Dundee Utd 2 - 1 Hearts: With one eye on the future

Published Date: 16 May 2011
By Barry Anderson
HEARTS completed the season with a forward glance to next as some of their prodigious youngsters were given precious airtime at Tannadice.
Defeat for a largely inexperienced visiting team wasn't entirely surprising against a strong Dundee United XI, several of whom were bidding farewell to the Tayside club and heading for pastures new.

Satisfaction was still aplenty for travelling fans who celebrated Hearts finishing third in the SPL, pertinently two points head of yesterday's opponents. At full-time, the Tynecastle players donned t-shirts emblazoned with "Europe, here we come" as they accepted acclaim from their vociferous followers.

With the pressure off it was a chance for several youth academy graduates to make an appearance. In the case of teenagers David Smith and Jason Holt, it was their first outing at senior level. They more than held their own after entering the fray as substitutes late in the day. Scott Robinson started the match and looked as energetic as ever in attack, Ryan McGowan was assured at centre-back, and Craig Thomson should not be overlooked given he only turned 20 last month but is already nearing 50 competitive appearances.

Gary Glen has featured sporadically in the Hearts first team over the last four years but, at 21, could still be regarded as a young prospect. He scored the Hearts goal on 31 minutes by glancing David Templeton's cross into the corner of the United net. That equalised David Goodwillie's bundled finish beyond Marian Kello eight minutes previously, however Jon Daly's second-half drive from 20 yards settled what was an entertaining and open contest.

As United players Morgaro Gomis, Prince Buaben, Craig Conway and David Robertson said their goodbyes at full-time, Hearts celebrated third place and refused to allow defeat to cloud the sense of achievement. "I had a laugh with Peter Houston before the game as he said he might play a few young boys, but in the end he put out possibly his strongest team," said Jim Jefferies, the Hearts manager.

"The game flowed from end to end, it was played in a good spirit with a lot of good football and a lot of chances. I thought a draw would have been fair but you can see from the supporters that it (getting third) is a job well done.

"If you look at Dundee United, they didn't have a lot of players in the first half of the season because of injuries and we did. Then it went in reverse, they got boys back and we lost a lot of our key players. That makes the difference.

I said a couple of weeks ago that I'm sure we'd have been a lot closer and had third tied up long ago if we'd kept our key players fit when we were flying.

"The squad, with all these injuries, did exceptionally well to get third. Dundee United is the only team to have beaten us away from home outwith the Old Firm. We gave them a real tough game with a lot of youngsters who were fresh. There was a will and determination to go out and work. It doesn't matter how you get there if you finish third. That was our target and we've achieved it. Challenging for the title was going to be difficult when we lost players to injury."

They lost another one yesterday when Andy Driver, making a rare start, appeared to injure his groin after 21 minutes and had to be replaced by Jason Thomson. It is the latest in a seemingly relentless sequence of injury problems for Driver, who has been due for an operation on that very area.

"He's been waiting in the wings to go for an operation," explained Jefferies. "We were waiting and giving him 15 minutes in games but he started and look what happens. He was planned to go in on Tuesday anyway, it's not something that was going to get fixed. We just hoped to get him through the game, unfortunately we didn't."

Glen left Tannadice in far happier circumstances having reminded Jefferies that he can produce goals when given the opportunity. He was even more elated by the prospect of playing in next season's Europa League. "It's been a good year, we're third and looking forward to Europe," he said.

"We didn't win the game but I thought we applied ourselves well. A few young boys came on and did well. We went on a run earlier in the season and did really well and the boys have done well to get to Europe. Some of the guys who have not been playing got a chance.

"We wanted to secure third place as soon as possible. United were on a good run and put in a good effort but we are delighted to be back in third place. We want to do our best next year, we'll have a good pre-season and if that goes to plan we will look to challenge."

For Houston, fourth place represents relative success after last year's third place and Scottish Cup triumph. He must now undertake the task of replenishing the United squad following the departure of a few mainstays.

"The boys were quite emotional as they have really enjoyed their time at Dundee United and we have really enjoyed them being here," said Houston. "They can walk out with their heads held high because they were part of the team that won the Scottish Cup.

"It is a good way for the guys to sign off. I thought it was a pretty even game and, truth be told, a draw would have been a fair result but we will take the victory. It means we finish on 61 points, which is only two points short of what we managed last season. It is a great credit to the players and we wish the players who are moving on from the football club good luck as they have done this club a turn."

Taken from the Scotsman