Hearts 4 Dunfermline 0

Dec 18 2011 by Euan Mclean, Sunday Mail

ANDREW DRIVER was the first Hearts star to walk yesterday but it was his team-mates who enjoyed a stroll in the park.

With last month's wages in the bank and an official complaint demanding the overdue December wage lodged with the SPL, Hearts' stars were at last able to concentrate on football.

And a four-goal thumping was a welcome tonic for a support that has grown used to disappointment on their own patch.

Make no mistake, Hearts needed this to cure the homesickness that had seen them lose three of their previous four games at Tynecastle.

But they were helped by the charity of Dunfermline's dreadful defence who got into the pre-Christmas spirit with a gift of a goal just two minutes into the match.

Time and again this season Dunfermline boss Jim McIntyre has cursed the sloppy defending and individual errors that have seen his side ship countless cheap goals.

And it was the same story again as Hearts got off to a flier.

Ian Black's inswinging corner should never have been allowed to run unchecked to the back post where Ryan McGowan was waiting unmarked to prod the ball back into another gaping hole in the heart of the six-yard box.

Stephen Elliott couldn't believe his luck as he tapped it over the line from all of two yards to finish off yet another poor concession from the Fifers.

It could have been two just four minutes later as the visitors struggled to deal with another corner from Black that found McGowan in space again, only this time his free header was held by keeper Paul Gallacher.

But it wasn't all one-way traffic and Marian Kello had to claw away a looping header by Andy Barrowman and then Alex Keddie failed to make more of a defensive lapse that left him with so much time and space that he should have at least got his shot on target.

The big defender was cursing again on 22 minutes when he was booked for a late lunge on Adrian Mrowiec.

It was a harsh decision by referee Charlie Richmond as he was the one responsible for Keddie's late arrival by getting in the stopper's way.

Dunfermline struggled to contain the boundless energy of McGowan on the left flank while the skills of Mehdi Taouil caused them grief on the
opposite wing.

The Moroccan's clever twists and turns bamboozled Paul Burns before he curled a delicate lob an inch over the far top corner - but his next effort was finished with clinical precision on 27 minutes.

McGowan was again the provider as he used his pace to edge clear on the left before cutting it inside for Taouil to meet with an unstoppable drive beyond Gallacher.

The visitors almost pulled one back before the break when Paul Willis' vicious swirling free-kick was headed off the line by Hearts skipper Marius Zaliukas but after the break it was the home side carving out the big chances.

Elliott especially should have added to his tally when Taouil kick-started a swift counter, only for the Irish striker to hit the side netting.

Then David Templeton was twice denied by good saves from Gallacher but the wide man was far more frustrated when ref Richmond denied him in 66 minutes.

He looked to have been clearly fouled by Burns but perhaps the dramatic nature of Templeton's plunge to the deck convinced the whistler not to award a penalty.

If that's the case he should have been gutsy enough to book the Hearts player but instead be only flashed a yellow at Andy Webster for a foul in the following goalmouth scramble.

But Templeton wouldn't be denied in the 70th minute when he grabbed Hearts' third in style, curling a sublime 25-yard effort inside Gallacher's left-post.

That killed off any faint hopes the Pars had of getting back in this game but there was one last sting in the tail deep in stoppage time when they were torpedoed by two subs.

Ryan Stevenson's 30-yard piledriver was too hot for Gallacher to hold and Rudi Skacel pounced to head home the rebound from six yards to pile on the misery for the Pars – and bring some cheer at last to the suffering Hearts stars.

Taken from the Daily Record