Gary Glen could prove to be the one that got away

Could Gary Glen be the one that got away from Sir Alex Ferguson? The Heart of Midlothian youngster was once courted by the Manchester United manager in his early teenage years as his goalscoring record brought him to prominence. Now he appears to be taking it on to the professional stage.

Hardly a veteran at only 18 years of age, Glen is making a name for himself at Tynecastle, which, if he continues, will not go unnoticed by the Old Trafford manager. He made it two goals in two games to land a somewhat fortunate victory for the Edinburgh side as they look to secure the seventh place in the Clydesdale Bank Premier League table.

And just for good measure, the Tynecastle side chose the occasion to hand a debut to the youngest player in the club’s history when Scott Robinson, 16 years, one month and 14 days old, came on in injury time.

For a club that has rightly been pilloried for bringing in nonentities from Lithuania, it is a welcome return to their roots and a sign that for all the meddling of Vladimir Romanov, their controversial owner, the best way forward for a Scottish side remains by blooding its own youth system.

Glen scored on his full debut last weekend against St Mirren and followed it up with an excellent 79th-minute winner to defeat an Inverness Caledonian Thistle team that should have taken something from the afternoon. The striker’s neat one-two with Ruben Palazuelos, the Tynecastle midfield player, enabled him to to burst through and net the decisive strike in a disappointing game. It was the perfect way to celebrate signing a new four-year deal this week.

Stevie Frail, the Hearts caretaker manager, said: “I think Gary showed more of his ability. He’s very clever and brings other players into the game. The longer the game went on you could see him getting better. I think he showed his class and composure with the finish as well. I hope we don’t get too carried away with Gary and we’re jumping on it because we need something. But I’m sure if he continues to go the way he is going then I can see he’ll be a big hero for Hearts.”

The Highlanders were left to rue several missed chances in the first half as their season threatens to fizzle out. “It’s always disappointing to lose, but I don’t think there was that much in the game really,” Craig Brewster, the Inverness manager, said.

“I thought we were looking strong and solid and didn’t look like conceding. Then the wee boy does a wee bit of magic and a good finish – that was the difference.”

A season of transition ended with the Inverness club, as expected, in the lower region of the table but Markus Paatelainen, their Finland midfield player, believes the squad will bounce back from this campaign’s failings next time around. “Of course, we are disappointed to lose, especially as we are trying to finish in seventh or eighth place in the league table, “ he said. “We needed the three points from this game. Even though it is coming to the end of the season, you must continue to play in a manner to get as high up the league as possible.

“The potential is in the team. Sometimes you need a bit of luck and we didn’t get that. We didn’t start the season well and then we had a really good run at the end of the year. Since then we have dipped again. At the start of each new season you want to finish in the top six but this has not happened.”

Their next three fixtures – against Gretna, Falkirk and St Mirren – may not be attractive to the eye but they will be key to Brewster’s rebuilding plans for next season. If only they had a Glen to turn their chances into goals.

Heart of Midlothian (4-4-2): S Banks 7 – J Thomson 7, H Karipidis 7, C Berra 7, J Goncalves 6 – S Mikoliunas 6, E Jonsson 6, R Palazuelos 7, D Cesnauskis 6 (sub: L Wallace, 52min 7) – C Elliot 7 (sub: M Zaliukas, 76, 4), G Glen 8 (sub: S Robinson, 89). Substitutes not used: M Ridgers, K Ivaskevicius, F Screpis, M Rapnik. Booked: Jonsson, Mikoliunas.

Inverness Caledonian Thistle (4-4-2): M Fraser 7 – R Tokely 7, D Proctor 7, R Hastings 6, R McBain 6 – B Wil-son 5 (sub: M Paatelainen, 72 5), R Duncan 8, D Cowie 6, D Imrie 7 – D Wyness 6 (sub: G Bayne, 65 5), M Niculae 6 (sub: R McAllister, 83). Substitutes not used: Z Malkowski, I Black, G Kerr, I Vigurs. Booked: McBain.

Referee D McDonald