Frenzied finish sees Falkirk humble Hearts

In just 11 sensational second-half minutes Hearts scored three goals to seize the advantage in this bad-tempered tie. But Falkirk were unwilling to concede. They hit back courtesy of Ryan Flynn and then, in the final seconds of time added on, substitute Mark Stewart, who had scored the first of the evening's seven goals, pounced to deliver the winner.

With just over 25 minutes gone, Hearts had been a goal down and a man down and there was a growing sense of injustice. There had been some mirth amongst the away support when their one-time derby rival Tam McManus lunged into a first-minute tackle with Suso Santana and came off second best. Forced off with suspected knee ligament damage he was replaced by Stewart. But if that was supposed to handicap the First Division side, no-one had accounted for the substitute's vital contributions.

A ball played forward in a central area from Jack Compton in the 13th minute was latched on to by Stewart and he drove in at Marian Kello, kept his cool and drilled the shot beyond the keeper to open the net and remind everyone that, despite the clubs' differing league status, the outcome of this one was no foregone conclusion. It became even more of an uphill struggle for Jim Jefferies' side when the officials emerged from a quick pow-wow following a 26th minute clash between Hearts' Craig Thomson and Falkirk's Carl Finnigan. The young visiting full-back was deemed to have kicked out at the home striker in a fit of pique and was red carded despite his irate protests. Finnigan received a yellow card.

It was a bitter blow to Hearts. For all their success in the Scottish Cups in the past couple of decades, the League Cup trophy as stubbornly eluded them. Jefferies returned to the managerial hotseat just days before their semi-final with St Mirren last season but couldn't mastermind any further progress.

Yet, he admits that a club of Hearts' stature should be challenging well into the latter stages of the knockout tournaments every year. He was also the man in charge the last time they made it to the final, in 1996, when they were involved in a classic but ultimately bettered 4-3 by Rangers.

Fruitless in the end, that day they had fought back from a 2-0 deficit and when Falkirk extended their lead in the 41st minute, they realised they would have to do that once again if they wanted to maintain their interest in the competion this term.
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Stewart was involved once again, charging down the right flank before delivering a beautifully weighted ball into the box where he found Finnigan unmarked and fancy free and he side-footed the ball away from the helpless Kello and into the net.

It was desperate stuff from Hearts, who had taken off Calum Elliot, replacing him with Adrian Mrowiec in a bid to stabilise things, but for Falkirk it was reward for their drive and belief. They had attacked from the outset and rarely pulled out of a challenge as they took the game to their loftier guests and even after the enforced early shake-up, they did not seem to question their ability to pull off a result that would surprise if not completely stun.

In a matter of minutes Compton outmuscled Ismael Bouzid at the byeline and provided Finnigan with the ideal cut-back but his ball, whipped across the face of Kello's goal, was too pacy for his team-mates who were attempting to get in at the back post. Hearts had started indifferently at Inverness on Saturday before stepping up through the gears and emerging comfortable winners and a similar performance boost would be needed in this one.

They were sent out sharp for the start of the second half, no doubt Jefferies words still resounding in their consciousness and a wonderful break forward with a perfect diagonal ball through to Suso, who defied three of this opponents and managed to curl the ball cross field for David Templeton but his first touch took the ball too far ahead of him and allowed Falkirk to recover the situation, although not quite their composure. A few minutes later another break upfield saw Hearts awarded a free-kick but Stevenson sent his searing strike just wide of target.

The game was now wide open as the play raged from one end to the other at a breathless pace. In Hearts' box, Barr had to be alert to cut out a Stewart angled shot-cum-cross, while there were appeals for a penalty when Suso drove the ball off the arm of Brian McLean. The referee was having none of it. He had no option but to award a spot kick in the 66th minute, though. The transgressor was Burton O'Brien and, having scythed down the Spanish attacker, the Falkirk captain should consider himself fortunate not to receive a second yellow and his marching orders.

The penalty was quickly taken by Kyle and suddenly Hearts sensed they were back in it. Eight minutes later a Stevenson corner was cleared only as far as Suso and although his initial shot was blocked he found the net with his rebound effort.

If that rocked Falkirk, they were really rattled three minutes later. It was a Stevenson free-kick this time and Kyle's header was unstoppable. Suddenly Hearts were in the lead.

But Falkirk were not willing to concede their grip and, with 10 minutes remaining, O'Brien's throughball found Ryan Flynn and he curled his strike away from Kello. It looked like that would mean extra-time. That was before Stewart had the final word.

Falkirk: Olejnik, Marr (Duffie 46), McLean, Scobbie, Twaddle, O'Brien, Flynn, Higginbotham (Millar 75), Compton, McManus (Stewart 3), Finnigan. Subs not used: Barclay, Mitchell.

Hearts: Kello, Craig Thomson, Barr, Bouzid, Palazuelos, Santana, Stevenson, Jonsson, Templeton, Kyle, Elliot (Mrowiec 31). Subs not used: Balogh, Obua, Novikovas, Glen.

Taken from the Scotsman