Black day for Hearts as Dean Shiels shines

By Moira Gordon, at Tynecastle
Published on Sunday 30 October 2011 00:12

MAYBE it was just as well that Hearts had imposed their media blackout because it’s fair to assume that Hearts manager Paulo Sergio would not have been praising the officials after this game.

With Ian Back being sent off in the 15th minute and a penalty claim for handball against Kilmarnock’s Alex Pursehouse ignored 12 minutes later, it didn’t take too long for Sergio to whip himself up into a mass of animated agitation. But when another spot-kick appeal went against them, resulting in the winning goal for Kilmarnock in the 52nd minute, he remained in a near-constant state of fury before he was finally sent to the stand after he banged the dug-out in disgust at what he considered was another refereeing aberration.

If it’s not one thing, it’s another for Hearts at the moment. The past few weeks have been dogged by tales of players not being paid – some players are still awaiting their October wages, which are now two weeks late – and the ongoing antipathy between the club and the SFA. That row sees the Portuguese manager in front of the disciplinary committee this week to answer for comments he made in the wake of the goal disallowed by referee Iain Brines in the League Cup tie with Ayr United and the ensuing appointment of Brines as fourth official at Tynecastle while complaints about his performance that evening were still fresh.

Sergio could now face further censure after being sent to the stand yesterday as Hearts struggled to make the most of the superiority they enjoyed for most of the match. It was ironic, then, that on the club website he claimed that his players had needed cooler heads.

While Sergio’s frustration with Brines after the Ayr United game was justifiable, as was his disquiet at Brines then being made fourth official at Tynecastle, his objections yesterday had less credence. A reckless challenge from his midfielder on Dean Shiels gave Kilmarnock their one-man advantage with just 15 minutes gone, while the protestations which Sergio made when Kilmarnock got their 52nd-minute penalty flew in the face of the evidence, given that Marius Zaliukas did shove Paul Heffernan as the Kilmarnock frontman burst into the box. Infuriatingly for the Hearts management and the home crowd, though, referee Alan Muir had seemed happy to let it go, bowing eventually to the call of his assistant, Stuart Macaulay.

It was a bitter blow for Hearts, who could have had a penalty of their own in the first half when Jamie Hamill’s mis-hit shot connected with the hand of Alex Pursehouse. At that stage Hearts were well on top despite being a man down. The problem was that they were neither clinical enough nor lucky enough. They were also denied by some inspirational goalkeeping from Kilmarnock’s Anssi Jaakkola.

Imposing themselves in midfield and stifling the visitors’ invention, Hearts blocked out their wage troubles and took the game to Killie from the outset. Danny Grainger’s early free-kick swerved just wide, while Ryan Stevenson and Black also failed to find the target. Andy Webster was probably the most profligate. Time and again Grainger and Jamie Hamill picked him out at set pieces but he couldn’t trouble Jaakkola with his headers.

At half-time the impression was that it would be Hearts who would eventually find the breakthrough. Killie had struggled to get into the match as Hearts out-hustled, out-played and out-fought them.

Jaakkola was again the Kilmarnock hero as the second half warmed up. Rudi Skacel’s shot was well saved by the Finn and the ball was cleared from Stevenson as he tried to finish the rebound.

This was another case of Hearts players putting everything in and getting nothing in return.

This was a match they undoubtedly deserved something from but in the end it was indiscipline and frustration which proved their undoing.

That wasn’t a massive surprise to Kilmarnock manager Kenny Shiels, who had warned his players that Hearts’ aggression could prove their undoing. Properly harnessed it can be an asset but yesterday it tipped in Kilmarnock’s favour. The decisive penalty came when Marius Zaliukas shoved Paul Heffernan as he broke into the box having latched on to a Gary Harkins throughball seven minutes into the second half.

Taken from the Scotsman