Hearts rescue point in fiery derby

LITHUANIAN striker Andrius Velicka salvaged an unlikely point for 10-man Hearts at Easter Road yesterday after the indiscipline of one of his fellow countrymen looked to have made it an impossible task.

Two goals from Velicka, one of the more unsung Lithuanian imports at Tynecastle, got his side out of jail after the visitors had gone 2-0 down within 15 minutes to their capital rivals with midfielder Saulius Mikoliunas then sent off in the second half.
However, Valdas Ivanauskas' side showed real tenacity throughout an enthralling Edinburgh derby and ultimately merited the draw. Nine players were booked in addition to the Mikoliunas sending-off in a match, which was full of endeavour but did not produce much flowing football.

Craig Gordon, the Hearts keeper, pulled off a magnificent save from Rob Jones in the final minute to keep the scores level, but overall the Scotland No.1 was rarely troubled, despite Hibs' impressive build-up play.
Only taking a point from the match left Hearts five points adrift of Celtic in the race for the Premierleague title but their never-say-die performance suggested that no one at Tynecastle is giving up on first place just yet.

Falling two goals behind after just 15 minutes and having Mikoliunas sent off with more than half an hour left and still being able to secure a point was a creditable achievement.
Hearts' task was, though, made easier by Zbigniew Malkowski, the Hibs goalkeeper, who had another of his nightmare games. But overall it was down to the leadership of captain Steven Pressley and the midfield promptings from Paul Hartley that helped their side get back into a match that had looked lost.

The early Hibs advantage was mainly due to the way both sides were set up from kick-off rather than any difference in the quality of the players on display.
The visitors started with a 4-4-2 formation, but crucially Hibs lined up 4-5-1 with Chris Killen the lone striker, giving Hibs the extra man in midfield. It meant Kevin Thomson could play just in front of the back four, allowing Scott Brown and Michael Stewart to push forward and Ivan Sproule and Merouane Zemmama to get wide.

For all the encouragement coming from Hartley, the simple truth for the visitors was that they were one man down in the middle of the park and they struggled to cope with that handicap early on.
Hibs quickly took advantage and Zemmama opened the scoring after only four minutes after great work by Stewart which allowed Killen to set up the young Moroccan. Zemmama sold the dummy to both Pressley and Christophe Berra in the six-yard box before slotting the ball into the corner of the net with his left foot.

The second goal after 15 minutes came from a Zemmama corner, which was flicked towards goal by Killen with Brown getting the slightest of touches to help the ball into the net.
The Hearts' players refused to accept what at that point looked the inevitable and ran themselves ragged to try and turn around the two-goal setback.
And they were given a lifeline through an error from Malkowski in 28 minutes. For reasons best known to himself, the Polish goalkeeper decided to come 17 yards off his line to try and get to a speculative Lee Wallace cross.

With giant defenders Rob Jones and Shelton Martis having control of the situation, his rush of blood caused confusion and allowed Velicka to sneak in to head into the empty net.
Hibs still looked favourites to win especially after Mikoliunas was sent off having picked up two unnecessary bookings. The first was for a clumsy challenge on Thomson, the second for tugging Sproule's shirt and becoming involved in a tangle with the winger.
It was dreadful timing by the Lithuanian in more ways than one as the fourth official had been told by Ivanauskas he was going to be replaced by Mirsad Beslija the next time play was stopped.

Not surprisingly, the man advantage gave Hibs renewed impetus, but they seemed to pay the price for their early endeavour and tired more than Hearts as the game progressed.
Sensing they could get something from the match, Pressley marshalled his troops from the back and Hartley started bossing the midfield.
And it was a magnificent cross-field pass from Hartley which allowed
Velicka to get away from Steven Whittaker and fire a low shot into the corner of the net.
It was a decent finish, but once again Malkowski was badly at fault as he went down in stages to try and stop the ball.

It may have secured the draw, but this was a morale victory for Hearts albeit a sad way for Mark Venus to sign off after his time at Hibs. Venus, assistant manager under Tony Mowbray, set up his team superbly yesterday and out-smarted Ivanauskas.
However, what managers can never factor in are individual mistakes and the howlers by Malkowski cost Hibs victory and took the shine off Venus' final appearance at Easter Road.


Taken from the Herald