GLEN TOLD ALEX TO FER-GET IT

Scorers: HEARTS: Jonsson, Glen, Kingston ST MIRREN: McCay, Mason

By Ewing Grahame

HEARTS starlet Gary Glen made a stunning scoring debut to lift the gloom surrounding Tynecastle — and then revealed he turned down Sir Alex Ferguson and mighty Manchester United to sign for the Jambos.

The 17-year-old striker, below, played up front alongside Christian Nade and walked away with the man of the match award.

But he could just as easily have been cooling his heels in the reserves at Old Trafford.

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United were one of a host of clubs chasing the teenager’s signature, but he chose to remain at home and insisted his goal proved he had made the right choice.

Glen grinned: “I’m happy with my decision. One of the main reasons I didn’t go to Manchester was that I believed I’d get my chance with Hearts a lot earlier.

“United are a big club and you need to be outstanding to get into their first-team. I had a trial there, but I didn’t see Sir Alex or Brian McClair when I went down.

“I was only 16 at the time and I didn’t feel ready to leave home.”

Glen’s family turned up to support him yesterday and nothing could wipe the smile off his face afterwards. He added: “I was told by Stevie Frail after training on Friday that I would be starting the game and that I had to prepare properly and get a good sleep.

“It was fantastic to get a goal on my debut. I should have scored at the first attempt, but I was delighted to put away the rebound.

“Now I just want to get as many first-team games and goals as I can. I’m very happy here.”

Hearts interim boss Frail revealed Glen makes a habit of scoring on his debuts. He said: “I was in charge of the Under-19s here when he was in the Under-17s and it was hard to keep him out of our team.

“When we finally did play him he scored in his first game at that level as well. There were a lot of big clubs chasing him at that time. He’s a clever player, with good movement and a good touch.

“He should maybe have scored with his first chance, but he didn’t panic and put it away the second time.”

Frail claimed the angry response from supporters following the club’s bizarre AGM on Friday had not affected him or the players.

Doubts were expressed over Frail’s future and chairman Roman Romanov claimed several high-earners would need to be removed from the playing staff in the summer.

Frail said: “I can’t influence what Mr Romanov says. People have often criticised the character of the players here and talked about a lack of respect for the manager, but they just went out there and did their jobs.

“There were a lot of people looking to see how they reacted, but they proved themselves, even after going a goal down. We can only concentrate on the football side of things. These aren’t the set of fixtures we wanted because we’d have preferred to be playing in the top six but we’re delighted with the win.

“There were some good goals and, although there were spells when it was a bit flat, they came through in the end.”

Saints drew first blood when young Ryan McCay grabbed the first goal of his senior career. The midfielder played a one-two with Garry Brady before smashing a left-foot drive beyond Steve Banks from 25 yards.

Hearts equalised quickly, although there was a bit of luck involved, with defender Will Haining deflecting Eggert Jonsson’s long-range effort past Mark Howard.

Then came the goal that made Glen’s day. He knocked the ball to Jonsson, who gave it to Saulius Mikoliunas. The Lithuanian wide man chipped the ball over the defence and Glen timed his run to perfection. Keeper Howard did well to block his first drive, but the youngster kept his head to drill home the rebound.

Saints looked to have secured a point with 13 minutes remaining, though, when Gary Mason smashed a stunning volley over Banks and under the crossbar from 25 yards.

But there was still time for Hearts to snatch the points and on an afternoon of spectacular goals, the winner was a bit special too.

Mason fouled Mikoliunas on the edge of the Saints box and Laryea Kingston, below, who had a quiet game, stepped up to curl the ball into Howard’s top right-hand corner.

The Jambos held on for the win that lifted them into seventh place. For them, that’s as good as it will get this season.

But Love Street manager Gus MacPherson believed his side had deserved a draw and groaned: “We’re disappointed not to have taken something from the game.

“I felt we were very comfortable in the first half and even though we went in 2-1 down, Hearts hadn’t had too many chances. We played controlled football and showed a lot of composure, which pleased me.

“Then, when we got it back to 2-2, I thought we had enough attack-minded players on the pitch at that stage to go on and win it.

“It’s one thing me being pleased with our performance, but football is all about picking up points.

“Like Rangers, we were criticised earlier in the season for some of our performances when we were getting results, but the bottom line is that’s what it’s all about.

“People talk about these being meaningless matches, but there’s no such thing for a professional footballer. They are constantly being judged — by our supporters, opposing supporters and, most importantly, by our coaching staff.

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“We have got three home games coming up and we want to make the right impression in them.

“We scored two quite outstanding goals yet we still came away with nothing. That hurts, but we should also remember who we were playing against because Hearts are a quality team, as Laryea Kingston proved with that winner.”

HEARTS: Banks, Thomson, Karipidis, Berra, Goncalves (Wallace 78), Kingston, Jonsson, Palazuelos, Mikoliunas, Glen (Mole 88), Nade (Makela 61). Subs not used: Basso, Zaliukas, Screpis, Ivaskevicius.
ST MIRREN: Howard, Haining, Potter, Maxwell, Barron, Dorman, Mason (Corcoran 86), Brady (McGinn 67), McCay (Hamilton 76), Dargo, Mehmet. Subs not used: Smith, Kean, Brittain, Corcoran, O’Donnell.