Barga XI 0 - 6 Hearts: John Sutton hits treble as Hearts stroll to six-goal rout in Tuscany

Published Date: 02 July 2011
By Alex Schweitzer-Thompson
in Il Ciocco
HEARTS concluded their pre-season training camp in Italy with an easy win over semi-professional side Barga.
A John Sutton hat-trick inside the opening 35 minutes and a brace by Arvydas Novikovas in the second half saw the Edinburgh club prevail 6-0 against a team who ply their trade in the seventh tier of Italian football, where the standard could be compared to the Highland or East of Scotland Leagues. Ryan Stevenson's corner from the left after five minutes found the head of Marius Zaliukas, who nodded the tourists in front at Il Ciocco. Polish midfielder Adrian Mrowiec appeared to lack a little sharpness a minute later as he lost possession to Barga midfielder Vanni, who hit the hosts' only shot on target of the first half, the ball bobbling into the arms of Marian Kello, who was otherwise redundant during his 45 minutes on the pitch.

The in-demand Lee Wallace was always keen to get forward from left-back, and, after ten minutes, a nice bit of skill took him past Matarazzo and Salotti en route to the byline. He cut back to Sutton on the edge of the six-yard box, and the Englishman took a touch before swivelling and netting emphatically from close range. Hearts never looked pressured, but would have been comforted in any case by their ability to build an early advantage. The margin was extended to three on 18 minutes when Mehdi Taouil deftly controlled a cross-field pass and fed Wallace on the left. The Scotland defender, the subject of interest from Rangers in recent days, whipped a low cross to the far post where the lurking Sutton smashed the ball past Barga goalkeeper Cappeletti.

Wallace and Sutton combined for the third time on 34 minutes to complete respective hat-tricks of assists and goals, with Wallace's clever reverse pass from the byline met by Sutton's powerful finish from 12 yards. An entirely new-look Hearts XI emerged for the second half, and Novikovas' quick feet drew a late challenge on 47 minutes, the diminutive Lithuanian winger himself scoring the resultant penalty. New introduction Jason Holt was notable for his slick touches and neat passing, with his showing on a par with those of fellow standouts Taouil and Wallace.

Novikovas, another impressive performer, completed the scoring on 70 minutes after cutting inside before unleashing a 20-yard strike into the bottom right-hand corner via the post.

The Tynecastle squad have been subjected to a rigorous training regime since arriving in Tuscany last weekend and draw their schedule to a close with a short training session this morning before returning to Edinburgh tonight.

Hearts: (first half): Kello; Hamill, Zaliukas, Webster, Wallace; Taouil, Stevenson, Mrowiec, Obua; Elliott, Sutton.

Hearts: (second half): MacDonald; J Thomson, Balatoni, Barr, Grainger; Novikovas, Arnason, Robinson, Templeton; Holt; Smith.

Taken from the Scotsman