Laszlo laughs loudest

HEARTS VERSUS Aberdeen tends not to get mentioned as one of the greater rivalries in Scottish football. It should be: these two have been niggling away at each other for years. They each claim status as this country's biggest club, the third force, behind the Old Firm. There were more petty spats here as they both tried to assert themselves in a busy, frenetic match at Tynecastle.

When the sides last met at Pittodrie in December there were post-match scuffles in the tunnel. By and large the players behaved themselves this time, even if Aberdeen's Ricky Foster was fortunate to receive only a yellow card for a two-footed lunge on Christian Nade. It was the managers who bared their teeth.

Hearts boss Csaba Laszlo saw the victory as a chance to rebuke his opposite number for comments made to the media last week. Jimmy Calderwood had claimed Hearts would be weakened and might not finish third because they had not replaced Christophe Berra, who was sold to Wolves.
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Clearly Laszlo is cute enough to know how to use a disparaging article for motivation. "I saw the press conference of my counterpart," he said. "He said Hearts aren't so strong now and we can get them'. I think those words that he said also contributed to making us strong today. Every coach of every team tries to search for a weakness but I am a little bit different. I don't look for weaknesses. I believe in my own team's strengths."

He saw fresh evidence of them here. Hearts came from a goal down to deservedly overcome Aberdeen and move two points clear in third place.

Aberdeen had taken the lead through a tremendous Darren Mackie goal in the 19th minute. They barely laid a glove on Hearts after that and disappeared until a desperate cavalry charge at the end when Calderwood tried his familiar 4-2-4 trick, yet again unsuccessfully. Chris Maguire hit the post with a 90th minute shot in the last act of a bruising tussle.

Calderwood was drawn into a verbal sparring match during the second half with Laszlo's assistant, Werner Burger, who annoyed him by contesting every tackle and refereeing decision. "We all like to challenge decisions but when you challenge 100 out of 100 it starts to get on your nerves. I might challenge 50 out of 100 or five out of 10. I mean, it was every single one. I started to get a sore left ear."

Hearts are now two clear of Dundee United and another couple ahead of Aberdeen. The latter pair meet at Pittodrie on Saturday but Hearts are mounting a strong claim for third. They played with two in attack yesterday - they normally use only one - and satisfied those who tend to wonder where their goals will come from.

Aberdeen's opener was magnificent. Charlie Mulgrew latched on to possession and was running to the half-way line when he looked up and saw where he wanted to launch a huge diagonal pass into the path of Mackie. The ball was in the air forever but the Aberdeen man never took his eyes off its flight. When it dropped to him he connected with a lashing volley high into the net past goalkeeper Janos Balogh. Over the years, Mackie has driven Aberdeen supporters demented with his erratic finishing but here his technique and execution were flawless.

Hearts were unbowed. It was their character which separated them from a team which was otherwise the equal of them. "We showed a lot of spirit today," said Andrew Driver. "Last year, we would have just caved in in these circumstances. We have players who want to play well for the manager and who want to achieve."

Nade, Gary Glen, Bruno Aguiar, David Obua and Michael Stewart all had efforts which were either off target or comfortably saved as Aberdeen faded. They never built on their lead in terms of taking any real initiative and in stoppage time at the end of the first half they lost their advantage. Aguiar had shown some classy touches from the start and it was his elegant cross-field pass to the far post which picked out Obua. With his red boots, his quick feet and his pirouettes the Ugandan caught the eye all afternoon, but all that was required was a cushioned header into the goalmouth where Nade connected to nod the ball into the net at Jamie Langfield's back post.

Aberdeen did come back out for the second half but for the first half-hour of it their white jerseys were empty. They vanished as a threat, surrendering entirely in midfield, as Hearts turned the play in their favour. It took 20 minutes for their superiority to be translated into another goal. Aberdeen failed to play to the whistle, anticipating that a decision would be given against Foster for a foul on Lee Wallace. Instead referee Charlie Richmond played advantage and that allowed Obua to sweep over a cross which caught Mulgrew out of position. He allowed Driver to get on the wrong side of him and force home a header at the far post.

"It's the first time I've scored with a header in my whole career, even as a boy," said Driver. "I spoke to my dad and said did you see me rise like a salmon'!" He was teasing. Actually he stooped to score.

Aberdeen threw on forwards and belatedly showed the hunger and drive which had been absent for an hour. They had been missing for too long to deserve an equaliser, though, and it never came.

Taken from the Sunday Herald