Falkirk 1 Hearts 1

By Gavin McCafferty, PA Sport

A Hearts side without skipper Steven Pressley missed the chance to move into second place in the Bank of Scotland Premier League as Falkirk fought back for a deserved point.

Pressley - who last month revealed dressing-room "unrest" at Tynecastle - was a shock omission from the Jambos squad while Scotland team-mates Paul Hartley and Robbie Neilson remained on the bench.

Hearts started strongly and Andrius Velicka fired them ahead against the run of play midway through the second half before Russell Latapy levelled with six minutes left.

Pressley's absence came amid rumours he had been stripped of the captaincy as the turmoil at Tynecastle deepened.

Eduard Malofeev - still standing in for head coach Valdas Ivanauskas during his sick leave - made five changes in total and was sent off after Latapy's equaliser.

Julien Brellier was recalled along with Nerijus Barasa, Lee Wallace, Christos Karipidis and Jamie Mole. Jose Goncalves, on Portugal Under-21 duty, and Ibrahim Tall also dropped out.

The visiting fans wasted no time in registering their support for Pressley but Hearts started well and put the hosts out of their stride with their pressing game.

Bairns keeper Jeroen Lambers brilliantly tipped over a Velicka header after Bruno Aguiar's free-kick from the right touchline.

Velicka's through ball then almost set up Mole, with Lambers picking up the ball from Kenny Milne's slide-tackle without punishment.

Lambers pulled off another good stop from Velicka when he beat away the Lithuanian's diving header after an inswinging cross from Saulius Mikoliunas.

Christophe Berra - the Hearts skipper for the night - could not turn his header goalwards after another Aguiar free-kick.

But the Bairns began to knock the ball around in their opponents' half and Steven Thomson fired in a bouncing 25-yard strike that Craig Gordon held at the second attempt.

The unmarked Anthony Stokes - watched by Sunderland boss Roy Keane for the second game running - failed to add to the 10 goals he had scored in his previous five games when he headed straight at Gordon after Alan Gow's deep left-wing cross.

Gow then evaded two tackles before firing inches over from 25 yards.

Aguiar flashed a low shot a yard wide moments after the restart as Hearts looked to reassert themselves.

Latapy won a free-kick 25 yards out at the other end and the veteran thumped a powerful shot that Gordon beat away.

Falkirk were soon back in control without making much headway on Gordon's goal.

And their determination to play the ball about in their own half cost them in the 65th minute when substitute Liam Craig lost the ball on the halfway line.

Aguiar quickly fed Velicka on the left channel and his powerful effort from 25 yards sneaked inside Lambers' near post.

Craig struck a powerful low drive that Gordon almost fumbled, before Hearts almost went two up.

Aguiar put Mole in after Mark Twaddle's mistake but Lambers came off his line to block his shot from just inside the box.

Hearts sat back to defend their lead with Stokes seeing a shot blocked after causing Karipidis problems.

Latapy's powerful drive was pushed wide by Gordon and the Scotland keeper smothered the ball from the resulting corner as Stokes and Twaddle tried to bundle it home.

Falkirk's pressure paid off in the 84th minute when Latapy slipped the ball into the bottom corner after Gow had played a measured ball into his path.

Malofeev was sent to the stand after arguing with the fourth official.

Karipidis had a sight of goal 15 yards out after a set-piece but his shot span wide and Lambers pushed away a Barasa shot.

The hosts almost snatched it after a tidy move in injury-time but Karipidis blocked Gow's close-range effort.

Teams:

Falkirk Lambers, Ross (Dodd 17), Scobbie (Twaddle 63), Barr,Milne, Latapy, Cregg, Thomson, O'Donnell (Craig 63), Gow,Stokes.

Subs Not Used: Higgins, John Stewart, Lima, McManus.

Booked: Scobbie.

Goals: Latapy 84.

Hearts Gordon, Zaliukas, Wallace, Karipidis, Berra, Barasa,Brellier (Hartley 90), Aguiar, Mikoliunas, Velicka,Mole (Makela 75).

Subs Not Used: MacDonald, Neilson, Pospisil, Ivaskevicius,

Jonsson.

Booked: Aguiar, Barasa.

Goals: Velicka 65.

Att: 6,289

Ref: M McCurry (Scotland).

Taken from sportinglife.com