Highland showing far from laughing matter for Sergio

frank gilfeather at caledonian stadium

12 Sep 2011

THE frown rarely leaves the face of Paulo Sergio, the Hearts manager.

Such seriousness might, in part, have something to do with seeking to placate the notoriously hard to please club owner, Vladimir Romanov. However, there was little for him to smile about on Saturday.

Indeed, it took Jamie MacDonald's Bambi moment six minutes after the break, when his two slips in an effort to kick clear midfielder Adrian Mrowiec's pass-back resulted in Gregory Tade opening the scoring, to shake some life into his side.

The introduction of David Templeton and the frequently inventive Medhi Taouil, may have injected some life into the Tynecastle outfit, though the truth is that the zest missing in the first 45 minutes materialised only in flashes.

Inverness, on the other hand, deserve the plaudits because of the guile of Terry Butcher, their manager. Through his shrewd dealings in the transfer market he has acquired David Davis. The 20-year-old midfielder brought on loan from Wolverhampton Wanderers until January, is a youngster who could make a big impact in the Clydesdale Bank Premier League. The Englishman demonstrated many of his rich talents on Saturday, however geography clearly isn't one of them.

"It was quite a shock when I learned how far away Inverness was, but I grabbed the opportunity with both hands," said Davis, who sought the counsel of his Wolves colleagues, Steven Fletcher and Christophe Berra before heading north to join up with Butcher and his side. He certainly made a solid contribution against Hearts before he was substituted in the second period.

"The standard [of football] was good," Davis said. "And you have to put in a lot of hard work. It's a bit faster up here. With Celtic and Rangers there is a lot more quality, though there are many good players in the SPL and you have to be very fit to finish high in the league.

"I spoke with Steven and Christophe about making the move to Scotland and they advised me that it would be hard in the SPL and what to expect."

Stephen Elliott's 81st-minute equaliser eased the pain his poor goalkeeper felt because of his earlier faux pas, though the striker pointed to the importance of two or three outstanding stops his team-mate made later in the game.

"Jamie knew he'd made a mistake," said Elliott, "but we have to remember he made a number of excellent saves to keep us in the game and he is as much to thank than anybody for the point."

Taken from the Herald