Jambos win and Malofeev has a bawl

Austria Vienna 1 - Hearts 2
HEARTS recorded an invigorating pre-season victory in Vienna on Saturday, but once again Eduard Malofeev became the centre of attention for all the wrong reasons.

The veteran Russian was ordered to the stand by referee Fritz Stuchlik on 64 minutes for verbally abusing the stand-side assistant, Alain Hoxha. He had again screeched and bawled his way through the match, as he did during Sunday's defeat by Tavriya.

Malofeev, should his influence at Hearts continue into the season, could seriously undermine the efforts of more competent colleagues.

Austria Vienna were overcome with relative ease by a Tynecastle side weakened by injury, with a guest appearance by Thomas Flogel an additional attraction.

But the antics of Hearts' sports adviser again cast a shadow over the evening.

Malofeev stood in the visitors' dugout during the match with assistant coach Stephen Frail. Interim head coach Anatoli Korobochka joined Vladimir Romanov, Pedro Lopez and FBK Kaunas sport director Senderis Girsovicius in the stand.

Frail believed Malofeev was dismissed rather needlessly, however the former Kaunas and MTZ Ripo coach had been warned about persistently leaving the technical area. The final straw came when Malofeev complained as Hearts were denied a penalty for what looked like a handball.

"I just turned round and the referee's pointing to the stand," said Frail.

"My Russian's not that good so I don't know what was said. I thought the referee over-reacted to be honest.

It was a crazy thing to do considering it was a friendly. He was very fussy with a lot of the decisions he made and blew for any contact on the pitch. That just seems to be way on the continent. It was a pleasing performance, especially the first half.

"Austria Vienna are only a week away from the start of their season so it was good to get the win.

"The most important thing was the fitness and we seem to have come through it relatively unscathed.

"There was the Thomas Flogel aspect and my worry was we might switch off when he came on because of all the attention surrounding him. But we didn't, and thankfully we held on and that gives us a bit of confidence.

"I've been pleased overall with this trip, but it's definitely better now we've won this game.

"There's been more of a sharpness about the players during the last few days. Fitness work and strength we will continue to build on."

Flogel himself was simply delighted to have been involved in a game between his two former clubs after coming on for the last seven minutes.

"It was very emotional, a good end to my career with my two favourite teams playing," he said.

"Austria Vienna asked me if I would like to be involved and I said yes. It was a great idea, although I only knew three Hearts players and the coach, Shaggy.

"I think he must stay involved with Hearts. It's important for the club to have a Scottish or at least a British guy who knows the mentality and knows the players."

Austria Vienna finished fifth in last season's Austrian Bundesliga and, as expected, provided a decent examination of Hearts' pre-season credentials in front of a crowd of around 4000.

With about 50 travelling fans cheering them on, the visitors created the first opening in the eighth minute. Vienna keeper Szabolcs Safar was forced to palm Christophe Berra's header over the crossbar following Kestutis Ivaskevicius' cross.

The early stages evolved amidst a number of uncompromising tackles, one of the heaviest suffered by Saulius Mikoliunas in a challenge with Yuksel Sariyar.

Larry Kingston shouldered the physical aspects of the game easily and his forceful attacking play was difficult for the hosts to counter.

After Franz Schiemer glanced Andreas Lasnik's free-kick wide, the Ghanaian initiated the move which brought the opening goal on 18 minutes.

From Kingston's pass, Andrius Velicka delivered one of Malofeev's cherished diagonal balls to Mikoliunas, whose inviting cross from the left was poked into the Vienna net by defender Franz Schiemer.

The concession didn't silence the home support though, as the Viennese continued chanting with admirable enthusiasm considering what they were watching was merely a pre-season friendly. Their side responded on 24 minutes when Sanel Kuljic scooped Ronald Gercaliu's cross goalwards, forcing Steve Banks to palm it over. Malofeev made time for a trademark rant just before the half-hour, again targeting a non-Russian speaker in Michael Stewart after the midfielder had been dispossessed.

Stewart at least had the grace to nod his head and pretend he understood.

Vienna pushed Hearts back and Sariyar's shot following a piercing run from midfield stung the palms of Banks, but the visitors held their advantage through to the interval.

After a brief firecracker display, the second half resumed with three changes to the Hearts side. Fernando Screpis, still officially a trialist as a contract had yet to be signed, was handed his debut, whilst Deividas Cesnauskis and Linas Pilibaitis were introduced with Stewart, Kingston and Mikoliunas making way.

On first evidence Screpis looks a tidy midfielder not short on technique or competitive edge. His left foot also delivers a mean free-kick, as Hearts discovered when their lead was doubled on 55 minutes. Vienna's Fernando Troyansky inadvertently glanced the Argentinian's set-piece into his own net.

"He showed he's got good quality and a good left foot," said Frail. "It might have been better to see him in the first half when the pace was higher but I'm sure he'll travel to Germany with us and we can have a better look at him. There might be more players turning up during that trip."

Austria Vienna replied with Lasnik forcing an impressive save from substitute goalkeeper Eduardas Kurskis, and the hosts eventually reduced the deficit on 63 minutes when Florian Metz headed home Lasnik's corner. This evidently frustrated Malofeev, and just a minute later the veteran Russian was ordered to the stand. He yelled abuse at the standside assistant when Hearts were denied a penalty and paid the deserved price.

Flogel finally took his bow - the Vienna fans had been chanting his name throughout the second half - with seven minutes remaining as a replacement for Lasnik. Not surprisingly, he was given a rapturous welcome as Flogelmania enveloped the Franz Horr Stadium.

Vienna had one last thrust in the 87th minute when a free-kick by Johannes Ertl brought out a fine save by Kurskis. But Hearts departed with victory, ensuring a pleasing end to their Austrian tour.

Austria Vienna (4-4-2): Safar; Troyansky, Metz, Schiemer, Gercaliu; Standfest, Blanchard, Acimovic, Lasnik; Sariyar, Kuljic. Subs: Fornezzi, Majstorovic, Aigner, Ertl, Sulimani, Dimic.

Hearts (4-4-2): Banks (Kurskis 49); Kancelskis (Neilson 66), Zaliukas, Berra, Goncalves (Park 82); Ivaskevicius (McCann 56), Kingston (Pilibaitis 46), Stewart (Screpis 46), Mikoliunas (Cesnauskis 46); Pospisil (Mole 61), Velicka (Makela 74). Subs: J Armstrong, Jonsson, Mackle.

Taken from the Scotsman