Euan Mclean At Tynecastle

VLADIMIR ROMANOV may be celebrating his TV dance contest win in Lithuania but Hearts fans are finally starting to ask if he gives a foxtrot about the crisis unfolding at his club.

Chants of "Are You Watching Romanov" rang round Tynecastle during yesterday's pulsating clash.

But the taunts turned ugly as the whistle blew on Jambos' FIFTH game without a win.

Furious fans in the enclosure at the front of the main stand spat vicious abuse towards the directors' box, only to be further provoked by a smug stuffed suit giving them a condescending wave.

But they must shout a hell of a lot louder for the man who REALLY deserves to cop their protests to hear them from his dance floor in Kaunas.

These days we can never be sure if the absent owner IS still watching or just working on his tango for his next Strictly Come Dancing routine.

His neglect is clear to see in this asset-stripped squad that is a shadow of the quality that filled the Tynecastle dressing room two years ago.

And now as they languish in ninth place the fans en masse are at last questioning this regime.

You have to credit Caley's courage for bouncing back after Hearts pegged back their two-goal lead and snatching back all three points with an injury-time winner by Graham Bayne.

That was their fifth victory on the bounce and moves them into the top six - just a couple of months since they were battling relegation.

But for Hearts there are only dark questions - most of all why on earth did calamity keeper Eduardas Kurskis start this game?

He sold the knickers last week against Rangers. And yesterday an unforgivable red card four minutes from time capped another hapless performance.

Hearts were probably better off without him as he had repeatedly let simple balls squirm through his grasp and did nothing to shoot down the common opinion that he's an accident waiting to happen.

When even your own fans are letting out sarcastic cheers when you hold on to a straightforward catch it's clearly time for a rest.

And the blatant stupidity of his second yellow for squaring up to Russell Duncan makes you wonder if that's what he was looking for.

Ironically Kurskis was the quieter of the keepers early on as Hearts started brightly.

Michael Fraser made a strong save to shut out Audrius Ksanivicius from 10 yards.

The Lithuanian striker was one of the few stars for Hearts and was unlucky to see a rasping 25-yard drive thunder off the bar in 11 minutes.

So his loss midway through the first half after a hard-but-fair tackle by Ross Tokely was a blow from which Jambos never recovered.

Caley's opener, however, came against the run of play in 22 minutes when John Rankin slid the ball across the front of the 18-yard box for Duncan to blast home a low finish without breaking stride.

Duncan was involved again as Caley Thistle extended their lead in the 52nd minute.

His pass released Marius Niculae, who enraged the home support by appearing to make the most of Kurskis diving at his feet.

For whistler Willie Collum it was either a booking for Niculae for diving or red card for Kurskis for denying a clear scoring opportunity.

Instead the keeper escaped with a yellow before picking Rankin's penalty out of the net.

Hearts grabbed a lifeline in 61 minutes when substitute Callum Elliot appeared to get a touch on a powerful Berra header.

The scorer was rewarded with the hook, just 30 minutes after going on, and afterwards Frail admitted he did it for the young striker's own good.

He added: "It was clear Calum wasn't playing well and I felt we had to get him off. I did it to protect him but my decision could have destroyed him.

"If I have done that I'll need to do my utmost to lift him again."

Kurskis' dismissal, for lashing out at Duncan for clipping his heels, hung his mates out to dry.

Yet incredibly Hearts drew level two minutes from time when Andrius Velicka rolled home a hotly-disputed penalty he had won himself.

But there's no telling this brave Caley side when they're beaten just now. And when Marius Zaliukas failed to properly clear a Barry Wilson cross Bayne pounced to hammer home an injury-time winner.

Three points and the visiting fans were dancing all the way home to Inverness while Romanov it seems is leading Hearts a merry dance.

MATCH STATS

SHOTS ON 10

SHOTS OFF 10

OFFSIDE 2

FOULS 15

CORNERS 12

BOOKINGS 2

SHOTS ON 6

SHOTS OFF 3

OFFSIDE 1

FOULS 6

CORNERS 0

BOOKINGS 3

REF WATCH

WILLIE COLLUM had a hectic day and copped pelters from home fans. They claimed Velicka was fouled before Caley's winner - but then the penalty he won earlier looked soft too. Not his most consistent game but not an easy one to steward. Rating: 5/10.

Taken from the Sunday Mail