Well and Hearts' Fitting Tribute To O'Donnell

Jan 14 2008 Keith Jackson Reports

HEARTS 2

MOTHERWELL 2

IT began with a perfectly simple gesture yet one that was heartfelt and profound.

It ended just as it should have done -full of drama, bad blood and with a red meat intensity.

Welcome back, Motherwell. You were indeed sorely missed.

It was an absolute privilege to be among the onlookers at Tynecastle as Mark McGhee and his players emerged from the darkest of tragedies to pull on their boots again.

And they did so in a Cup tie that contained just about everything on which football ought to pride itself. Truly, this was perfection.

The 3500-strong Motherwell support that spilled over with emotion as they came together in a stadium for the first time since the loss of their club's captain, Phil O'Donnell. The empathy afforded them by Hearts and their fans. The pre-match huddle. The shirts with O'Donnell's signature on the chest.

And there was the match, a contest that thundered from the first whistle and one which appeared to do so without even the slightest sentiment. Exactly as it should have done.

It felt positively cruel as Hearts established a 2-0 lead that seemed sure to take them into the next round.

But Motherwell's players did not make this trip seeking sympathy or ask favours in this their time of need.

And so, when their cause looked hopeless, they regrouped and did what they had to - they earned themselves a second shot by staging a remarkable and utterly compelling second-half comeback.

O'Donnell would have been proud of them.

Yes, it was almost magical and enough to restore faith in football and in those who make this game of ours their business.

Take the Hearts fan who started it with that poignant and spontaneous gesture. A guy who just happened to be standing next to the tunnel when he spotted David Clarkson heading inside at the end of his warm-up.

Clarkson has felt more pain than most. O'Donnell was not just his captain, team-mate and friend - he was his uncle - and he dropped dead before his eyes.

The youngster would have been forgiven if he had asked never to kick another ball and yet here he was, back in claret and amber, ready for action with the rest of them.

His bravery in the face of such traumatic adversary did not escape the notice of that guy in the enclosure who stood clapping Clarkson off the field.

The striker looked up and nodded in acknowledgement. It was indeed a fine moment.

Afew seconds later, as the rest of Clarkson's colleagues made their way inside, full-back Jim Paterson paused to applaud the vast numbers of travelling fans who had gathered behind Motherwell's goal.

What followed was an outpouring, an eruption of noise that said one thing: Let's get it on.

These fans unfurled a massive Motherwell shirt emblazoned with O'Donnell's name and number as well as the phrase As Brave as a Lion. It provided a fitting backdrop to the huddle McGhee's players formed after they re-emerged for kick-off.

It must also be said that the respect shown to Motherwell's band of brothers by the Hearts fans-who applauded them to a man as they gathered together - was both terrific and touching.

But this was not to become some over-indulgent and awkward love in. This was a football match and when it began the kid gloves came off. It was the way it had to be.

Hearts hurled themselves into the action, crunching into tackles and hunting Motherwell down in pack.

Despite the refreshing urgency of Stevie Frail's side, Well could have taken an early lead when Ross. McCormack, who was sensational, provided Clarkson with a sight of goal.

Only a superb block by Christophe Berra denied Clarkson who stuck manfully to his task even though this understandably, was not his best display of the season.

It was Hearts who hit the front in 10 minutes when the bustling Audrius Ksanavicius darted to the byeline before crossing for Deividas Cesnauskis to cushion a volley past Graeme Smith.

Hearts were coping better with a testing surface that was not fully defrosted. The centre circle looked as if it had been dusted with icing sugar, yet the turf still seemed soft underfoot. This may or may not have contributed to Motherwell's tentative start.

For whatever reason, they did not get going until they were two goals down and staring defeat in the face.

Not even the presence in goal of the dubiously-skilled Eduardas Kurskis, who was hardly being tested, was enhancing Motherwell's chances even though the keeper was a constant source of concern for the home fans.

They gratefully applauded Kurskis for displaying the basics in hand-toeye co-ordination, such was the level of their distrust.

Yet these worries appeared to be blown away in 51 minutes when Andrius Velicka thumped in a second goal after superbly rounding Motherwell keeper Graeme Smith.

It was a desperately cruel blow to Motherwell. They had been attacking at the other end moments earlier but referee Stuart Dougal stopped play after Berra went down clutching his unmentionables.

Berra had blocked a shot on the edge of his own area. It was a bitterly cold day but it did seem like an unnecessary act of humanitarianism by Dougal, who infuriated Motherwell by ordering a dropped ball which, coincidentally, was also Berra's biggest worry.

Dougal then blew for a foul when Clarkson appeared, fairly, to have muscled his way through the defence straight from the restart. And within seconds Velicka was bursting clear at the other end to give his side a lead that should have been secure.

That it was not was down to the magnificent response of a Motherwell side which has learned to deal with far more desperate adversity.

Suddenly, they began to move the ball around with menace and purpose in the slick style that has defined their season.

It took them only 12 minutes to cut the deficit when Chris Porter got on the end of a fantastic move involving Stephen Hughes, Keith Lasley and McCormack, to poke the ball in. And in 77 minutes they completed the comeback with another superb Porter strike.

Again he was in the right place at the right time to benefit from McCormack and Lasley's superb link-up play.

The action raged on with chances coming and going at both ends and McGhee involved in a bizarre sub plot with the stand-side linesman whose performance he seemed to find amusing.

But it was fitting and right that it ended in a draw - the perfect end to a perfect football day.

HEARTS -Kurskis 6, Neilson 6, Karipidis 7, Berra 7, Goncalves 6, Cesnauskis 7 (Mikoliunas 74, 2), Stewart 6, Palazuelos 6, Driver 6 (Wallace 76, 4), Ksanavicius 6 (Pospisil 86, 1), Velicka 7.

MOTHERWELL -Smith 7, Quinn 7, Craigan 6, Reynolds 6, Paterson 6, Lasley 8, Hughes 7, McGarry 6 (Smith 63, 4), McCormack 9, Clarkson 6 (Fitzpatrick 89, 1), Porter 8.

Referee -SDougal.

Taken from the Daily Record