto a game in the second half and when Celtic were chasing the game, his pace was invaluable on the break.
Bednar 9
Great all-round attacking display. His huge physical presence gave Celtic's defence a nightmare time. Missed easy header but more than made up for that with brilliant opening goal. Had another great finished wrongly ruled offside and of course, coolly scored the all-important winner.
Pospisil 7
Had a great piece of early skill when he escaped the attentions of three players in one move, but his touch let him down for most of first half. However his movement was better in the second and he played a great pass to Bednar for the opening goal.
Neilson 7
Came on as early sub for Tall and put in a typically reliable shift down the right hand side.
Neilson 7
Came on as early sub for Tall and put in a typically reliable shift down the right hand side.
Cesnauskas 5
On for McCann but didn't look quite as threatening as in previous games.
Makela 2
Hardly on for any time at all.