LENNY DROPS BHOYS RIGHT IN IT

HEARTS 2

CELTIC 1

NEIL LENNON has, it seems, gone an entire career without misplacing a pass.

So it was almost inevitable that, when the moment came, it would arrive with crushing consequences for Celtic's captain.

In fact, Lennon experienced two firsts at Tynecastle yesterday and it was difficult to decide which would have hurt him more.

Left on the sidelines for a match of significance for the first time since signing for the club in 2000, Lennon was already wounded as Celtic's bus pulled up outside Tynecastle.

But he dragged his heavy heart into the action midway through the second half-only to feel the bottom fall out of it when his stray passback dropped into the path of Roman Bednar.

Hearts' Czech striker had already scored once and been robbed of a second goal by a blundering linesman before Lennon's act of kindness. So his eye was in as he raced through to prod the ball around the despairing Artur Boruc and then slide the winner into the keeper's net.

Lennon watched in disbelief before sinking to his knees. But although he appeared to be distraught and blaming himself for Celtic's defeat, Lennon should not be too hard on himself as the truth is Gordon Strachan's entire side had offered almost nothing and deserved no more than they got.

The manager himself found it too hard to watch and his volcanic eruption shortly before half-time saw him and Hearts coach John McGlynn sent to the stand by ref Stuart D ougal.

Strachan's rage had been simmering away inside from the very opening moments and he was still incensed on the journey home - especially as Dougal had refused to give him an explanation for his dismissal.

Deep down, though, he will know that both he and his players were guilty of losing the plot. It was not that Celtic's play was over-physical. Quite the contrary in fact.

But the team simply did not function and it was really quite remarkable they should have found themselves all square at 1-1 when Stilian Petrov emerged from nowhere in 64 minutes to round off the move of the match with a stunning left-foot finish.

In the end they lost to Bednar's late winner but there was more than a single goal between these two title contenders.

Hearts may well have had larger victories over Celtic. But they've rarely had an easier one than yesterday's.

From the outset the action was staged mainly in Celtic's territory although only occasionally did it spill into Boruc's penalty area.

Perhaps it would have been different had Bednar not swung at fresh air after only two minutes when he attempted to connect with an Ibrahim Tall cross.

If he had made contact then we might have had a truly explosive start to the contest but the ball whizzed over the top of his swinging boot and soon it became clear that such chances would be at a premium.

Although Hearts enjoyed much of the possession, bullying Celtic on to the back foot, there was precious little to scare Boruc who made it to half-time without dirtying his gloves.

There was a great deal of huffing and puffing in midfield as both sides attempted to gain control. Hearts won the battle but without ever adding composure or guile to their forward play, they could not break down a Celtic defence, marshalled superbly by captain for the day, Stephen McManus.

What developed was a kind of angry stalemate as the play thundered around but in no particular direction.

Julien Brellier got himself booked after only 13 minutes for a foul on Aiden McGeady as tempers sizzled.

Most furious of all appeared to be Celtic's manager who prowled around on the trackside in front of his dugout snapping and snarling often for no apparent reason at his own players, those of Hearts and also the officials.

Yep, Strachan's scowl was indiscriminate although he really would have had something to moan about had Bednar not missed the only other chance to come Hearts way in that awful dirge of a first half.

There were 20 minutes on the clock when Bednar was picked out by the outstanding Bruno Aguiar's free-kick inside Celtic's box. But although he had shaken off his marker and needed only to glance the ball beyond the exposed Boruc, Bednar failed to make contact.

Strachan, though, continued to seethe his way up and down the touchline and appeared to fire off at Tall when the full-back collapsed just yards in front of Celtic's bench.

If Strachan thought Tall was acting he was wrong. When play stopped he was carted off on a stretcher and replaced by Robbie Neilson.

But although Tall was gone the whiff of malevolence hung around and Celtic's supporters did their bit by signing songs that celebrate terrorism.

It's almost as if these people are determined to get their own club into trouble just so they can become martyrs. Then again perhaps they're just morons.

Either way, the Hearts supporters responded with their version of the Billy Boys and the entire atmosphere turned even more sour and bad tempered. Hearts, meanwhile, were continuing to dominate without ever appearing dangerous. They were also staggeringly comfortable in defence where captain Steven Pressley and Christophe Berra found themselves strolling through the half with almost nothing to do.

Without John Hartson to at least rumble them up every now and then, this pair could have lit up cigars, pulled up a sofa and watched the action from the halfway line.

Indeed it took Celtic 32 minutes to so much as muster a shot at goal and even then it was a wretched mis-hit from Shunsuke Nakamura which bobbled across the face of goal and wide.

Still, at least it was a sign of life and Jiri Jarosik and Kenny Miller also let fly soon after although without ever troubling Craig Gordon.

Then, just two minutes before the break, Strachan found something worth screaming about and gave fourth official Calum Murray an earful. McGlynn overheard something he didn't like and came barrelling over to confront Strachan. Just as it appeared the pair might actually unload more than just bad language, Strachan's burly right-hand man Garry Pendrey jumped in between them but the row raged on until Dougal intervened and sent Strachan and McGlynn to the stand.

It really was a tawdry little episode which was in keeping with the match itself. And when Jarosik went straight into the book and Bednar missed his third chance of the match right after the restart it looked as if we were set for more of the same.

Then, in 48 minutes, Paul Telfer rattled an attempted clearance straight at Neil McCann. The ball spun to Michal Pospisil whose first-time pass sent Bednar in and this time the striker kept his composure to stab the ball past Boruc low at the keeper's left-hand side.

It was no more than Hearts, or Bednar for that matter, deserved.

Mark Wilson was booked within minutes for a crunching foul on Saulius Mikoliunas and at that point there really did look to be no way back for Celtic.

Brellier unloaded with a volley from distance which forced a save out of Boruc and then Bednar burst through to find the net for a second time only to have his effort wiped out by a flag. It was a close call. In fact, it was a criminal call as Bednar was at least a yard onside but, even so, Celtic were spared.

And they came storming back with a Petrov goal at the end of the game's slickest passing move.

The Bulgarian came galloping forward as Celtic hit on the counter attack. Aiden McGeady also played his part with a sublime backheel which wrong-footed the entire Hearts defence and allowed Kenny Miller time and space to feed Petrov with the perfect pass.

Petrov took a touch to steady himself and then rifled his shot home from 18 yards to the utter dismay of Hearts and their supporters.

There were more bemused looks a minute or so later when Strachan replaced Miller with Lennon and ordered Petrov into attack. It was a curious decision which seemed to enrage Miller who lashed out at a water bottle before slumping into his seat.

And it also turned out to be a decisive change as Lennon's howler cemented a truly dire day for the champions.

MAN OF THE MATCH

Bruno Aguiar (Hearts)

Taken from the Daily Record