Hearts 2-0 Gretna

Feb 10 2008 Rob Fairburn At Tynecastle

DELIGHTED Stevie Frail hailed his resurgent Jambos for leapfrogging city rivals Hibs as they made it three wins on the bounce.

Top scorer Andrius Velicka's double put bottom dogs Gretna to the sword and now caretaker boss Frail has the top six firmly in sight.

He said: "I was just delighted to get the points. It is another place we have moved up the table and results elsewhere probably went for us.

"It is a positive to move above Hibs into eighth. But you don't win anything for finishing above Hibs unless of course you finish above everyone else.

"That is three wins and three clean sheets in a row in the league."

It was the usual whirlwind start from Jambos and it paid immediate dividends. delightful pass from Audrius Ksanavicius in just two minutes sent Velicka through and he rounded keeper Greg Fleming but was dragged too wide and could only find the side netting.

Sixty seconds later the home side were in front. This time Michael Stewart was the provider with a slide-rule pass into the path of Velicka who unleashed a stunning left-foot shot into the far corner of the net.

Stewart should have doubled the lead minutes later but failed to read a dummy by Ksanavicius and stumbled over the ball, allowing it to drift into the hands of Fleming.

New-look Gretna, with four January signings making debuts - Danny Hall, Kyle Naughton, Rostyn Griffiths and John Paul Kissock - weathered the storm and should have been level in 13 minutes.

Gavin Skelton's clever chip to the far post was headed over from close range by Kenny Deuchar.

Aurelien Collin was involved in a painful clash of heads with Velicka in 18 minutes and after lengthy treatment tried to continue.

But it was to no avail as the defender had twisted his ankle in the fall and was replaced by Craig Barr.

Hearts continued to create chances and Andy Driver was guilty of wasting a couple.

However, they got the killer second goal four minutes before the break.

Keeper Steve Banks picked out Ksanavicius with a precise clearance and his cross found Velicka goalside of Hall.

The towering defender put in a clumsy challenge and the Lithuanian hit the deck.

Velicka drilled the penalty past Fleming for his 14th goal of the season.

There was no way back for Gretna after that and their task became impossible when Hall capped a nightmare debut with a red card.

He chopped down Ksanavicius on the edge of the box to earn a second booking.

The Black and Whites' only plus was the performance of Kissock who came on to a game in the second half and looked a real handful.

But the other debutants were disappointing and Gretna's only real chance in the second half came when Mickael Buscher's shot was parried round a post by Banks.

Velicka was on a mission to get his hat-trick and was foiled by inches with a low drive across goal in 82 minutes.

He eventually netted in the dying seconds with a cool finish from close range only to be robbed of the match ball by a linesman's offside flag.

Jambos stopper Robbie Neilson was quick to praise the striker's contribution - but reckons shoring up the defence has been the biggest factor in Hearts' revival.

Neilson said: "Velicka is a great finisher and usually scores when given the chance.

"The back five have been working as a unit with specialist training and it has definitely helped us.

"Since Stevie took over morale has improved and we are climbing the league. The training is much better and the selection more consistent.

"It will also be good to get Laryea Kingston back from the Africa Cup Of Nations as he is a key player for us."

REF WATCH

CHARLIE RICHMOND kept a strong grip on the game and let it flow at all times. Got all the big decisions right in a fine display. Rating: 7/10.

MATCH STATS

HEARTS

SHOTS ON 6

SHOTS OFF 7

OFFSIDE 5

FOULS 14

CONRNERS 11

BOOKINGS 8

GRETNA

SHOTS ON 2

SHOTS OFF 4

OFFSIDE 4

FOULS 18

CONRNERS 5

BOOKINGS 3

Taken from the Sunday Mail