Well spirit stuns hearts

Thomson (pen) 26; Skacel 36; Stevenson 52

Motherwell 3

Sutton 55, 88; Hateley 59
Torrential rain on Gorgie. Relentless and miserable, a bit like the sour-pusses in the home support after this desperate collapse at the hands of a Motherwell side that claimed a draw from a place so far south of deadsville that it was impossible to
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see them coming.

They trailed 3-0 early in the second half and in the deluge they looked washed-up. These lads have spirit, though. Spirit, confidence and no little ability. They might well be causing a few palpitations around Parkhead at present. Celtic have to play Motherwell in the final SPL game of the season and again in the Scottish Cup final a week later.

It was weather for ducks, not footballers. A dirty old afternoon for the most part and yet a screamer of a game, a contest that showed how good Hearts can be when the mood takes them and then how frail, how ordinary Motherwell can be when their heads aren't right and then how explosive. When Stuart McCall's team pulled a goal back, things got interesting. Then they scored again and Tynecastle gulped in shock and roared in disgust. When the equaliser went in a few minutes from the end, John Sutton's second on the day, it was little surprise. Motherwell hadn't been so much knocking on the Hearts door at that point as kicking it in with hobnailed boots.

Certain games remind you that the SPL has a decent product on its day. And, yes, this was one of those days. Brilliant and bizarre. Craig Thomson of Hearts called it soul-destroying. Sutton of Motherwell called it excellent. There were almost as many attempts on goal as there were raindrops on the grass, almost as many fine saves from Marian Kello, the returning hero of the Tynecastle crowd, as there were drowned souls in the stands. At 3-2 and with the minutes ticking by, Motherwell created one opportunity after another to get the equaliser. Tom Hateley had a shot pushed away by Kello, Francis Jeffers had a lusty strike also dealt with by Kello, Maurice Ross could have scored, but Kello denied him. It was Kello, Kello, Kello.

And when it wasn't Kello, it was Kello's post. With 16 minutes left, Stephen Jones's shot hit the goalkeeper's right hand upright, but the siege continued from there and eventually Motherwell broke through. "You never know what to expect from us," said Sutton later. "The manager has been in the dresssing room saying what a comeback it was, but we were 6-2 down with 20 minutes left (against Hibs last season] and got a draw so this was relatively easy by comparison."

It was fascinating to watch Hearts race into that big lead and just as absorbing to see them lose it.

Jim Jefferies' team have been having a sticky patch of late, hence their nerves being shot when the visitors started to run at them. They had drawn three in a row before this and had won just one of their last seven games. Make that four draws and on
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e win in eight now. It's a far cry from the coruscating form of early season but they're still in the box-seat for third spot assuming they don't fall in a heap from here on in.

Willie Collum had a part to play in all of this as well. Hearts opened the scoring just before the half-hour when Ryan Stevenson, fantastically tenacious all day, was bundled to the ground by Steven Saunders. It was a penalty, no question. And Thomson put it away. What was hair-raising was that it was the eighth penalty Collum had awarded in his last four games - three in the SPL and the other a Europa League tie. Collum has also doled out six red cards in those four games, so it was a bit of a miracle nobody walked yesterday.

Hearts were terrific in the minutes after Thomson's opener. Stevenson hit the outside of Darren Randolph's post just after the half hour but within minutes his near miss seemed irrelevant when Stephen Elliott played in Rudi Skacel who found himself all alone in front of Darren Randolph - and promptly smashed his shot past him.

They had a solid look to them, Hearts. When they needed to defend, Andy Webster was there for them and when he struggled, Kello was on hand. The keeper saved well from a Shaun Hutchinson header and then from a Jamie Murphy shot just before the break. Even when Webster failed to reappear for the second half - a groin strain - it didn't seem to matter all that much. Hearts just drove on as before. Stevenson performed a gorgeous piece of skill early in the new half, eluding Stephen Craigan on the right-hand side of the penalty area before blasting in a shot that freakishly stayed out despite hitting the far post then rolling across the line and hitting the near post before being hoofed clear. There was justice then when the striker headed in the third. The game seemed over at that stage.

But Motherwell responded not once but twice in the seven minutes that followed. First, it a Sutton gave them hope, then a fantastic delivery from the left from Tom Hateley carried all the way into the net. And so began the endgame and the string of Motherwell chances, the last of which they put away, thanks to a terrific cross from Gavin Gunning, a fine run from Sutton and a neatly cushioned header beyond Kello.

HEARTS

Kello
Jonsson
Bouzid
Webster (46)
Thomson
Santana (70)
Black
Palazuelos
Skacel (81)
Stevenson
S Elliott

Subs used

Mrowiec (46)
Templeton (70)
Driver (81)

MOTHERWELL

Randolph
Saunders (57)
Craigan
Hutchinson
Gunning
Jones
Lasley
Hateley
Murphy
Sutton
Jeffers

Subs used

Ross (57)

MAN OF THE MATCH

Marian Kello (Hearts)

Could have been rusty after being out for a month but he was outstanding.

TALKING POINT

Jamie Murphy's booking was, in Stuart McCall's words, the most ridiculous he'd ever seen.

Referee: W Collum.

Attendance: 13,039

Taken from the Scotsman