Fighting talk

FIFTEEN minutes of heated exchanges between the Hearts players at half-time yesterday was the catalyst for rescuing a point against Hibs, according to goalkeeper Craig Gordon. After a first half that was largely insipid from the visitors' point of view, the away dressing room at Easter Road witnessed a series of quarrels and ruthless debate during the interval as Valdas Ivanauskas and his players attempted to right the wrongs which had seen them end the opening period 2-1 down.

Gordon stopped short of naming individuals, but alluded to the dissatisfaction amongst his colleagues with Hibs dominating midfield having accrued an early 2-0 lead.

Despite Andrius Velicka's first goal giving Hearts a foothold in the proceedings, all was not well as the visitors gathered their thoughts at the interval.

"Half-time was one of the turning points," said Gordon. "We had a few heated conversations and it was made clear what we needed: more from certain individuals and to defend better than we had done as a team because we gave away soft goals.

"There were a lot of harsh words said, but that's what was needed. We required a lot more from quite a number of players because you can't afford to carry any passengers in a derby game.

"There were too many people off the pace of the game and not getting involved so we had to change that.

"It didn't look like we were going to score and then we got a goal from a ball that was just lumped into the box. We got a bit lucky, but that gave us the confidence to come back into it."

Gordon insisted Hearts could have tempered the ferocity of Hibs' start to the game had they showed more desire from kick-off. "We have to look at ourselves in that situation. We have to make sure we're up for the battle and there were a few players in our side who weren't ready for the physical challenge of an Edinburgh derby.

"The goal was another turning point because at that time we were looking to defend and maybe keep the score down to two until half-time. We were struggling at that stage."

Ivanauskas was cursing the naivety of Saulius Mikoliunas after a second booking for jersey-tugging saw the Lithuanian dismissed, but the head coach declared himself happy with a point after seeing his side restore parity with ten men having been 2-0 down.

"I wanted to take Saul off and Mirsad [Beslija] was ready but I was 30 seconds too late," he said. "It was not clever from Saul. He knew exactly the situation. He was on one yellow card so it wasn't clever. He is a young boy and he is trying to play his best football. He has a lot of energy but in a couple of moments yesterday his energy was not good. When you see the whole game and you consider the sending-off, the result is okay because it is never easy with ten men. Our second-half performance was okay and I am happy with one point. A couple of our players were playing at Easter Road for the first time as well as it being their first derby. That was difficult.

"I believed we could turn the game even at 2-0 down. We needed just one good act and after the first goal it was clear to me that we could do it. Yes, the first 20 minutes were not good for us but this is spirit. This is Hearts."

Hearts reserves face Dundee United at Forfar's Station Park tomorrow in a match which should see Portuguese defender Jose Goncalves play his first match in six months. Neil McCann, Julien Brellier, Nerijus Barasa and Edgaras Jankauskas could also feature at some stage.

Taken from the Scotsman