HEARTS 0-1 ABERDEEN

IT'S called cutting off your nose to spite your face. And only Hearts can do it with such spectacular stupidity.

One day they tell you their most influential midfielder is available for selection, the next they don't select him.

And with Paul Hartley cooling in the Ice Station Zebra that is the Tynecastle dugout for 64 minutes of such a crucial game, they blew whatever chance they had of overhauling one of their main rivals for another shot at the Champions League.

Sub Stevie Lovell's 87th-minute strike, pouncing on an uncharacteristic slip by Jambos skipper Craig Gordon, earned Aberdeen the three points that hoisted them clear in second spot.

And with Rangers looming at Pittodrie on Saturday it made the win twice as huge.

Dons could be six clear for Christmas if results go their way.

But no matter how much praise Aberdeen deserve it will be the Jambos hogging the headlines again this morning.

With axed captain Steven Pressley a distant memory, Hartley in the middle of a disciplinary war and even new skipper Gordon facing a showdown with club bosses on Tuesday, their fans must wonder when the madness will stop.

Hearts were booed off the park, with most of the vitriol aimed at the empty space in the directors' box where Vladimir Romanov should have been.

But you couldn't mark their brass necks with a blow torch right now.

The Tynecastle chiefs obviously knew the team selection wouldn't go down well in the stands. Why else would the normally super-efficient stadium announcer Scott Wilson leave reading the sides out until four minutes to three as they were running on to the park?

But that's Hearts for you. Why make the simple decisions when you can complicate life to the max?

Instead of Hartley replacing the crocked Julien Brellier - and making one obvious change from a winning side - Valdas Ivanauskas brought Jose Goncalves in to partner Ibrahim Tall for the first time at the back and shunted Marius Zaliukas forward one.

From a position Zaliukas looked comfortable in to one he's already been shown up badly in? Still, he contributed as much as anyone in the first half hour - nothing.

Maybe it was what was at stake, maybe it's just the general air of tension around Hearts right now, but the football was grim.

Plenty of endeavour, plenty of growl - just no quality.

One chance kicked it all off though. Dons skipper Russell Anderson saw his strike cleared off the line by Bruno Aguiar - and right into the dazed Andrius Velicka before the rebound luckily flew inches off target.

That debacle sparked a chorus of "One Paul Hartley" from the stands - and a bit of life into Hearts.

Aguiar - the standout for the Jambos - twice came close, once with each foot from the edge of the box to leave Aberdeen keeper Jamie Langfield sweating.

His corner three minutes before the break also caused havoc, with Langfield and Chris Clark combining to scramble Edgaras Jankauskas' header off the line.

Not that they were the only ones scrambling. At the other end, Nerijus Barasa - a Barney Rubble lookalike with the equivalent caveman talents - gifted a great chance to Lee Miller but Gordon touched his 20-yard lob wide.

The longer things went, the more your disbelief grew that ANYONE would think Hartley didn't have a contribution to make.

And the fans singing his name finally got their wish in the 64th minute as the Scotland star entered the fray for Zaliukas.

It was asking a lot to make a difference under the circumstances but he so nearly turned the tide.

Hartley almost sent the stadium into orbit when he blazed one high past Langfield just five minutes later only to be flagged offside.

Four minutes after that he deserved better from a magnificent turn and shot on the edge of the box that whistled inches wide.

A cute reverse ball to Takis Fyssas on the left then carved the Dons apart only for Velicka to nod the cross wide. It was one way traffic now and Velicka again came agonisingly close as he snaked out a boot trying to turn sub Michal Pospisil's shot in from four yards but fell short.

This Aberdeen side aren't in second place for nothing though.

They've shown their resilience time and again under Jimmy Calderwood and with three minutes left they pounced.

Scott Severin's 20-yarder squirmed out of Gordon's grasp straight to the feet of Lovell who slotted home from six yards to send the travelling fans into raptures.

Justice? Maybe - but you can't help wonder: 'What if Hearts had picked the right side?'

Hell mend the Jambos that they didn't.

Taken from the Sunday Mail