Lovell on hand to seize Gordon's gift

Patrick Glenn at Tynecastle
Sunday December 17, 2006
The Observer

Substitute Steve Lovell's late winner, in a match that had seemed unlikely to produce as much as a solitary goal, advanced Aberdeen's pursuit of second place and brought further ignominy to a Hearts team who appear to have become irretrievably dejected by the ham-fisted management of the club.

Hearts' troubles in recent times have been much more engrossing than anything they have produced on the field of play, their victory over Motherwell eight days ago their first in 10 outings since 1 October.

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The unrest around Tynecastle has stemmed mostly from the repercussions of former captain Steven Pressley's decision to go public with his dissatisfaction over the management of the club and his revelation of 'serious unrest' in the dressing room.

Pressley's punishment was, in effect, the sack and the apparent ostracisation of Paul Hartley, his fellow protester, continued when he was left on the bench. The predictable restiveness of the supporters over the treatment of the Scotland midfielder, however, took some time to materialise.

It was not until Aberdeen came perilously close to taking the lead in the 29th minute that the home support began to chant Hartley's name, seemingly aroused to hostility by the narrow escape. They would be stirred again during an equally gloomy second half, this time having their wish granted when Hartley replaced Marius Zaliukas.

This first chanting came after a corner on the right led to the ball ricocheting around the six-yard box, before Russell Anderson came forward to hit a left-footed shot from about eight yards. Prevention of a goal looked impossible until Bruno Aguiar stretched his foot to make the block. The ball, improbably, flew into the air, curled on to the top of the crossbar and dropped over.

It was the first moment of authentic excitement in a match that had hitherto been a monument to blandness and pedestrianism. Neither side seemed capable of presenting a genuine threat, although Hearts responded to Anderson's attempt with a couple of their own, which raised a cheer of sorts.

Both came from Aguiar, the first a free-kick saved by Jamie Langfield, the second a low, left-foot shot from the left corner of the area that sent the ball just wide.

Aguiar's next contribution, however, created an alarm to rival Anderson's, his corner glanced towards the bottom corner of the net and stopped on the line by the combined efforts of Langfield and Chris Clark.

All of this previously unsuspected hunger for goals culminated in Lee Miller's poor miss at the other end. With only Craig Gordon to beat at the edge of the area, Miller lobbed the ball over the goalkeeper and wide.

By the time Hartley's appearance satisfied the home crowd's craving, the general play had, if anything, deteriorated. Both sides seemed to have serious difficulties in putting together more than one pass that would advance the ball in the direction of the target.

Nobody on the field could have been accused of a lack of industry, but the same could not be said of finesse and verve, these qualities being at a premium. Hartley provided a reminder of his capabilities at his best by moving forward to receive a clipped pass from Edgaras Jankauskas and rifle the ball past Langfield. But he was clearly offside.

Hartley, nevertheless, still looked the most accomplished player on the field, his low right-foot shot after a quick turn inside his marker sliding marginally wide. He also set free Takis Fyssas to deliver a cross from the left that was ruined by Andrius Velicka's header wide at the far post.

Velicka would achieve the seemingly impossible soon after, sliding towards a low shot from substitute Michal Pospisil and contriving to scoop the ball over the bar from only a few feet out. Velicka would be tortured by guilt when, soon after, Lovell moved in to place a close-range shot past Gordon after the big goalkeeper had spilled a seemingly unthreatening drive from Scott Severin.

Taken from the Guardian/Observer