EASTERLY GALE

FIR PARK passed a morning pitch inspection, but Motherwell must have wished that a game ruined by the wind hadn't gone ahead. Mark McGhee's side failed to recover from an early Stephen Craigan own goal as the visitors adapted to the difficult conditions better.

Hearts had entered the game in low spirits, with top scorer Andrius Velicka almost certain to leave the club this week if he can agree terms with Viking Stavanger. The Norwegians have apparently had an offer of just over £1 million accepted a deal that doesn't make sense to Hearts supporters, especially as Kaunas will bank the transfer fee.

Recent results have added credence to Motherwell's bid to finish in third place in McGhee's first season, and despite this loss that is still a very realistic target if this defeat can be written off to the conditions. The Motherwell players believed play should have been halted prior to the goal when David Clarkson received a head injury, but, although McGhee also claimed Christian Nade handled the ball in the build-up, the result was merely an indication of the run of the game.
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Despite a large, muddy patch in the middle of the half Motherwell were defending in the opening 45 minutes presumably the area causing concern at the 11am inspection McGhee declared the pitch in better condition than it had been the previous Saturday against Gretna. Maybe so, but instead of a hard, rutted surface the players had to contend with a mini-gale blasting through Fir Park, although it was its drying nature which allowed the tie to proceed and Hearts to immediately take the initiative.

If Velicka, who has a pelvic injury, does move to Norway the main beneficiary is likely to be Nade, who has yet to make his mark at the club since arriving in the summer from Sheffield United. There were only two minutes on the clock when he could have made an impression on this match as a Deividas Cesnauskis corner trundled through to him. The Hearts forward got in a decent shot, but Graeme Smith was equal to it and cleared the danger.

Insomuch as the swirling wind was blowing in any one direction it was behind Hearts, allowing goalkeeper Stevie Banks to launch huge clearances down the pitch. The visitors had two more opportunities to score in the opening 10 minutes, but neither Nade nor Lee Wallace could find the target when they shot from roughly the same spot on the left edge of the Motherwell area.

McGhee had promised earlier in the week to play direct football in response to the poor condition of the pitch, but with the wind in their faces there wasn't even the prospect of that in the first half. His side were struggling to get a foothold in the game and it was little surprise when they went behind, even if the goal was bitterly disputed.

Eggert Jonsson, playing in central midfield for Hearts, struck a speculative shot which was going wide until Craigan diverted it into his own net, but as Hearts celebrated McGhee and his players remonstrated with referee Craig Thomson. Seconds earlier Clarkson had been felled following a collision of heads on the edge of the Hearts box, but play continued. With the crowd turning, big-style, against Thomson the game descended into a wind-ravaged scrap.

Cesnauskis, one of the few players who was handling the conditions well, shot over the bar but otherwise the best indication of what was happening was Banks' futile attempts to take a free-kick in his own half. Every time he put the ball down it scuttled away in the wind and Christophe Berra eventually had to place his finger on it to allow play to proceed.

Clarkson, suffering impaired vision following his earlier knock, retired on the half-hour and was replaced by Simon Lappin but the change did little to perk up the home side, whose only attempt to discomfit Banks was a low shot aimed straight at him by Keith Lasley. Nor did Hearts have any decent attempts to increase their advantage before Thomson blew his whistle to end the first period.

The official may have erred in allowing play to continue after Clarkson's head injury, but with the crowd already on his case his difficult afternoon wasn't made any easier by the PA announcer sarcastically congratulating him on his first half display.

McGhee made a second change early in the second half with Darren Smith coming on for Stephen Hughes, but although his side would have been hoping to take advantage of the wind it was Hearts who looked much the more threatening side.

Continuing to use to the conditions better, the visitors forced a series of corners and then nearly extended their lead from a Calum Elliot free-kick after Craigan had been booked for upending Wallace.

Finally, with just 15 minutes remaining, Motherwell showed the urgency which had been previously missing. The catalyst was a free-kick from Steven Hammell which twisted and turned in the wind, eluding everybody except Banks who, at the last second, got a fingertip to the ball to turn it for a corner.

Then, from Hammell's corner, Banks dropped the ball and there was an almighty scramble before the goalkeeper regained possession. But the near-misses galvanised McGhee's side and the final minutes were spent with the visitors repelling waves of Motherwell attacks.

Ross McCormack, from a free-kick 22 yards out, appeared to have equalised when he curled the ball round the Hearts wall, but Banks got to it to save Hearts' day.

Taken from the Sunday Herald