Pospisil pounces to profit

AT THE end of a week in which Hearts' annual report showed their debt had soared to £28.4 million, at least they showed they had not totally forgotten how to produce some good results.

The club eventually showed a positive balance sheet yesterday when Michal Pospisil headed the only goal with his very first touch, just moments after coming off the bench. It ended the resistance of a stubborn Inverness Caledonian Thistle side, who had created three of the game's clearer chances and took Hearts to within two points of Rangers in the race for second place. Not to mention stealing some of the limelight from debutant Polish striker Arkadiusz Klimek, on-loan from FBK Kaunas, whom the Czech had replaced.

There was also a home debut for Ghanaian international Laryea Kingston, who looks a decent addition to the Tynecastle squad. In all, the Hearts fielded only one survivor from their 4-1 victory over the same opposition at Tynecastle back in August.
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But again the main talking point remained the lack of a place in the squad for Craig Gordon, the fourth game in a row in which the Scotland No 1 has been left out, provoking legitimate questions as to whether he has played his last game for the club and what state he will be in when next month's Scotland games come around.

It was a good thing, then, that Hearts had Steve Banks in good form. The former Gillingham goalkeeper had to be at his best as early as the third minute when he parried Graham Bayne's close-range effort, then repeated the feat when he dived to his left to defy a sliding shot from Barry Wilson. "I think Steve had three or four fantastic saves," Ivanauskas said afterwards. "I am very happy with him and experience is very important in our situation."

For Ivanauskas' opposite number Charlie Christie, though, this match brought back too many memories of the club's attritional struggles last season. "I thought we looked a bit like the Caley Thistle of old where we were content to lump the ball forward and chase it," he said. "It was very physical and there wasn't a lot of football played."

Another who must have been frustrated was Edgaras Jankauskas. Three times in the first half the Lithuanian was penalised for grappling with his marker in the opposing penalty box, yet on the few occasions when a productive cross ball did arrive in his vicinity he was unprepared to take advantage.

Referee Eddie Smith showed bottle in front of the home fans when he correctly waved aside a Hearts penalty appeal after Takis Fyssas went down under a challenge from Darren Dods. The referee left the pitch to a cacophony of boos but could have been even less popular in the ground had he noticed Marius Zalkiukas taking a couple of almighty whacks at Bayne off the ball.

With Andrew Driver and Calum Elliot operating in the wide areas, Hearts' lack of end product in the first half had come despite fielding an ostensibly attacking line-up, and it was no surprise the game improved when Roman Bednar appeared for the leaden Jankauskas on the hour mark. Before long, some nice work between Klimek and Kingston presented the Czech striker with a chance to run at goalkeeper Michael Fraser, but he was out smartly to block the way.

With 20 minutes left Rory McAllister almost changed the course of events when he got his head to Richard Hastings' left wing cross only to see his effort hit the top of the bar, but the ending was to favour Hearts. The winner duly arrived when the impressive Driver curled over a cross to the back post, and Pospisil, introduced for Elliot, directed his header back across Fraser for his third of the season.

"It was just a ball into the box and we were outmuscled," Christie admitted afterwards. Hearts, it appears, still have some muscle to flex.

Taken from the Sunday Mail