Keeper's heroics save the day as Hearts get back on track

MOTHERWELL 0
HEARTS 1

HEARTS lurched into second place in the Premierleague yesterday, winning ugly and more than a little fortunately against a Motherwell side who remain rooted to the bottom of the table.

Jamie Mole scored the only goal of a desperately poor match, earning Hearts their first victory at Fir Park for four years and easing the pressure which had built up on head coach Valdas Ivanauskas over the past month.

While the bare statistics show Mole as the match winner, the rookie striker would concede that just as much credit goes to goalkeeper Craig Gordon who made two magnificent saves in the closing stages to deny Motherwell an equaliser which would have been the least they deserved for their efforts.

It was not a performance from the Tynecastle club which would convince anyone of their championship credentials, but they remain just three points behind leaders Celtic. On the basis that they can surely only improve, they may yet mount a credible title challenge.

The dire nature of the contest was perhaps entirely predictable given the respective recent poor form of both clubs, Hearts having just one win from their previous seven games and Motherwell seeking their first home league victory of the season.

Both teams appeared fearful in possession right from the start, betraying a clear lack of confidence in their ability to take control of the match. Motherwell were not helped by the knee injury sustained after only six minutes by Brian McLean, the defender falling awkwardly in a challenge with Paul Hartley.

It was a sickening blow for the former Rangers youngster who was making his first start of the campaign after recovering from an ankle ligament injury. As he was carried off, manager Maurice Malpas replaced him with Steven McGarry and reshuffled his three man central defence by withdrawing Jim Paterson from midfield.

Nothing could excuse the desperate standard of passing from both teams, the only consolation for both being that no matter how often they gave the ball away, the side receiving the ball were incapable of producing anything fluent or threatening in return.

Hearts, who had made another five changes to their starting line-up, were forced into an early substitution of their own when Deividas Cesnauskis was hurt by an awful challenge by Richie Foran. The Motherwell forward somehow escaped a caution from referee Iain Brines for the offence which saw Cesnauskis carried off and replaced by Neil McCann.

It was Motherwell who finally produced a move worthy of the description, Keith Lasley and Foran combining neatly to set up Scott McDonald but the Australian striker had strayed offside before he drove his shot against Gordon's left hand post.

The home team certainly looked likelier to make the breakthrough and came agonisingly close five minutes from half-time when Brian Kerr's powerful 20 yard drive flashed narrowly wide of Gordon's right hand upright where Foran just failed to turn it home with a desperate lunge.

Brines finally produced his yellow card when he booked Lasley for a dreadful foul from behind on McCann, then promptly waved it at both Foran and Hartley as the pair confronted each other off the ball.

The referee's decision to add four minutes of stoppage time at the end of the first half would have been considered an act of cruelty by most of the spectators, but the extra period actually produced some action akin to entertainment.

Marc Fitzpatrick's terrific through ball sent Foran racing clear through the inside left channel and his low shot had the beating of Gordon but also the keeper's left hand post.

Hearts produced a response when Saulius Mikoliunas seized on a loose pass to surge down the right and McCann should have done better than meet the cross with a weak shot which was deflected behind. From the corner, Motherwell launched a sweeping counter attack which saw McGarry send McDonald one on one with Gordon, only to drive his shot over the crossbar. As the teams left the field for the interval, Foran angrily berated referee Brines and was again fortunate to escape censure before he was dragged away by Motherwell goalkeeper Colin Meldrum.

There was no discernible improvement from Hearts at the start of the second half. Even the normally sure-footed Hartley was infected by the malaise suffocating the match, the midfielder relieved to go unpunished when he gave the ball away on the edge of his own penalty area and watched Kerr drive the subsequent chance for Motherwell over the top.

Hearts made a change eight minutes after the restart, one which provoked loud disapproval from their supporters as Julien Brellier was withdrawn in favour of Robbie Neilson. The reshuffle pushed Ibrahim Tall into central defence with Marius Zaliukas joining the midfield.

The mood of the travelling fans improved dramatically when Hearts grabbed a scarcely deserved lead in 68 minutes.

Breaking swiftly from a Motherwell corner, Hartley sent McCann sprinting down the left. With the home defence outnumbered, the winger slipped the ball to Mole. The young striker took it round Meldrum but appeared to have lost the chance with the ball stuck under his feet. He showed admirable composure, though, to turn and drill a low shot beyond two retreating defenders on the line.

Mole almost added a second when he saw a shot deflected onto Meldrum's left-hand post, the ball rebounding into the arms of the keeper, but that would have grossly flattered the visitors.

Motherwell were forced to both marvel and despair at the brilliance of Gordon as they piled on the pressure in the final minutes. Scotland's No 1 showed stunning reactions to keep out a close range Lasley shot, then as the match went into stoppage time produced a candidate for save of the season when he somehow clawed a netbound Paterson volley to safety.

Motherwell: Meldrum, McLean (McGarry 6), Craigan, Reynolds; Quinn, Kerr, Lasley, Fitzpatrick (McCormack 85), Paterson; Foran, McDonald. Subs not used: Smith, McBride, Fagan, Donnelly, Connelly.

Hearts: Gordon, Tall, Pressley, Zaliukas, Wallace; Cesnauskis (McCann 27), Brellier (Neilson 53), Hartley, Mikoliunas; Velicka (Makela 70), Mole. Subs not used: Banks, Fyssas, Ivaskevicius, Karipidis.

Taken from the Scotsman