Hearts 0 Rangers 2

Oct 24 2011 By David McCarthy

THEY might not be talking to the BBC but Rangers broadcast loud andclear yesterday that they are in no mood to be stopped in their questfor four in a row.

Ally McCoist's men negotiated one of thehardest fixtures on the calendar with exactly the kind of resiliencetheir fans have come to expect on their travels.

This was their 13th straight win on the road- six this season and seven at the end of last term - and this abilityto grind out victories is underpinning their charge towards the title.

Hearts, who aren't talking to anybody,wouldn't have had much to say anyway. They battled for all their worth,but while their manager continues to play midfielder Ryan Stevenson astheir lone striker, they aren't going to score many.

They hadn't conceded any goals at Tynecastle either this season before Rangers came calling but Steven Naismith andNikica Jelavic - the latter with a sublime strike just after coming onas a 71st minute substitute - blew that record out of the water.

But this was a victory built as much on the resolute defending of Dorin Goian and Carlos Bocanegra asit was on thrilling forward play. There wasn't a lot of that and untilhe was replaced by Jelavic, Kyle Lafferty was the second most redundantman at Tynecastle.

The MOST redundant? That had to be ChicYoung. The man from the BEEB was there, microphone in hand but nobodyfrom either team to talk to and didn't seem the least bit embarrassedby it.

At the end of a week in which more headlineshad been made off the pitch than on it - Rangers with their owner CraigWhyte's row with the BBC and Hearts with their players not being paidand then withdrawing their co-operation with the media because PauloSergio had been pulled up by the SFA - both clubs would have beendelighted to be kicking the ball again.

The Jambos started on the front foot andLafferty's early involvement was confined to his own box, where he madetwo important clearances. Goian, too, had to make a crucial block todeny Ian Black as he pulled the trigger.

It took Rangers eight minutes to create anything of note and they should have taken the lead from it.

Maurice Edu forced a corner with a shot thatwas deflected over the bar and from Steven Davis' flag kick, theAmerican should have done better than blast over from 12 yards.

Hearts forced a corner of their own soonafter and Stevenson's downward header would have crept in but forNaismith's intervention on the post.

As expected, it was being played at afurious pace and Steven Whittaker was caught out by a David Templetonturn just 10 minutes in and deserved his yellow card for hauling himdown.

Whittaker was far more productive in the 21st minute, however, and his drive and desire earned Rangers the opener.

Edu slipped the ball to the right-back, who zipped beyond Templeton and charged at the heart of the home defence.

Surrounded by defenders snapping at hisheels, Whittaker released Naismith on the edge of the box and themidfielder coolly slotted the ball under the advancing Marian Kello.

Hearts were never going to take that setbacklying down, though, and came storming back. Sasa Papac bravely threwhimself in front of a Stevenson shot as Sergio's team tried to repairthe damage immediately.

They were rightly raging when Danny Graingerwas booked for a tackle on Edu that looked hard but fair on the halfhour. And five minutes from the break they were cursing their lack of acutting edge.

Black cut open the visitingdefence with a great pass that had Stevenson racing in on AllanMcGregor. Bocanegra and Lee Wallace chased him and both lunged at thesame time to somehow divert the ball for a corner. But Stevenson shouldhave got the shot away.

Rudi Skacel, who had been anonymous,certainly did that a minute from the break but the Czech's piledriverfrom distance was parried brilliantly by McGregor.

There was still time for Stevenson to bebooked for trying to punch a Templeton cross into the net before CallumMurray blew for half-time.

Lafferty missed a real chance immediately after the re-start, sclaffing a shot over the bar.

However, that sparked a spell of Heartspressure that could have been productive if Sergio had a genuinestriker on the park. Jamie Hamill's cross that fizzed across McGregor'ssix-yard box was begging to be put away but nobody moved.

Bocanegra then got his head in the way of anEggert Jonsson thunderbolt and the Icelander tested McGregor again inthe 63rd minute. And although the Gers keeper could only scramble theball clear, the flag went up as soon as Stevenson tried to latch on tothe rebound.

The Gorgie outfit then scorned their bestchance of the match a few minutes later when Templeton scorched pastGoian and his low delivery into the box found Adrian Mrowiec eightyards out at the back post. The Pole should have scored but tamelyside-footed wide.

Goian was finding Templeton much more of a handful in the second half and was deservedly booked for bringing down the wide man.

McCoist, though, had to do something tochange the flow of the game and with 19 minutes left, he made a doublesubstitution - Jelavic replaced Lafferty, who had been poor, and GreggWylde replaced Papac.

And guess what? Jelavic only killed the game with his first touch 90 seconds later. And what a touch it was.

Bocanegra hoisted a high ball up the park,the Croat spun off his marker and as it dropped out of the sky, hesteered a sensational volley into Kello's bottom right-hand corner.

It was a finish of pure class but Hearts remained defiant and it took two brilliant saves from McGregor to keep out Stevenson.

Black picked up his almost obligatory booking for a foul on Naismith before Sergio subbed the midfielder.

And that was that. It was all over bar the shouting - and there wasn't much of that going on after the final whistle.

Taken from the Daily Record