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| <-Page | <-Team | Tue 26 Dec 2006 Hearts 3 Hibernian 2 | Team-> | Page-> |
| <-Srce | <-Type | Herald ------ Report | Type-> | Srce-> |
| Valdas Ivanauskas | <-auth | Rob Robertson | auth-> | Mike McCurry |
| [C Killen 55] ;[D Shiels pen 61] | Dean Shiels | |||
| 8 | of 014 | Paul Hartley 2 ;Edgaras Jankauskas 48 ;Saulius Mikoliunas 70 | L SPL | H |
Hearts 3 - 2 HibernianROB ROBERTSON at Tynecastle December 27 2006 Whatever both sets of players had in their Christmas drinks, it's worth bottling and selling at a premium. They served up a match full of drama, the odd moment of madness, incidents aplenty and with a winning goal scored by one of the least- loved players at Tynecastle. Hearts supporters have long been at a loss to understand why Saulius Mikoliunas retains his place in the side come hell or high water. That was forgotten after the Lithuanian midfielder's sublime left-foot shot, after a cutback from substitute Andrius Velicka, gave the home side all three points. The key difference between the sides was that Hearts kept their discipline in the white-hot atmosphere. Hearts had taken the lead after just two minutes following a great move that saw Roman Bednar set up Paul Hartley for a simple tap-in. The game was finely poised until three minutes into the second-half when Zbigniew Malkowski, the Hibs goalkeeper, made his latest high-profile gaffe. Hartley played in a harmless trundling, low free-kick, which Malkowski went down to collect. The goalkeeper failed to pick up the ball and fumbled it out to a surprised but alert Edgaras Jankauskas who knocked it home from a few yards out. But the error galvanised the visitors, who finally came to life after going two goals behind. Chris Killen, who had missed an easy first-half chance, made amends with a powerful header into the back of the net. They equalised after Nerijus Barasa brought down Dean Shiels in the box, though there seemed to be little contact. The Northern Ireland forward stuck the penalty away with aplomb but was then sent off for barging into Craig Gordon as he ran to get the ball back. Near the end, Steven Whittaker hit both posts with one shot as Hibs tried their best to secure an equaliser. But Hearts had made fewer mistakes than their counterparts and deserved to win. John Collins, the Hibs coach, admitted he had taken Malkowski aside after the match to tell him he must put paid to the errors. He looked furious with the Pole, but Simon Brown, the reserve goalkeeper, is even more gaffe prone and Collins' first priority when the transfer window opens will be to find a decent No.1. He also needs a striker to complement Killen; Abdessalam Benjelloun is not the answer. Wearing tights and black gloves on a reasonably mild afternoon, he missed an easy opportunity after less than a minute. He then vanished from sight and did little to justify the faith Collins has in him. Compare his performance to the Hearts front two of Jankauskas and Bednar. The pair were always George Burley's first choices, but injury has limited the opportunities to play them together. Having the burly strikers available is a big boost to Valdas Ivanauskas, the Hearts manager, who, after this win, will believe it is well within his team's capabilities to compete with Rangers and Aberdeen for second place. The only worrying point for Hearts fans was the absence of Robbie Neilson, who was left out of the squad. He had claimed after last week's game against Dundee United that Craig Gordon was not ill, as the club said, and was simply left out of the team. It is to be hoped that he is not being disciplined for making that statement as Neilson is a far better player than Barasa, guilty of a dreadful dive and perpetrator of some disgraceful antics for such a so-called hardman. But this victory will distract Hearts fans temporarily from the woes caused by club owner Vladimir Romanov. The multi-millionaire, who was not at yesterday's derby, may still interfere in team affairs, but the players he picks keep delivering when it matters.  Taken from the Herald |
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