Romanov dances as Hearts burned

WHILE THE Hearts owner danced in the Baltics, Motherwell waltzed away from Tynecastle with the points. Improbably, the Fir Park side now sit just four points adrift of leaders Celtic, having secured sole possession of third place courtesy of results elsewhere.

Two second-half goals turned round a game which had started in atrocious conditions and ended in worse. Hearts, buoyed by an early lead, were the better team in an ugly opening 45 minutes, but Mark McGhee tinkered with his formation and was rewarded with a win which firms up his credentials to succeed Alex McLeish as Scotland manager.

With Vladimir Romanov otherwise engaged in Lithuania's version of Strictly Come Dancing, Hearts are now four points adrift of a top-six place and languish nine points behind a Motherwell side whose resources are threadbare in comparison.
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"It's as good a win as we've had in terms of the opposition and the circumstances of the game, in going a goal behind," said McGhee. "I was disappointed with my players in the first half because it seemed as if Hearts intimidated us.

"At half time I had to tell them that. We got a great response and I thought we deserved to win. They shouldn't have to fear anyone, as we showed with our second half performance."

Hearts assistant coach Stephen Frail said that it had been another Jekyll and Hyde performance from his side. "There were two Hearts teams today," he said. "The first half we were comfortable but in the second half we were like the team which drew twice with Gretna."

Hearts made five changes to the team which had drawn with Celtic the week before, with the debut of goalkeeper Eduardas Kurskis being the main point of interest. In front of him Marius Zaliukas returned from injury, while Saulius Mikoliunas also returned, bringing the Lithuanian contingent up to five.

Motherwell were unchanged, a reflection of not only three successive league victories but the paucity of resources available to McGhee, who reckons he only has about 14 genuine first-team players at the club. Striker Danny Porter made the line-up after recovering from a stiff neck, but this morning thousands more would have been suffering from the same complaint after following the ball's frequent forays into the wet, dark Edinburgh sky in the opening 45 minutes.

Let's hope the conditions are less atrocious when the sides meet in the fourth round of the Scottish Cup at the same venue next month. There was never going to be an abundance of midfield sophistry on such a day, but even so there was no excuse for some of the launching into orbit which defaced the first half.

Hearts, though, made a wonderful start, taking the lead after 11 minutes. Even this early it seemed the home side had sensed an area of weakness on the Motherwell left flank, where the visitors' 4-3-3 system made full-back Jim Paterson look vulnerable under pressure from Mikoliunas and Robbie Neilson.

It didn't help that Paterson looked uncomfortable anyway, and when Mikoliunas slipped the ball to Andrius Velicka the striker had time to lob the ball into the Hearts area where it was met on the volley by Andy Driver for a sweet left-footed opener.

Going behind deflated the visitors, who were unable to get into their stride on the tight Tynecastle pitch, and Hearts were easily the more menacing side. Velicka was a handful, holding the ball up and using his muscle to good effect while the nippy Audrius Ksanavicius was better suited than most to the slippery conditions.

Velicka couldn't quite get full purchase on a Driver free kick, again from the Motherwell left, otherwise Hearts would have gone two ahead. Midway through the half Neilson emphasised the home side's advantage with a stinging shot which flew over the bar, but the home fans' enjoyment of the proceedings wasn't to last.

The first scare for Hearts came in the 34th minute when Zaliukas, in a foretaste of what was to follow in the second half, nearly headed into his own goal, forcing Kurskis to tip the ball over the bar for a corner. Then the debutant goalkeeper had to look sharp to take the ball off David Clarkson's toe as the visitors finally started to make an impact.

McGhee's exhortations at half-time had an immediate effect when Ross McCormack's free kick just skimmed over the top of the bar and seven minutes into the half Motherwell were level. Stephen Craigan, turning in yet another skipper's performance, headed the ball behind the Hearts defence, Jose Goncalves made a hash of clearing, and Clarkson, who had been switched to the right, hooked it across for Porter to head in at the far post.

This deviation from the script rattled the home side, but when Christian Nade was sent on as an early substitute he couldn't even connect with the ball after being set free in the Motherwell penalty area by Michael Stewart. It was a costly error by the striker, because three minutes later his side was behind. Steven McGarry was the architect, doing well to get the ball across to McCormack and, although the forward's attempt may have crossed the line anyway, the last touch was clearly from Zaliukas who could only hold his head at the own goal.

The turnaround spurred Hearts out of their torpor, and Eggert Jonsson hit the bar with a 25-yard shot. Ksanavicius, who had been booked earlier for diving, had a penalty claim turned down by Craig Thomson, and although Cristophe Berra's low shot took Graeme Smith two attempts to save, Motherwell held out for another valuable three points.

Hearts substitutes: Nade for Mikoliunas 62, Elliot for Velicka 77, Ivaskevicius for Jonnson 82. Not used: Basso, Wallace, Tall, Palazuelos. Booked: Ksanavicius 59, Goncalves 89.

Motherwell substitutes: Meldrum, Corrigan, McLean, Lasley, Fitzpatrick, D Smith, Murphy. Booked: Paterson 54, Hughes 81.

Referee: C Thomson Att: 16,633

Taken from the Sunday Herald