JJ salutes ell of a comeback

After 45 minutes at Rugby Park Hearts looked despondent. By the 90th minute they were delirious. There is indeed much to be said for throwing caution to the wind, which is exactly what manager Jim Jefferies did during the second half. Rui Miguel's low finish had opened the scoring, but the half-time introduction of Stephen Elliott entirely changed the course of the match as the Irishman scored twice and might have completed his hat-trick by full-time.

It has taken Elliott some time to properly announce himself as a striker of some repute due to injury problems since arriving at Tynecastle from Preston North End last August. Finally he has made his mark. His goals take Hearts to within seven points of the SPL summit in third place with back-to-back fixtures against Rangers and Celtic imminent.

Additionally, they hold an 11-point advantage over fourth-placed Kilmarnock. They have now won nine of their last ten league outings and players are consequently so high on confidence they could probably have flown back up the M77 and along the M8 by themselves last night.

"We asked questions of the players after going out of the cup and they answered them well," said Jefferies. "With two or three key players out as well, it shows you there is a great spirit amongst the players and a determination to keep this run going. That's every game away from home, apart from Celtic, that we've won. It's a tremendous record. This was a key game because it puts us another three points ahead of the team chasing us, plus we have a game in hand. That gives us a little cushion going into the Old Firm games.

"This was always going to be a difficult game. I think a lot of people expected us to lose because Kilmarnock have been in fine form. I think we showed them that we're made of sterner stuff.
To give them a goal of a start and come back to beat them on their own patch speaks volumes for the squad."

Kilmarnock, buoyed by the appearance of 16-goal Conor Sammon on the substitutes' bench after he rejected a move to Scunthorpe United, were facing a Hearts side with four changes following last week's Scottish Cup exit. Marian Kello, Lee Wallace, David Templeton and David Obua all returned as Jefferies refreshed his starting line-up with Kyle, Skacel and Calum Elliot all absent through injury. Despite starting in the ascendency, the visitors fell behind on 19 minutes. Emerging fro defence, Ian Black was dispossessed by Alexei Eremenko, who fed Miguel for a turn and finish low into the corner of the net from 20 yards.

Black's carelessness on the ball was mirrored by several of his colleagues during the first half as misplaced passes by Hearts frequently gifted possession to Kilmarnock. Excepting the intelligent Eremenko, they were unable to cause much danger in attack. Ismael Bouzid headed Black's corner narrowly wide shortly after the half-hour mark, but that was the sum total of Hearts' serious first-half goal attempts.

After the interval it was a wholly different story. Whatever message was imparted by Jefferies and his assistants Billy Brown and Gary Locke, it had the desired effect as Hearts went for Kilmarnock's throats. Sensing a goal was in the offing, Jefferies again rejigged. Again, it was with attack in mind as both Gary Glen and Ryan Stevenson entered the fray. Soon the dominance produced an equaliser as Elliott expertly flicked Eggert Jonsson's cross into the corner of the net with his back to goal.

Frazer Wright and Sammon were denied by Kello and the crossbar respectively as Kilmarnock produced a momentary response, but Hearts could smell the scent of victory. As it wafted through their nostrils they produced an extra effort which yielded the winner four minutes from full-time. Gary Glen challenged Wright just outside the penalty area and the ball broke loose for the on-rushing Elliott to strike with his left foot. Cameron Bell could not stop the ball as it squirmed past his palm and into the net, prompting delirium among the travelling support.

"We asked questions at half-time," admitted Jefferies. "Apart from their goal, Kilmarnock never really caused us any problems in the first half. We were the team that was more on the ball but we didn't create an awful lot. We put Stephen on at half-time to get inside and work across their defence, our two wide lads in the first half (David Templeton and Arvydas Novikovas) weren't naturally doing that.

"I thought it was an excellent comeback. Right from kick-off at the start of the second half we had them on the back foot and we never let them get going. When it was 1-1 we were throwing bodies forward. I was concerned that, after fighting so hard to get back level, we might throw it away.

I thought we'd get another chance and Stephen's come up with another great goal. He had a chance to get his hat-trick at the end but it was a fantastic result for us."

Mixu Paatelainen, Kilmarnock's SPL manager of the month, could only reflect on the frustration of watching his team's lead overhauled. "I thought we were very unfortunate to lose," he said. "We had the lead and we knew what we should not do, but we failed and they punished us. It was a collision for the second goal and I don't think it was a foul.

"Our positioning wasn't right or we would have had a player to pick up the loose ball. Our players started chasing the game and forgot their positioning. When you do that and you are disorganised, you get punished.

"We scored a fantastic goal, it was a great finish from Rui Miguel but we couldn't hold on. Conor wasn't ready to start the match but he came on and stretched their defence. He had a couple of chances to score but couldn't manage it."

While Hibernian were exiting the Scottish Cup just 15 miles down the road at Somerset Park, Hearts were celebrating adding yet another victory to their collection. They can seldom have enjoyed a more rewarding trip to Ayrshire than this.

Taken from the Scotsman