Hearts handed a footballing lesson by slick Spurs

"An atmosphere we haven't felt for a long, long time," observed Tannoy man Scott Wilson before kick-off. It was, you sensed, going to be a special night. But then Spurs had to go and spoil things after just four minutes, before then completely suffocating the tie within the first quarter of an hour.

By the time Jake Livermore stroked in a third before the half-hour mark Rafael Van der Vaart must have been anticipating another night where he would feast on a Scottish side clearly operating out of their depth. He frollicked along with his Holland team-mates in the Amsterdam Arena in 2003 as Scotland were put to the sword. The Scots eventually lost by six goals to nil, although, speaking on Tuesday, Van der Vaart said he thought it was seven.

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For a horrible period last night it seemed as though he might again lose count. On this occasion he could at least count the goals on the fingers of one hand. However, Hearts, to their credit, salvaged some considerable pride in the second half.

The home fans, too, found the voice that had been stolen from them by the briskness with which Spurs completed this job. Gareth Bale, substituted shortly after scoring the fourth goal, left the field to rousing applause from all four sides of the stadium. Hearts showed their class in other areas.

By the length of the Forth Road Bridge over which they arrived at the ground from their St Andrews base, Spurs were better than Hearts. No one of sound mind could offer a more generous assessment.

The first 45 minutes were a particularly fraught affair for the home team, who were three down after 27 minutes. Van der Vaart got Spurs off the mark, while Jermain Defoe added a second on 12 minutes. Second- half goals from Bale and Aaron Lennon completed Hearts' misery, although Ryan Stevenson did bash a post with a long-range effort as Hearts sought what would have been a very well- received consolation goal.

How Vladimir Romanov must have thanked his lucky stars that he opted to open a basketball stadium in Lithuania rather than be in Gorgie last night. He missed a humbling loss, although there were other sights which provided some solace for the Gorgie faithful, not least Dave Mackay's appearance on the pitch at half-time, alongside Alfie Conn, another player with connections to both sides.

Conn believed Hearts had shown their English visitors too much respect in the first half. He might have had a point, although there could be no denying the difference in quality.

The received wisdom around Tynecastle was that Spurs would be required to endure a whirlwind start from Hearts, before then imposing themselves on the tie. It was Hearts' only chance, the sages observed. Slick Spurs went about trashing this notion from kick-off, which they took. Only rarely afterwards did they let Hearts have a shot of the ball.

"Who are you?" the Hearts fans demanded to know as the game opened at a predictably frantic pace. They might not all be household names, but the side sent out by Harry Redknapp still merited respect.

The Spurs manager was supposed to be having sleepless nights over his central midfield. Livermore played, as expected, while Niko Kranjcar filled in for the likes of Luka Modric and Sandro beside him.

On height alone Spurs looked fairly formidable, casting Hearts in their shadow even before events on the field were to brutally emphasise the gulf in class. Ryan Stevenson, no pushover in the Scottish game, looked a diminished force next to Livermore and Kranjcar. Ian Black, meanwhile, was simply brushed aside, even when attempting some of his more injudicious challenges.

The tone was set by Van der Vaart's clever ball up the wing to Bale, although on this occasion Hearts, in the form of skipper Andy Webster, were alert to the danger.

What occurred afterwards brought to mind the line about fire engines rushing to the wrong fire. Danger erupted all over the Hearts' half as Spurs moved the ball around with frightening speed and accuracy.

Their opening strike, though, was a more simple affair, and saw Hearts exposed right down their centre.

It was a wounding goal to have conceded since it suggested the home side were weaker to the very core, although Van der Vaart, as often happens with the very best players, was blessed by the break of the ball after Marius Zaliukas' attempted clearance. The Dutch player didn't need to think twice before placing a shot wide of Marian Kello, something Zaliukas should note. The defender was too busy appealing for a handball that never was to retrieve the situation.

Suddenly Tynecastle didn't seem so hostile to the English visitors, who had been warned by Joe Jordan, among others, to expect a rough ride. It seemed a whole lot more mundane just eight minutes later, when Defoe all but killed the tie when sliding in Lennon's cross with impressive precision.

Hearts forced a first corner after 22 minutes but, observing the lofty men in white shirts gathered in the box, Black chose to play a short ball.

Spurs were an intimidating sight. The London side took complete control of the match after 28 minutes and it was Livermore, the unheralded player whose presence at the heart of the midfield was supposed to give the home side hope, who inflicted the damage. The elegant midfielder exchanged passes with Defoe on the edge of the box before he replicated what two of his team-mates had already done by stroking the ball past Kello. "Are you West Ham in disguise?" taunted the away fans.

Swapping ends seemed to appeal to the home side, who were briefly roused at the start of the second half. Suddenly Spurs keeper Heurelho Gomes was forced into doing some panicking. Zaliukas saw his header, from Jamie Hamill's corner, cleared off the line in messy fashion, and then an Andrew Driver shot was deflected wide by Stevenson, one of his own players.

Tynecastle liked what it was seeing, and the home fans roared their encouragement as David Templeton slalomed towards the box, as we are used to seeing him do when pitched against less talented defenders each week in the SPL. But this run was snuffed out by, among others, Michael Dawson, recently hailed by Manchester City's Carlos Tevez as the best English defender he has faced.

All the Hearts supporters wanted was a goal. Unfortunately it came at the other end. Tom Huddlestone, who had come on just minutes earlier, played Bale in, and the Welshman rounded Kello with ease before placing the ball into the net. Frighteningly, just under 30 minutes still remained.

Bale was quickly substituted by Redknapp and received an ovation as he left the field. Further applause was heard from the Hearts fans when Lennon made it five for Spurs, drilling a fine shot into the corner of Kello's net after 77 minutes. Hearts at least had their dignity, if not hope, ahead of next week's trip to London.

Hearts: Kello, Hamill, Zaliukas, Webster, Grainger, Templeton, Stevenson, Mrowiec (Obua 81), Black, Driver (Elliot 64), Sutton (Skacel 74). Subs not used: MacDonald, Jonsson, McGowan, Novikovas.

Tottenham: Gomes, Walker, Dawson, Kaboul, Assou-Ekotto, Lennon, Livermore, Kranjcar, Bale (Townsend 70), Van der Vaart (Huddlestone 59), Defoe (Pavlyuchenko 79). Subs not used: Friedel, Bassong, Corluka, Cudicini.

Taken from the Scotsman