Hearts 2 Falkirk 1

IT will go down as one of the goals of the season — but Lee Bullen insists Andrew Driver’s moment of brilliance should not have been allowed to happen.

Arnau Riera’s cock-up let the winger jink through on goal in the first place.

But Bullen felt that as soon as Driver had got the ball one of his team-mates should have just pulled the Jambos ace down.

Instead he stayed on his feet and dribbled his way past Bullen, Riera and Darren Barr before rounding keeper Scott Flinders.

And with the goal turning out to be the winner the Bairns veteran reckons a little cynicism might have gone a long way.

He said: “Arnau Riera played a short pass and Driver nicked in.

“I overstretched trying to get there and Riera tried to recover and bring him down. Maybe a professional foul would have been the right thing to do then.

“I was never getting there but Riera was closest.

“Darren Barr was last man and he was mindful of that.

“He was hopeful Driver might take a poor touch.

“But it was great composure from the kid.

“There was still half an hour to go, but if it had been the last five minutes then I’d have pulled him down. I’m not going to hide from that.

“But with half an hour to go I can understand why Darren pulled out of making that decision.”

Driver’s stunning strike was the highlight of a hugely-entertaining game.

Falkirk snatched the lead when Steve Lovell raced on to Michael Higdon’s pass and beat keeper Janos Balogh after 16 minutes.

But Hearts were level just two minutes later when Bruno Aguiar crashed home a free kick after Barr fouled Christian Nade.

Driver then pounced on Riera’s slack pass to put his side in front just before the hour mark.

And while Higdon could have stolen a point with a stoppage-time header that was inches wide, Hearts were well worth their fourth win on the spin.

Not since George Burley’s time at the club have they put together such a run, which tells you how good a job Csaba Laszlo is doing right now.

And after a couple of turbulent seasons it now looks as if the Jambos can make third spot their own again.

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In Robbie Neilson, Marius Zaliukas, Christophe Berra and Lee Wallace they have a rocksolid backline these days that won’t ship many goals.

In midfield Aguiar is showing the kind of form that got him a game for Benfica while Driver has always been a threat when fit.

And up front Nade might not be easy on the eye, but no one could argue with the shift he put in against Bullen and Barr.

Keeper Balogh is a weak link and when Mike Tullberg is injured there is no real alternative to Nade.

But Laszlo’s men now sit three points ahead of Dundee United in third place and on this showing Saturday’s clash with Rangers promises to be a belter.

And Bullen admitted the Jambos have shown how a team can shoot up the league simply by stringing a couple of performances together.

He added: “That’s four wins in a row for Hearts and it’s a long time since they have done that.

“But now they have gone straight into third place. With the form they are showing no one can argue with that.

“United had a poor start, but went on a great run and got themselves into third place before Hearts picked up.

“It really is so tight. We started the day in eighth and a couple of teams have gone above us.

“But if you can string together a couple of results you are going to be up there challenging for third place.”

In contrast Falkirk now lie ten — although that is no reason for anyone there to panic.

Bullen said: “We’re still waiting for a team to really open us up and score a goal where you can put your hands up and say there was nothing you could do about it.

“It was a great goal by Andrew Driver but it has come from one of our mistakes again.

“That’s the frustrating side of things at the moment.

“Losing a goal so soon after scoring was another thing we have touched on. There have been four or five times this season we have gone ahead then lost a goal within five or ten minutes. We are shooting ourselves in the foot.

“Darren was disappointed with the decision for their free kick but you can’t legislate for a strike like that.

“Maybe he should have stood off the boy but I am not going to criticise him.

“He went up to win the ball and was hard done by.

“But if I was a Hearts man I’d say it was a definite free kick!”

Hearts gaffer Laszlo admitted he was worried when he saw the ball reach Higdon in injury time.

But after seeing his side lose in the last minute at Falkirk earlier this season he felt they earned their luck this time.

He said: “I believe in God and now he has given me back what he took in our last game against Falkirk. Believe in God — he can help you sometimes, especially at Christmas!”