Top half still in Hearts' grasp

Moira Gordon
NO ONE associated with Hearts may like the idea of Vladimir Romanov interfering in team matters but they must be wishing he had turned up at more games this season.
After all, the last time he was at Tynecastle, on November 11 last year, the team thrashed Aberdeen in one of their most convincing performances of the season. Yesterday, with the majority shareholder again in attendance, the side defied odds to better a Dundee United side in the thick of the battle for third place.

The visitors had two men sent off in the final minutes but if that scunnered them, it was nothing like the kick in the teeth Hearts received as they headed back into the dressing room at full-time. With the latest scores from the Aberdeen and Falkirk games suggesting they would gain two points on their rivals for a place in the top six post-split, their first win of the campaign over United had seemed like a marvellous days work. But then came news of Aberdeen's winner. It gives the SPL exactly what they are always looking for, some drama on the final weekend of fixtures before the best and the rest go their separate ways.

Hearts players had met the owner on Friday and his presence did seem to galvanise the players. According to captain Christophe Berra, it shouldn't take the appearance of the banker to inspire the team, however, and he is simply hoping they can do it by themselves next weekend.

But the fact the owner was allowed to slip into his seat ten minutes before kick-off, greeted by barely a murmur, underlines just how low morale has dipped in the Tynecastle stands recently. Following a below-par season which rendered a place in the top six the best the supporters could hope for in the past two months, the days of hyperbole and belief, heralded by the banker's initial arrival on the scene, have long since gone. Worse still, even the outrage of recent times had subsided, replaced by an apathy.

Romanov's afternoon was undoubtedly made easier by the fact that the players were able to get their noses in front. In part due to a slightly flat Dundee United's failings as much as their own endeavours, the lead mattered all the same and eased the pressure in the home side.

Caretaker manager Stephen Frail opted for Christian Nade in the lead role, with support coming from wide in the shape of Laryea Kingston and Saulius Mikoliunas. And he will thank his lucky stars for their efforts. That is not a word which could sensibly be associated with Nade. A guy who infuriates fans with his unwillingness to marry industry to his unquestionable talent, his stomach for the battle is yet to make itself apparent. While he couldn't get on the scoresheet, he was at least still on the pitch in the 89th minute and enticed Garry Kenneth into his second rash tackle of the afternoon. It earned Dundee United their first red card, the defender already trooping towards the tunnel by the time the referee fished the cards from his pocket. It also earned him a rebuke from his manager, who slated his "stupidity" and reasoned it may mean him sitting out the rest of the season, with the experienced Darren Dods set to replace him.

A minute later Kenneth was joined in the dressing room by Danny Swanson. His was a straight red for a challenge on Marius Zaliukas but Le
vein seemed more sympathetic to his second-half substitute, claiming it was the same challenge Nade had made in the first half, the Hearts player escaping even a yellow card. He refused to condone the challenge but did appeal for consistency.

Hearts took the lead when Eggert Jonsson played a ball through from central midfield into the path of Kingtson in the 27th minute and the Ghanaian hit a right-footed shot low past Lukasz Zaluska. Having managed to take the lead Hearts dug in to protect it, earning their seventh clean sheet in ten games and were aided by United's obvious reliance on the long ball forward for Mark De Vries.

Hearts fight on for another week, although the worry is, after his two latest visits resulting in such fine wins, Romanov may disappear back to Lithuania with the false impression of everything being rosier in his Gorgie garden that it perhaps really is.

Taken from the Scotsman