The young at Hearts get chance

By COLEEN PATERSON
BV Cloppenburg 2
Hearts 1

ASSISTANT boss Stephen Frail today urged Hearts young stars to use the experience they gain in Germany to progress their careers further.

The Tynecastle side fielded almost a team of under-19s players against BV Cloppenburg last night, going down to the German Fourth Division side 2-1.

Goals from Andre Breitemreiter and Matthias Balke gave the home side victory, although Branimir Kostadinov pulled back a late consolation for Hearts.

The majority of the first-team players remained at their hotel instead of making the six-hour round trip to Cloppenburg as they will all have some involvement against Rott Weiss Essen tonight.

That meant a chance for youngsters Matthew Park, Eggert Jonsson, Ryan McGowan and Sean Mackle, among others, to make an impressions on Frail and the watching Anatoli Korobochka and Eduard Malofeev.

Frail said: "It was a young side and it was obviously good for them in terms of experience but the older ones and ones who have been a bit more involved like Robbie Neilson and Andrew Driver and Deividas Cesnauskis got a game so it was a good workout for them.

"It's all part of getting fit for the start of the season.

"Without putting too much pressure on him because he is still an under-19s player, Gary Glen is a good football player, you can see that. Young Eggert Jonsson is not a centre-back but I was delighted with him back there and I was really pleased with Sean Mackle in the middle and the young lad Ryan McGown who has just come in from Australia.

"It's up to them, if they keep progressing, get games and hopefully get out of the 19s as quickly as they can and into the reserves then we will see them continue to do well at a higher standard. Hopefully they will all be able to push on."

Trialist Rui Baiao played for Hearts last night, although Frail admitted that his fitness levels need to be improved on before a decision can be made on his future at the club.

He added: "Rui Baiao played last night but he looked a bit off the pace and maybe his fitness was not quite what it needed to be. We will look at him again later in the week."

The German side finished second in the Fourth Division last season but missed out on promotion only because of reconstruction of the leagues.

A crowd of around 1500, including a band of Hearts supporters and two nuns, turned out at the Cloppenburg ground for the match which marked the official opening of the club's new stand.

In fact it was their only stand in the tiny ground and, as Frail emerged from the tunnel, it must have been the first time in his career that taking a seat on the bench meant exactly that, with a piece of garden furniture that would have been more at home in a DIY store sitting in pride of place in the dugout.

The Cloppenburg officials made the Hearts fans feel at home with a blast of Scotland the Brave over the speakers before kick-off and on the stroke of half-time, plus a bizarre rendition of Marilyn Monroe singing Happy Birthday.

The home side won themselves two corners in the space of just a few minutes but failed to make any of them count.

The Tynecastle side's first chance came in four minutes when Juho Makela nodded the ball onto Andrew Driver and hared into the box to take the return but the Finn's shot didn't have enough power on it to trouble Cloppenburg keeper Stefan Tilling, who dropped down to smother it. The striker then took a heavy knock on his right ankle, winning Hearts a free-kick 20 yards from goal out on the right.

Driver stepped up to take it and swung a decent ball into the box but there was no-one there to get on to the end of it.

With 16 minutes gone the home side edged in front when Maarten Schops drilled in an effort from long range and Breitemreiter got there just before Neilson to force the ball into the net.

A free-kick from Markus Schinner just a couple of minutes later was only inches away from the home side's second goal when he picked out Alexander Buigardt but his shot was headed away by Park.

Linas Pilibaitis was booked for a late challenge on Tie Bettenstadt but showed some nice touches to twist and turn away from the Cloppenburg defence minutes later to get a shot in. He couldn't keep it down and it sailed over the bar.

Maik Kruse thought he had doubled the Germans' lead when he thundered the ball into the net from almost the half-way line just on the stroke of half-time but the Hearts players had stopped in their tracks after the referee had blown for a foul on Pilibaitis.

Hearts brought Eduardas Kurskis on for Steve Banks at half-time, along with Gary Glen and Deividas Cesnauskis for Makela and Driver.

The home side brought on Joe Yankson shortly after the break, the former Ghana international team-mate of Larry Kingston.

There was no reunion, though, as Kingston was back at the Hearts team hotel to prepare for tonight's match against Rott Weiss Essen.

On the hour Cloppenburg strung together a good move when Matthias Balke fed the ball through into the path of Buigardt but he wasn't quick enough as Eggert Jonsson got there first and stabbed the ball behind for a corner.

Cloppenburg sent in a corner from the right that was just as the right height for Breitmreiter but he hooked his shot well over the bar.

They did add a second, clinching, goal with 15 minutes of the match remaining.

A cross from Renke Pflug was turned into the net by a cheeky back-heel from Matthias Balke.

Sean Kelly almost sent Glen through on goal late in the game, only for the offside flag to bring the move to an end before he could get a shot in.

Hearts pulled one back in the dying minutes when Glen set Dumitru Copil free down the right and he drilled the ball low across the face of goal to the back post for Branimir Kostadinov to stab home.

Cloppenburg: Tilling, Buigardt, Aisdmann, Schinner, Kruse, Zego, Bettenstaedt, Schops, Breitmreiter, Agac, Rose.

Hearts: Banks, Neilson, Park, Jonsson, McGowan, Pilibaitis, Mackle, Baiao, Mole, Makela, Driver. Subs: Cesnauskis, Kurskis, Kostadinov, Kelly, Glen, Copil.

Attendance: 1500

Star man

Winger ANDREW DRIVER has been allocated the number 11 shirt for this season and he showed great promise on the left side in the first half, causing the Germans problems with his pace and almost setting up an early goal for Juho Makela.

Taken from the Scotsman