Anthony Brown: Cockerels allowed to crow

Published Date: 19 August 2011
By Anthony Brown
"Four-nil in your cup final" they bellowed from the away end after Gareth Bale's brilliant breakaway goal had inflicted further torment on bedraggled Hearts.
While Tottenham's gladiators were showing no mercy on the pitch, their 1400 fans were in equally unsympathetic mood in the Roseburn Stand as they revelled in the dismay of their home counterparts.

What was supposed to have been the Edinburgh club's big night in the limelight ended in utter despair as Tottenham lorded it in every possible way last night. In short, this was a horribly awkward evening for everyone connected with Hearts.

As Tynecastle rocked to its foundations in the build-up, few could have envisaged that within 13 minutes of kick-off this Europa League play-off would be all but dead as a contest, with the travelling fans doling out the Oles! as their team toyed mercilessly with opponents that resembled baby rabbits startled in the headlights.

While Spurs were mesmerising to watch, it was impossible not to feel for Hearts as they were systematically stripped of their dignity. To make matters worse for the hosts, ITV4's presence ensured the whole of Britain could bear witness to this hopeless mismatch. Incredible to think that much of the pre-match talk had centred around the notion that Spurs, having not previously played a competitive game this season, might be taken aback by the intensity and raucousness of Tynecastle on a big European night.

The great shame is that this was shaping up as a truly magnificent occasion for the Edinburgh club. It's not often Hearts are able relegate the Old Firm to sideshow status. But ever since the draw was made a fortnight ago, Heart of Midlothian against Tottenham Hotspur towered above Celtic-Sion and Maribor-Rangers in the allure stakes.

This tie had captured the imagination of everyone in the country, not just those in west Edinburgh. It's not every week Henry Winter, the esteemed Daily Telegraph journalist, feels the need to rock up at Tynecastle.

But for this one night only, Gorgie was the focal point of the British football landscape - the place everyone wanted to be. Tynecastle was packed to the gunnels and the atmosphere was gripping from the moment the players headed up the tunnel after completing their warm-up. It was like derby day, on New Year's Day. And a little bit more.

The Spurs fans were also in great voice, but, while their team bossed possession from the very first kick, the magnificent home support, spurred by the presence of a rogue Hibs shirt in the away end, drowned them out with a din which should have been enough to inspire their team to the type of trademark whirlwind start they needed if they were to make any impact in the tie. Lesser teams than Spurs would have wilted in the cauldron. But the likes of Bale, Van der Vaart, Lennon and Defoe are paid handsomely to rise to the occasion, no matter the circumstances.

Unfortunately, the same couldn't be said of Paulo Sergio's men. They looked in sheer awe of their illustrious opponents, appearing to lack the belief and conviction that they had any chance of getting a result. The North Londoners preyed on this vulnerability and after just four minutes Van der Vaart's opener effectively took a wrecking ball to the tie as a spectacle. As the Dutchman drove ruthlessly past Marian Kello and silenced the home support, Hearts' hopes of an unlikely upset all but vanished in that instant. They needed a swift retort. They didn't get it. With Hearts having barely had a decent touch of the ball, they found the tie beyond them as Defoe applied the finishing touch to a scintillating build-up in 13 minutes. As Andrew Driver admitted afterwards, it was men against boys.

The third goal, before half an hour had elapsed, was too much for some (fair-weather) home fans to take as a minority headed for the exits, prompting chants of "cheerio" from the delirious visitors. Jamie Hamill booted the ball towards the corner flag in frustration, while an equally riled Ryan Stevenson implored the home dugout to find a way of getting Hearts further up the pitch. The fans didn't know whether to turn their wrath on their players or feel pity for them. In the end, the majority opted for loyalty and defiance in the face of the Cockerels' onslaught.

By half-time, as Spurs' chants of "can we play you every week?" subsided, the home faithful, by now realising that the tie was well beyond repair, didn't neglect their obligation to stick with their shellshocked troops.

To their eternal credit, the majority of Hearts fans clapped their team off at the interval and then - inspired by seeing Dave Mackay, a legendary former player of both teams, speaking at half-time of his desire to be out there in the heat of battle - roared them out at the start of the second half with renewed vigour. Hearts responded accordingly and went at Spurs for the first 15 minutes of the second period with the type of gusto they had required in the first half.

It didn't produce a goal, but it at least gave the crowd something to get excited about. Until Bale ran clear and made it four. Cue more mocking. "Are you West Ham in disguise?" was now the cry.

The Hearts fans had long since accepted their fate and were trying to recreate the type of light-hearted banter which had accompanied the second half of a similarly one-sided affair against Paksi a fortnight previously.

The difference here was that Hearts - instead of being the dominant force, as they were against the hapless Hungarians - were so outclassed that their fans, in between belting out a few mischievous ditties about the recent civil unrest which had been sparked in Tottenham, were reduced to applauding Van der Vaart, Bale and Defoe off the pitch as they were substituted.

So impressive were Tottenham last night that you got the feeling their Cameroonian full-back Benoit Assou-Ekotto could have cushioned the ball in his bouffant ponytail if he had to. Their quality shone throughout and, as Hearts legend Gary Mackay shared a trip down memory lane with Joe Jordan, the Spurs assistant and former Hearts boss, at the main entrance, Harry Redknapp, the amiable White Hart Lane manager, wrapped up his team's visit to Edinburgh by taking a good ten minutes out to sign autographs and share a joke with around 50 Hearts fans who had gathered outside before boarding the bus. Everything Tottenham did in Gorgie last night was laced with class.

Taken from the Scotsman