10-Man Hearts Storm Back To Hold Killie

Jan 7 2008 David Mccarthy Reports

HEARTS 1

KILMARNOCK 1

AS bust-ups go it was hardly Rocky Balboa against Apollo Creed .

In fact, Stevie Frail later called his spat with Billy Brown "handbags" and self-depracatingly suggested he couldn't fight sleep.

But the exchange between the interim manager of Hearts and the assistant boss of Kilmarnock midway through the second half told everyone interested in the Tynecastle club all they need to know.

Frail might have spent a long, long time being the human shield for the faceless Eastern Europeans pulling the strings behind the scenes in Gorgie but having finally been given the chance to run the team, he wants it.

Oh, how he wants it. Permanently. Perhaps Frail was looking into the opposition dug-out and seeing two men in Jim Jefferies and his assistant Brown, who might stand in the way of his dream.

After all, they've been there and done the job successfully before. Given the chance again the Killie duo would find it tough to turn it down, particularly as they must be growing weary of fighting fires at Rugby Park.

Whatever the reason, Frail's determination to get a result oozed from every pore and he put as much into this fighting draw as any of his players - and dragged from them a second-half display that might just change their season.

Now that might seem an odd thing to say on the day they slumped to second bottom of the SPL but consider this: Hearts had lost six games in a row going into the weekend.

They then had their fourth player sent off in two matches, just 38 minutes into the contest, before going a goal behind on the stroke of the interval.

Most teams on that kind of run would have buckled but instead they buckled down and the man responsible was the guy on the touchline.

He sent them out five minutes early at the break and as they passed the ball around and tried to stop themselves from freezing, Frail had asked the stadium announcer to do his bit by whipping up the crowd.

By the time Killie came out for the second half, Hearts were up for it and played as if they and not the Ayrshiremen had the extra player.

That they were down to 10 men in the first place had already fired up the 14,500 crowd with a sense of injustice that bordered on paranoia.

They think the SFA - referees in particular - have it in for them but Calum Elliot's two lunges in six minutes at Danny Invincibile and Tim Clancy left John Underhill with little alternative.

And if some of their players are going to blatantly cheat, as Saulius Mikoliunas did for Lithuania against Scotland and Andrius Velicka did when getting Falkirk's Darren Barr sent off last season, then seeds of doubt will be sown into the minds of officials when they go down.

Miko found that out to his cost a couple of times at the weekend when he didn't get fouls he should have.

But the bottom line is that despite everything seemingly going against Hearts, Frail got a superb second-half performance from his depleted team.

They were without five first team regulars as well - three suspended and Laryea Kingston and Andy Driver injured - but one they welcomed back from long-term injury, Deividas Cesnauskis, provided them with the spark they needed.

And when Mikoliunas came on after the break to operate on the other side, Hearts were back in business.

A Cesnauskis corner was nodded back across goal by Christophe Berra for a third impressive Lithuanian, Velicka, to bundle the ball home.

That cancelled out the opener from similarly depleted Killie on the stroke of the interval when their best player, Jamie Hamill, delivered one of several fine crosses from the right and this one was diverted in by Paul di Giacomo.

The striker was a surprise inclusion after completing his loan move to Partick Thistle but justified his selection, even if he was a spectator for most of the second half as Hearts turned the screw, aided by Killie's inability to keep the ball.

It all got too much for Killie No. 2 Brown, who became embroiled in a slanging match with Frail, who didn't back down an inch. At one point Frail beat his own chest and yelled, "This is my f******team' to Brown, while telling him to sit on his backside, although he didn't put it as politely as that.

It was all entertaining stuff and referee Underhill showed common sense by restricting his input to words of warning instead of sending the pair upstairs.

Despite the fact Hearts controlled most of the second half, the introduction of Allan Johnston for the last quarter of the match settled Kilmarnock down again and in the final 10 minutes they created three decent opportunities to win the match.

Had they done so, it would have been tough on Hearts but Kilmarnock did enough to merit their point and defended dangerous crosses particularly well.

The introduction of veteran Martyn Corrigan, signed on Friday from Motherwell, is an astute piece of business and despite having suffered a harrowing week following the death of his friend and colleague Phil O'Donnell, the centre - back had a fine match.

He went back to work on Saturday, as did his former managerial duo Mark McGhee and Scott Leitch, who sat in the stand watching Hearts ahead of their Scottish Cup clash at Tynecastle on Saturday.

They will have enjoyed Corrigan's performance and Hearts' second half display will have given them food for thought.

After the week they've endured, though, perhaps this pair will enjoy switching their minds back to football matters.

It might not mean much in the grand scheme of things but this is what McGhee, Leitch and their players do and they will get back to work this week.

O'Donnell's death will over-ride anything else that happens this season and for many seasons to come but football still matters.

The 14,500 who turned up to watch two struggling teams on Saturday proved it.

And when sold-out stickers go up next week for the visit of the grief-stricken Lanarkshire outfit, it will prove it again.

MAN OF THE MATCH

Deividas Cesnauskis (Hearts)

MATCH STATS

POSSESSION %

54 46

SHOTS ON TARGET

7 4

SHOTS OFF TARGET

3 8

CORNERS

11 3

FOULS CONCEDED

8 17

OFFSIDES

2 8

HEARTS

MAN BY MAN

Steve Banks: Totally exposed at goal but otherwise strong and dependable. 7

Robbie Neilson: Careered forward with zest but caught on wrong side for goal. 6

Christophe Berra: Gave his all as usual and created equaliser for Velicka. 7

Hristos Karpidis: Not too bad for just his second start of the season. 6

Jose Goncalves:Charged forward at every opportunity and not too bad defensively. 6

Ruben Palazuelos: Tidy and busy and fine Combe save denied him late winner. 7

Eggert Jonsson:Put in real shift but lucky to get away with gifting possession late on. 6

Deividas Cesnauskas: Constant menace with great running and delivery. 8

Andrius Ksanavicius: Dead balls pretty good but hooked. 5

Calum Elliot: Lost cool with daft lunges.2

Andrius Velicka: Striker's instinct to poach leveller then almost grabbed winner.7

Subs: Saulius Mikoliunas - almost helped create winner for Velicka, 4. Christian Nade - didn't do much, 2. Michal Pospisil - no time to shine, 1.

KILMARNOCK

MAN BY MAN

Alan Combe: Good saves and his usual calming influence in the Killie goal. 7

Martyn Corrigan: Calm, comfortable on the ball and good positional sense. 7

Tim Clancy: Survived some early scares to contribute with solid defending. 6

Simon Ford: Commanding throughout bar one or two worrying moments. 7

Garry Hay: Didn't get forward as often as usual despite plenty of possession. 6

Jamie Hamill: Quality deliveries provided goal for di Giacomo and almost for Nish. 7

James Fowler:Adisplay full of energy and discipline. 7

Gary Locke: Couldn't get his foot on the ball as often as he would have liked 6

Colin Nish: Gave his all but little joy in aerial battles with Berra. Booked. 6

Danny Invincibile: Gruelling shift but missed a decent late chance. 6

Paul di Giacomo: Intelligent out-to-in run to convert Hamill's cross for Killie goal. 6

Subs: Allan Johnston - Killie were on back foot by time he came on, 3. Willie Gibson - could have scored the winner instead of blazing over, 2.

MAGIC MOMENT

Mikoliunas' ball-juggling run before laying off for Velicka to shoot just wide.

Taken from the Daily Record