Sloppy Hearts lack finishing touch to Hartley brilliance

Valdas Ivanauskas, the Hearts manager, said afterwards that he needs to add quality and not quantity to an already bulging squad. He will see finishing far more clinical than this on the municipal pitches of Edinburgh this morning, last night’s alcohol still detectable on the breath of the strikers as they celebrate.

At least the Hearts players hit the target, most of the time. Graeme Smith, the Kilmarnock keeper, made some fine saves and Simon Ford, the centre-half, cleared two from the goalline. The home side lacked even that degree of accuracy, pulling, pushing and sclaffing shots this way and that. Craig Gordon, the Hearts keeper and captain, made his first proper save of the afternoon in the game’s last action, dropping down to his left to smother Steven Naismith’s shot from a tight angle on the left. It was the last wasted opportunity of a game littered with them.

It began with a strange scare on the Kilmarnock goal. Paul Hartley’s free-kick from deep on the left swung in and over the bunched attackers in the box. Everyone, including Smith, watched motionless as it bounced up and rebounded off the inside of the far post. Gordon Greer reacted first to volley the ball away.

The first real crime against goalscoring was committed 20 minutes in. Gary Wales went round Robbie Neilson down the Kilmarnock left and pulled it back for Peter Leven. The forward let the ball come onto his right foot but his shot screwed horribly wide from 14 yards.

The first half ended with Hearts twice refusing to take the lead. First Takis Fyssas’s cross from the left tempted Smith from his goal, but he was stranded when Saulius Mikoliunas reached it first, hooking a perfect ball back across goal from beyond the back post. Andrius Velicka pulled the trigger, but Ford stretched in front of the striker and got enough on his shot to take it over the bar. Then, after Hartley skinned Garry Hay and found Velicka in the box, Smith made a diving parry that was cleaned up by Ford under heavy pressure from Michal Pospisil.

After the break a wave of waste flooded this game. Every move ended with someone holding their head in their hands or slamming an angry fist into the grass. Mikoliunas’s volley across goal and wide from a tight angle was perhaps the most difficult of the chances that came and was gift-wrapped by Hay, who headed Andrew Driver’s cross up and at the winger.

The prettiest move came next, Fyssas working a delicate one-two with Hartley to get a look at Smith’s goal, but his low shot was pulled across the target and missed the far post by inches. A minute later, Mikoliunas’s shot was deflected by Greer’s awkward swipe, bobbling just wide in slow motion as Smith stood wrong-footed in the centre of his goal.

Kilmarnock struck back by striking the bar, a fine counter attack ending with Allan Johnston’s clipped pass into Naismith’s path. His heavy first touch drew Gordon out, and the second was a stabbed shot that spun up off the crossbar. Gordon got up fast to catch the ball before Naismith could finish the job from point-blank range.

Hartley fought an entertaining battle with James Fowler in the middle and won on points, escaping his marker on several occasions and carving an opportunity from each one. His snap volley from 20 yards, drifting a couple of yards wide at the end, was the next close call. Celtic have a reported interest in Fowler, one of two to play for Kilmarnock despite phoning in sick yesterday with the bug that has stripped Jim Jefferies’ squad to its bones. Even the club physio was sent home before the game.

Kilmarnock responded when Johnston chipped a perfect pass up and over the Hearts defence. It took an age to come down and Naismith declined to attempt a volley from the corner of the box when it did. His cross was deflected to Leven, who pulled a left-foot shot wide.

With 20 minutes remaining Fyssas’s low cross was deflected into the box where Ford blocked it to the feet of Christophe Berra. The centre-half looked out of place with the ball at his feet in front of goal and allowed Smith to get out and block with his legs before he could dig out a shot. Six minutes later the keeper sprang to his left to make another fine save, pawing away a header from Roman Bednar after Mikoliunas had nodded a Hartley cross into the substitute’s path.

Then, finally, the two most heinous errors. First Bednar ran on to an invitation of a through ball by Hartley. The striker’s first touch set him perfectly for the finish, which was a side-footed shot that went up and over the bar.

With four minutes to play, Johnston found the space behind the defence again with another quarterback pass. Wales collected it and held off Marius Zaliukas and Neilson but his left-foot shot slid past the far post.

Star Man: Gordon Greer (Kilmarnock)

Taken from timesonline.co.uk