LOVELL-Y JUBBLY!

ABERDEEN 1

HEARTS 0

THEY'VE been written off a dozen times. They've blown it on every occacsion they've been within spitting distance.

But this time next week Aberdeen could be in second place and looking at the Champions League.

A Rangers defeat today, a Dons win at Motherwell on Tuesday ... the gap on Gers is just one point.

And with the pair going head to head at Ibrox on Saturday? Who knows? It's the kind of game you'd have bet your mortgage on Aberdeen losing over the years.

But Jimmy Calderwood's resilient side bounces back off the ropes so often and stays in the fight that once, just once, they might have it in them.

Stevie Lovell's sweet seventh minute strike was more than enough to put a horrific Hearts team to the sword.

And the fact the Jambos were reduced to 10 menwith half an hour left after Layrea Kingston's red card wouldn't have made a blind bit of difference to the outcome of a woeful game.

Any football that WAS played came from the Dons and Lovell said: "A lot of people doubted we could even challenge Hearts for third place - but here we are.

"We worked hard and deserved this. Now we're going into our biggest week of the season. How the next two games go will decide our entire season for us.

"Motherwell will be tough and it never crossedmy mind that Saturday could see us go second."

Dons deserved everything they got here against a team that lived up to its Hearts of Midlithuania tag.

Five of them started, ALL loan signings from Kaunas, and they never kicked a ball frommiddle to front from start to finish in a game that started so poorly you wondered how this could ever be a third versus fourth clash.

But out of the darkness came a shining light in the shape of a magnificent opening goal.

Craig Brewster showed his worth with a touch out wide to Barry Nicholson.

The midfielder - in outstanding form recently - threaded the ball of Lovell's dreams into the striker's path in the inside right channel.

Dead weight.

The Englishman didn't even have to break stride as he lashed an unstoppable right-foot shot across Craig Gordon and into the net.

That flash of brilliance apart, it was stop-start football torture before the break.

Maybe it was the pressure of what was at stake but the passes were few and far between, particularly from a desperately inexperienced Hearts midfield.

The 21-year-old Lithuanians Linas Pilibaitis and Kestutis Ivaskevicius had three starts between them, teaming up with 19-year-old Andy Driver and Kingston.

And they just couldn't get a foothold in the game or get their strikers involved.

What little football we did see came from the Dons. Nicholson's rasping 18-yarder looked like seriously troubling Gordon until Tomas Kancelskis blocked.

And five minutes before the break Brewster forced Gordon into action, swivelling to fire in a decent left-foot volley from 18 yards.

The Scotland No.1 went all continental on us - diving to his right with a huge parry away from the danger zone - but he got the job done.

After being forced into a change before the break - Kancelskis hobbling off with a hamstring problem - Hearts boss Anatoly Korobochka made another at half time with Calum Elliot hooked to make way for Michal Pospisil.

But the gaffer's plans were up in the air when Kingston saw red - and the Ghanaian only had himself to blame.

Booked for persistent fouling in the 49th minute, he launched into a needless and reckless challenge on Nicholson on the halfway line, catching the Dons man high and ending the game for BOTH men.

The football failed to improve though. Partly that was down to some fine defending from both sides, the rest was due to a ropey pitch that chopped up at every step.

Butwith 13 minutes left it looked as if Dons had killed off the game.

Lovell checked cleverly inside and sent in a shot that was deflected up and over a helpless Gordon - but Pilibaitis cleared off the line.

Dons survived a couple of sweaty injury-time moments to claim all three points and close the gap on second-placed Gers to four points.

Calderwood said: "We've a hard game on Tuesday night first but if that one and the Old Firm result goes our way it will make next Saturday an interesting game.

"But maybe more importantly a win in midweek would put us six points clear of Hearts for third.

"That means everything's in our own hands as far as Europe goes."

Dons may have to take on Well without Nicholson whose shoulder injury sustained in the red card incident with Kingston looks like keeping him on the sidelines.

REFWATCH

STEVE CONROY let a LOT go before he got his cards out. Ended up showing six second-half yellows and a red to the Jambos. Maybe says as much about Hearts as the ref, though.

Rating: 6/10.

MATCH STATS

ABERDEEN V HEARTS

ABERDEEN

SHORTS ON 4

SHORTS OFF 3

OFFSIDE 10

FOULS 8

CORNERS 0

BOOKING 0

HEARTS

SHORTS ON 1

SHORTS OFF 3

OFFSIDE 1

FOULS 23

CORNERS 2

BOOKING 5

Taken from the Sunday Mail