Hartley papers over the cracks

WHATEVER Hearts pay Paul Hartley it’s not enough. The Scotland midfielder continued his recovery from injury by cementing the cracks in a patched-together Tynecastle side who, despite his massive contribution, did not deserve this flattering scoreline.

Hearts got away with it yesterday against an Inverness side who, on many occasions, just failed to find the final touch in front of goal and also encountered Craig Gordon at his solid, dependable best. Six Hearts players made their competitive Tynecastle debuts yesterday, but if the selectors believe they can get away with such wholesale changes on a regular basis they’re kidding themselves.

Two late goals gave the scoreline a gloss which looked impossible when Caley had the home side pinned back for long spells of the second half. Still, the three points and similar boost to the goal difference were gratefully accepted by manager Valdas Ivanauskas as his side went second behind Celtic.

With Robbie Neilson suspended and his deputy Ibrahim Tall injured – how that statement sums up Hearts’ season so far – the Tynecastle club were forced to bring in Tiago Costa at right back. If that was enforced, few were prepared for the other widespread changes in the home side.

Takis Fyssas, who has made an unconvincing start to the season, was replaced on the other flank by Lee Wallace, while inside the young left back was Greek defender Christos Karipidis. He replaced Christophe Berra, who wasn’t even on the bench, leaving captain Steven Pressley as the only established member of the back four in the line-up.

In midfield, recent Lithuanian signing Marius Zaliukas was introduced in place of Julien Brellier, sent off against AEK Athens in midweek but eligible for domestic football. He wasn’t on the bench but Bruno Aguiar, who didn’t play in midweek, was.

Completing the all-change Hearts side were strikers Jamie Mole and the Chilean Mauricio Pinilla. In all, five of the starters were making their debuts at Tynecastle, while Costa and Zaliukas were playing their first games for the club at any venue.

Later, Ivanauskas, while pleased with the result, refused to say if Brellier, Berra or any other player for that matter, had been injured or rested. His refusal to reply, even when pressed, will fuel speculation that the French midfielder was dropped.

Inverness fielded their usual, settled side, and it was hardly surprising that their play was often more cohesive and joined-up than the home side’s. But on a day when all the breaks went Hearts’ way, Christie’s side got no reward.

An early indicator of how the Gods were smiling on the home team came in the seventh minute when a harmless-looking free-kick taken well inside his own half by Gordon was allowed to bounce in the Inverness box and nearly caught out Mark Brown, who had to desperately tip the ball over the bar.

While little else looked promising for Hearts, who were lucky to escape when a Dennis Wyness shot went just wide, the most pleasing aspect for the home supporters was the bright play of Pinilla and Mole, his young striking partner. The latter had run himself into the ground in Athens but showed no sign of tiredness, while the Chilean internationalist, who has failed to settle in Europe, looked like he could be a very dangerous addition to the side once he is match fit.

That this pair started the match while Calum Elliot had been released on loan to Motherwell is just one of many mysteries swirling around Tynecastle, but both will now provide genuine competition to the first choice pairing of Edgaras Jankauskas and Roman Bednar. By the end of the first half both had scored, the first going to Pinilla in controversial circumstances.

Neil McCann appeared to have passed the ball back to Gordon, and when the goalkeeper picked it up Caley howled for a free-kick. Instead, referee Steve Conroy waved play on and Zaliukas, whose general performance did not inspire confidence, fed McCann. The winger, who has been under pressure from the Hearts supporters, swung over a cross which Pinilla, to the delight of the same legions, side-footed into the net.

Inverness manager Charlie Christie, who said he was told by the fourth official that McCann’s pass-back had been intended for full back Wallace and not Gordon, was furious. “If that was at the other end, then 99 times out of 100 it would have been given as a pass-back to the keeper,” he said.

“It was a lame excuse to say it was a pass to the full back – maybe it’s the Tynecastle crowd.”

When Caley equalised, it was no more than they deserved. Gordon had already had to prove his worth by saving from a Graham Bayne header and a Barry Wilson 30-yard shot when the latter, having switched out to the left, crossed to the former and he took advantage of poor marking to make it 1-1.

Throughout all this, Hartley, with his chest jutting out, had been holding things together for Hearts and three minutes from the interval a trademark free-kick from the right of the box found the head of Mole, who put his side back ahead.

The lead often looked fragile in the second half as Caley pushed forward for their second equaliser of the day.

They deserved it, and should have got it when Wilson missed a sitter, but were made to pay heavily when substitutes Andrew Driver – the sixth player of the afternoon to make his Tynecastle competitive debut – and Aguiar gave the scoreline a scarcely believable look.

Taken from the Sunday Herald