HEARTS REPORTS 2009-2010

Hearts 1 Sunderland 1

Darren Bent celebrated his move to Sunderland by opening his goalscoring account as Hearts were forced to settle for a draw against the Barclays Premier League side.

The Jambos surged into the lead in style when David Obua opened the scoring with a lovely opportunist strike, before being pegged back when Sunderland's latest recruit found the back of the net shortly before the interval.

A large and vocal travelling support were given their first glimpse of record signing Bent when he was handed his debut at Tynecastle following a protracted £10million move from Tottenham.

However, Scotland goalkeeper Craig Gordon was not risked as he continues his recovery from knee surgery, despite taking part in a pre-match warm-up with the rest of the squad. Martin Fulop started between the sticks, with Trevor Carson named on the bench.

Summer signings Suso Santana, David Witteveen and Ismael Bouzid were all handed starting roles for a Hearts side hoping for another decent result following Tuesday's respectable 1-1 draw with Bolton.

Hearts were looking for a penalty within two minutes of the match getting under way when Michael Stewart claimed he was tripped in the box by Anton Ferdinand but the pleas were ignored by referee Mike Tumilty.

Lee Wallace then embarked upon a blistering run down the left flank before trying his luck with the shot but Fulop had raced off his line and managed to successfully block, with Hearts failing to capitalise on the resultant corner.

The Jambos were threatening again when Santana beat Danny Collins to the ball in the middle of the park before bearing down on goal. His effort lacked power but was spilled by Fulop who quickly recovered to smother.

Sunderland's first real chance on goal arrived with 25 minutes gone when Fraizer Campbell teed up the shot for Steed Malbranque whose well-struck shot flashed across the face of goal and narrowly past the upright.

It was Hearts who took the lead after 31 minutes when the Sunderland defence failed to clear Santana's corner and the ball broke to Obua who caught the visitors off-guard by lashing a superb left-footed strike past the helpless Fulop.

Campbell could have restored parity when he pounced in the box but he screwed wide of target and it was Bent who hauled the Black Cats level five minutes before the break.

Phil Bardsley - familiar to Scottish football fans from his time on loan at Rangers - saw his effort blocked by goalkeeper Marian Kello. His rebound then cannoned off a Hearts defender before falling kindly for Bent to poke home from close range.

A raft of substitutions after the break affected the tempo of the game in the second half but Hearts could have restored their lead through Santana, who collected the ball out on the right only for his powerful effort to crash off the body of Fulop.

Jose Goncalves then delivered a long ball to the feet of Christian Nade, who had been on the scoresheet against Bolton midweek, but this time he swiped at fresh air and the chance was lost.

With just over 10 minutes remaining, both teams pushed for the winner.

Sunderland could have snatched victory when substitute Kenwyne Jones saw his shot on the turn scrape inches past the post, before Nade drew an excellent save from the keeper from a free-kick on the edge of the box.

Taken from sportinglife.com