Hearts 1 - 4 Rangers: Rangers refuse to ease off

Published Date: 28 March 2010
By Moira Gordon at Tynecastle
Santana 15

Wilson 5; Miller 31; Naismith 49, 77
THE league title may be Rangers' for the taking, a mere matter of time until they get their hands on the winners medals, but on this evidence, despite the inevitability of it all, they are in no mood to dilly-dally. Forget the accusations levelled at them of negative play, their attitude has been nothing but positive.

An opener in the fifth minute, young Danny Wilson heading home his first goal for the club six days after the ignominy of his cup final red card, was cancelled out ten minutes later by Suso Santana, but there is an unyielding momentum to Walter Smith's side in the league. They are the embodiment of forward inertia, and trying to block their route must feel like running against the crowd in the Pamplona bull run – you can dodge the danger for so long but eventually you are going to be trampled into the ground.

That's the way it went. An open and compelling first half in which both sides went hell for leather in a high-tempo encounter, there were chances at both ends. The difference, as has been the case so often this term, is that Rangers were more clinical when presented with theirs.

Ahead by the interval, thanks to Kenny Miller's 31st minute contribution, there was still scope for Hearts to come back into it. But when Steven Naismith netted the first of his two second-half goals in the 49th minute, capitalising on an injury to Hearts right-back Jason Thomson which left the Rangers midfielder unmarked, the resistance waned and he added his side's fourth in the 77th minute.

Given Hearts' derby display last week and the fact they are still striving to safeguard their place in the top six, the expectation was that this could be a tough one for the champions elect and even after a Kevin Thomson free-kick was flighted in perfectly for Wilson to head home from a tight angle at the back post, there was still a real bit to this battle.

In the sixth minute Gary Glen had the ball in the net with a shot on the turn but the assistant referee ruled it offside before the celebrations really got started. Five minutes later the Hearts striker had another double effort but was denied by the keeper initially, and David Weir stepped in to clear the follow-up. Rangers immediately broke and Hearts goalkeeper Jamie MacDonald, in for the injured Janos Balogh, had to dart out to the edge of the box to stem the foray. Ian Black then had a shot from 18 yards but it was a belter of a strike from Santana which finally granted the home side some parity.

A lovely diagonal from Lee Wallace was not dealt with by Sasa Papac and the Spaniard, cutting in from the right flank, unleashed a fierce shot which bettered Allan McGregor.

Prior to the game, Hearts had enjoyed a 100 per cent winning record at Tynecastle since Jim Jefferies' return and there was little between the sides, especially in terms of commitment and desire, illustrated when Steven Davis forced a save from MacDonald in the 18th minute. The goalkeeper, who has only made seven starts for Hearts, four of them against Rangers, then pulled off a marvellous double stop in the 30th minute, scampering off his line to block from Kris Boyd before back-pedalling furiously to get his finger-tips to a shot Miller had attempted to sneak under the bar.

Miller did get through, though. Davis played the ball into Boyd, he did well to control it and although Naismith's effort ricocheted off the bar, Miller met it with a diving header to send it past the stranded keeper.

Competitive and played at a furious pace, there was an underlying niggle to proceedings and when Santana and Naismith clashed on the touchline, the Hearts player had a little kick out and a slap at his counterpart and on another day could have received more than the yellow card he did.

Hearts had another escape minutes before half-time. The ball was played in by Thomson and Rubens Palazuelos handled it, but while virtually every player in the box seemed to hesitate, referee Calum Murray either didn't spot it or deemed it unintentional.

The second half was not as engrossing a spectacle as it may have been if Hearts had got the next goal rather than their visitors. Steven Whittaker did the ground work, cutting in from the right and sliding a pass through for Naismith to net. It was his first goal for Rangers since September and his first in the SPL since the first game of the season. But it's a bit like buses, and another rolled up soon after.

The nail in the Hearts coffin came 13 minutes from the end. This time it was a Davis set-piece delivery and, unmarked at the back post, Naismith rose to head the ball high into the net.

It was a slightly savage scoreline and one which maybe did Hearts an injustice given that they were competitive for most of the game. But as Rangers have been proving all season, if you give them openings they will convert them into wins.

Taken from the Scotsman