Hearts find strength in adversity

By Stuart Bathgate at Tynecastle
Published on Monday 19 December 2011 00:00

SOME teams fall apart in the face of adversity. Others pull together and become more united.

There were growing signs in recent weeks that Hearts were reacting in the former way to the financial crisis that has beset the club, but on Saturday we were presented with more compelling evidence that the collective spirit of the squad remains strong.

The personnel available to manager Paulo Sergio may be radically different by the end of January as Hearts seek to slash costs but, if so, the present bunch look set to go out on a high. The tension and dissent evident in the home defeat by St Johnstone among other games is gone, and it can hardly be a coincidence that this entertaining and self-confident display came after the players finally agreed to make a collective complaint through their union against their employer for the continued late payment of salaries.

Winger Andrew Driver was omitted from the 18 for this game after confirming to Sergio that he plans to hand in a transfer request today. But the rest of the squad, including those as frustrated by Driver at the Portuguese boss's often puzzling team selections, remain willing to work together. Dunfermline, it should be said, were the most deferential of visitors, allowing Hearts an early lead and being fortunate to return across the Forth with just a four-goal defeat. Even so, this was still a showcase of a game, showing just how well the Edinburgh team can play when they are minded to do so.

The Fifers' plan had been to seize an early lead, as St Johnstone did a fortnight earlier, in the hope of unsettling their opponents. Instead, it was they who went behind in the opening minutes after a casebook display of inept defending which they would repeat on several occasions. Failing to attack a corner from the right was bad enough. Allowing Ryan McGowan to send the ball back across goal was worse. Letting Stephen Elliott prod it home from a couple of feet out was the culmination of this series of errors.

McGowan had a free header from another corner not long afterwards, then Marius Zaliukas had a similar opportunity as Hearts realised the game was there for the taking. Concession of that early goal had forced Dunfermline to go on the offensive, increasing their vulnerability to the counter-attack, but there was no excuse for their disorganisation at set plays.

Shortly before that chance for Zaliukas, Alex Keddie should have done better at the other end when a lob over the top of the Hearts defence found him clean through on Marian Kello. Instead of at least forcing the goalkeeper to save, however, Keddie pulled his shot wide.

Even so early in the game, that was effectively the last hope Dunfermline had of claiming a point. Minutes later, Mehdi Taouil made it 2-0 with a low shot following good work by McGowan and Hearts knew they had the match won.

It was 25 minutes into the second half before the home team added to their tally, but there was never a sense during that spell that a third goal would be required to kill off the contest. Even when Dunfermline set up promising attacks – an increasingly rare phenomenon – they simply lacked the skill to make the most of them.

Hearts had that skill in abundance. Full-backs McGowan and Jamie Hamill got forward to join in attacks and Adrian Mrowiec and Scott Robinson had a stranglehold on central midfield. Out wide, David Templeton was not as effective in possession as Taouil on the other flank, but he enjoyed better fortune when cutting inside in the 70th minute after Martin Hardie had given the ball away. With an Elliott run distracting what remained of the defence, Templeton sent a right-foot shot into the right corner of Paul Gallacher's goal.

As if the goalkeeper had not suffered enough, worse followed for him as the match went into stoppage time. He blocked a stinging shot from substitute Ryan Stevenson, but Rudi Skacel, another Hearts replacement, followed up to complete the scoring with a simple header. Skacel landed on top of Gallacher as he fell, with the result being a shoulder injury which could force the keeper to miss some matches over the festive period.

With his contract running out in a matter of weeks, Skacel is one player Hearts look sure to lose in January and, if too many of his calibre depart, they will be in for a trying time over what remains of the season.

But in the shorter term, on the field at least, things are looking up, and they will welcome the visit of Motherwell on Christmas Eve as a chance to test themselves against the club which has assumed their best-of-the-rest mantle.

MAN OF THE MATCH

Mehdi Taouil (Hearts)

A menace to Dunfermline whenever he was in possession, the Moroccan epitomised the drive and self-belief which swept Hearts along to their biggest win of the season.

Taken from the Scotsman