Referee least of Romanov's worries after night of woe for Jambos

A MASSIVE pyrotechnic display lit up the night sky at Murrayfield before kick-off, but the big question on everyone's lips was whether referee Paolo Bertini would serve up some fireworks of his own.

In the end, though, the only cause Vladimir Romanov would have had for launching another rant as the final whistle blew would have been about the lacklustre performance his side put in against the Czechs.

The Italian whistler's performance was under the microscope more than ever before at the national rugby stadium last night after the Hearts owner upped the ante by launching another attack on match officials earlier in the week.

Romanov now faces punishment from both UEFA and from the SFA beaks following his comments about Russian referee Yuri Baskakov's display in the Tynecastle side's 5-1 aggregate defeat to AEK Athens in last month's Champions League qualifier. Julien Brellier was sent off in the match after receiving a first-half booking for wearing an earring and Baskakov further infuriated the Jambos management team with a number of his decisions.

Romanov, in typical fashion, was not about to let it pass without comment, accusing Baskakov of corruption, and topping the outburst off by claiming that referees in Scotland also have it in for the Tynecastle side.

The Hearts owner is certainly good value for money when it comes to chipping in with his tuppence worth and Bertini, assisted by Marcello Ambrosino and Fabrizio Lanciani last night, would have been in no doubt that the colourful banker would be keeping his eye on him from the stand. In fact, not only him, but Romanov's rant would also have ensured coach Valdas Ivanauskas, the players on the park and the 27,451 supporters watching from the Murrayfield stands would have been keeping tabs on the referee's decisions.

However, that didn't seem to worry Bertini or his assistants, who let Sparta skipper Tomas Sivok escape punishment in the opening minutes despite a challenge on Christophe Berra, and then following that up with another one on Mauricio Pinilla.

Maybe it was the horrendous conditions that greeted the players at kick-off and persisted throughout the first-half, rain lashing down onto the pitch and causing huge puddles to form, but Ivanauskas kept his cool and stayed under cover in the dugout.

He ventured out just once in the opening 15 minutes or so and that was to berate his own player, Mirsad Beslija, for failing to escape the attentions of his marker.

The way the pitch was playing there were plenty of sliding challenges being made - intentionally or otherwise - but none that caused Ivanauskas enough concern to remonstrate with Bertini. In fact, fourth official Mauro Bergonzi was having a harder time keeping Sparta boss Michal Bilek in check.

Bertini certainly wasn't letting much pass him by, though, and he stuck Jan Simak's name in the book with less than half an hour gone for kicking the ball away to prevent Bruno Aguiar taking a quick free-kick.

There hadn't been much in the way of controversial decisions which were in danger of making Romanov blow his top again.

However, Hearts fans vented their anger when Bertini waved away their claims for a penalty when Pinilla seemed to be pushed off the ball and Sivok was the offender again. Hearts' first booking came just after the half hour when Bruno Aguiar was booked for a hefty challenge on that man Sivok, and just a minute later the Edinburgh side's woes worsened when they fell a goal behind, Sivok teeing up Daniel Kolar for the opener.

With his side trailing you might have expected Ivanauskas' frustrations to come to the surface, but Bertini wasn't giving him much reason, keeping a tight rein on Sparta by sending Jiri Homola behind the goal-line to finish tying up his shoelaces as he tried to waste time just a couple of yards from the by-line.

The roar went up again from the stands when Paul Hartley was hauled back by Ludovic Sylvestre without punishment, but Valdas stood with his head in his hands, his lack of reaction perhaps a reflection of the uncharacteristic performance he was seeing his charges.

There just didn't seem to be enough fire in their bellies to create any controversy and Miroslav Matusovic's goal with just under 20 minutes left ensured the remainder of the match turned into a damage limitation exercise, although Hearts' night was summed up when sub Deividas Cesnauskis blazed the ball high over the bar when a precious goal had looked more likely.

Ivanauskas' reaction? Simply to shake his head and stand with his hands dug deep in his pockets, probably in recognition of the fact that if anyone was going to feel the wrath of Romanov, it certainly wasn't going to be the referee.

Taken from the Scotsman