Joy of May so far away

WHAT A confusing, contrary season Dunfermline are enjoying. Or should that be enduring?

Relegation stalks their every move in the SPL, where they cannot fathom a way to win, yet the Scottish Cup continues to deliver paradoxical results; first Rangers and now Hearts having had their Hampden ambitions thwarted here at East End Park.

"It's unbelievable, eh? What better way to win than in the final few seconds," said Dunfermline goalkeeper Dorus de Vries, an apt choice to sum up an afternoon which saw the holders dumped out of the competition for failing to take their chances.

The Dutchman played a key role in that, producing three saves at the start of the second half to deny the visitors. And then there was the sucker-punch to end them all. In injury time, having barely threatened Steve Banks' goal, Scott Wilson headed home at the far post after Adam Hamill had lifted in a cross from the right.

That Banks was in goal at all prompted de Vries into the sort of observation which should shame those in charge at Tynecastle, but will probably fall on deaf ears. "Ever since I came to Scotland I've been a fan of Craig Gordon," he said. "He is a gifted goalkeeper and to see him not playing because of politics is not good for him or for Scottish football."

That the team-sheet has become such an intriguing document whenever Hearts are concerned says it all.

Yesterday's showed Gordon again on the bench despite the fact he is fit, the captain of the club, and no longer the subject of any transfer window machinations.

Stephen Frail, the Hearts assistant manager, explained afterwards that Valdas Ivanauskas thought Banks had done well in the two matches he had deputised for Gordon. But it would have been nice to have asked the man himself. Ivanauskas, however, did not attend the post-match press conference, with Frail suggesting it was perhaps because the coach might be flying to Paris to take in Lithuania's match against Mali on Tuesday.

It seemed a spurious excuse, but here is a cold hard fact. Of the starting XI who played for Hearts when they lifted the Scottish Cup back in May, only one survived to start against Dunfermline yesterday and he was Ibrahim Tall.

"We all remember the day we had in May and we would have liked another one," said Frail, the fall guy put up to face questions he could not answer. He looked as uncomfortable as Stephen Kenny looked delighted.

The Dunfermline manager's side are still rooted to the foot of the SPL, but their unlikely progression in the Scottish Cup is lifting spirits and that may yet lead to a more tangible return in terms of points accrued in the league.

"The margins are so narrow," said the Irishman, pointing to recent one-goal losses to Hearts and Rangers in the league, which were turned into narrow victories when the same sides visited on Scottish Cup duty.

While new arrivals like Jim O'Brien and Hamill have undoubtedly brought new vigour to Dunfermline, Hearts seem like a side still in mourning for departed friends, most notably yesterday Paul Hartley.

Central midfield against Dunfermline was Neil McCann, who donned the captain's armband, paired with one of Hearts' army of loan signings. Laryea Kingston, however, is neither Lithuanian nor from Kaunas; the Ghanaian on a six-month sojourn from Terek Grozny in Russia.

Given this was his first taste of Scottish football, it was an unedifying introduction as there was little of merit in a first half in which the only notable incidents concerned Saulius Mikoliunas' propensity to go to ground too easily and the number of Hearts fans trying to squeeze themselves into East End Park.

Concerning the first matter, it took Mikoliunas all of four minutes to provoke Wilson's ire when he cut into the box and went down in such a manner to suggest Dunfermline's captain had chopped away his ankles. Given the lecture Wilson gave the Lithuanian once the referee had waved away the claims it suggested the defender believed Mikoliunas was out to con the official.

That aside, the visiting fans struggling to find seats in the packed main stand had little reason to have their hopes raised. Hearts played brightly in the opening stages, but without really threatening the Dunfermline goal. It was a situation which allowed the home side to work their way into the game, with Hamill and O'Brien productive down their respective flanks. Even so, by the time the referee blew the half-time whistle, it was hard to recall an incident when either goalkeeper had been called into action.

That unsatisfactory situation did not persist long into the second half. Within 10 minutes of the re-start Dunfermline had Phil McGuire to thank that the scoreline was still level; the defender heading off his own line to deny Andrew Driver.

De Vries was then the hero, blocking away a near-post drive from Mikoliunas and then denying Michal Pospisil with a smothering save on his goal line. Just before the hour mark, Hearts centre-half Marius Zaliukas, up for a set-piece, connected with a header which deflected off a body on its way through to goal, prompting de Vries into a swift change of direction to block it away with his foot.

By now the visitors had a firm grip on the game, but still could not score. Substitute Edgaras Jankauskas shot into the side-netting and then Roman Bednar lifted the ball onto the top of the Dunfermline bar from an acute angle out on the right flank.

De Vries breathed a sigh of relief as that effort bounced away. The next time he had reason to catch his breath was after he had sprinted to the other end of the pitch to celebrate a Dunfermline winner. He, like most at East End Park, couldn't quite believe it.

Taken from the Sunday Herald