Kilmarnock 2-2 Hearts: MacDonald heroics make a vital point

Published Date: 02 May 2011
By Barry Anderson
WHATEVER the issue preventing Marian Kello playing for Hearts, it should not overshadow the contribution of Jamie MacDonald.
In fact, no-one could eclipse him at Rugby Park. Four outstanding saves, the last in stoppage-time, characterised a performance which at times acted like a one-man barrier to Kilmarnock. There is indeed no better deputy goalkeeper in the country than MacDonald.

Kello was missing from the Hearts starting line-up having been reinstated last weekend with his "private matter" apparently resolved. Manager Jim Jefferies explained that the problem has actually not been cleared up and that was why the Slovakian was out again.

In his place, MacDonald, pictured below, delivered an imperious display as the last line of defence.

His fingertips pushed an Alexei Eremenko free-kick onto the crossbar early in the first period. Then, after the interval, he clawed Manuel Pascali's downward header away from goal and pushed substitute James Dayton's free-kick to safety. Seconds from time he was eyeballed by Dayton again and stood up one-on-one to repel the midfielder's attempt, thus denying Kilmarnock a winner and preserving a point for Hearts.

Whether Kello's problem can be sorted remains to be seen but Hearts supporters can be consoled knowing MacDonald is holding the fort in the interim. The 25-year-old has been a bystander for most of the season and his accomplished displays in recent weeks hint at an extremely focused and capable goalkeeper. In front of him, certain others in maroon were not quite as reliable.

A rather insipid first half had given way to far more engrossing entertainment after half-time. James Fowler lashed his first home goal for Kilmarnock on 55 minutes after Marius Zaliukas was caught in possession inside his own penalty area by Willy Aubameyang. Liam Kelly cleverly laid the ball off to the onrushing Fowler who dispatched a net-buster beyond MacDonald from almost 25 yards.

It was a goal richly deserved given Kilmarnock had pressed forward with intricate passing football whenever possible during the match.

The hosts were in command but Hearts overturned the deficit to lead 2-1 with 13 minutes remaining. David Templeton's deflected cross bounced over goalkeeper Cameron Bell, off the crossbar and fell for Rudi Skacel to prod home.

Then Ryan Stevenson headed Craig Thomson's corner beyond Bell.

That seemed to be sufficient to secure Hearts their second win in nine outings until another moment of defensive dithering three minutes from time cost them another goal. Eremenko impishly backheeled the ball high towards the six-yard line but a weak clearing header saw the ball fall for Kieran Agard to pivot and volley home with his left foot. For an on-loan Everton player out of contract this summer, a first senior goal was a moment worthy of an acrobatic celebration. Jefferies, for the second successive week, lamanted the tendency for Hearts to shoot themselves in the foot. "The first goal was going to be vital," he said. "Marius was trying to be clever coming out but he lost possession and it was a terrific strike from Fowler. It should never have happened.

"We came up with a great response. I switched Temps and Rudi, and with his first touch on the right Rudi scored. We had two or three chances, one from Ryan, and that could have finished the game.

"We got a second and we could have gone 3-1 up. But we were sloppy again. We didn't defend properly, got a header but not reacted and the boy (Agard] met it sweetly."

The draw means Hearts must wait another week to see whether they can secure third place in the SPL. "We are probably going to do it the hard way, against teams we are not expected to do it against, Rangers and Celtic," continued Jefferies. "But no one can say we didn't come to win the game. We played 4-4-2 and I'm quite happy with the levels of performance and application. But we have given two goals away, that's something that didn't happen in the first half of the season when we were very resilient.

"All the upset and chopping and changing is maybe having an effect."

Asked about Kello's omission after the goalkeeper returned to the first team against Motherwell seven days previously, the manager explained.

"I said last week we hoped this little private matter had been resolved.

"The signs were it was and we brought him back in, but it's not. We'll just have to wait and see that it's cleared up and he's right. We'll have to wait another week and see what goes on."

If Kenny Shiels, Kilmarnock's interim manager, required to augment his chances of being appointed permanently, then Saturday's performance did just that. The former Hearts manager Csaba Laszlo watched from the main stand having submitted his CV to Rugby Park, and he saw the hosts play with guile and craft in a style which delighted Shiels.

"We thoroughly deserved to win the match. We played with expression, imagination and invention," said the Irishman.

"We have an imbalance in the squad at both ends. The depth of our back four isn't right and it causes a malfunction. We got our full-backs forward more in the second half and it was like the alamo at times but all of a sudden we were 2-1 down.

"The first goal was extraordinary. From being dominant we'd gone behind.

"We corrected the wrongdoings and got more fluency in our play. We brought ourselves forward and stretched them.

"I think we've been hard done by. But people from Edinburgh will have enjoyed the game, as will the people from Ayrshire.

"The ball was moved very well and there was plenty incident and action. I don't think it merited eight bookings although I'm not being critical of the referee."

Taken from the Scotsman