Dunfermline 1 Hearts 2

Apr 8 2012 by Chris Sanderson, Sunday Mail

GUTTED Pars skipper Austin McCann admitted his side shot themselves in the foot again as Hearts hammered another nail in their relegation coffin.

A kamikaze opening seven minutes of the second half cost the East End Park outfit dearly as they lost two sloppy goals to leave themselves a mountain to climb.

It was a similar story at Tannadice last week when Pars were caught cold after the break and yesterday it was Gary Glen and Darren Barr who did the damage.

A Marius Zaliukas own goal let the home side back in the game but Hearts held on to ensure Dunfermline are still waiting on their first home win of the campaign.

The Pars are now rooted to the foot of the SPL, six points adrift of second-bottom Hibs, and the capital club also have a game in hand against Motherwell today.

And McCann admits his side are now heading for the First Division if they don't tighten up at the back quickly.

The Pars skipper said: "We were well in the game at half time but just as we did last week we shot ourselves in the foot at the start of the second half.

"The two quick goals meant we were chasing the game and although we pulled a goal back late on we gave ourselves too much to do.

"We can't keep giving teams a two-goal start but on the positive side we kept battling right to the end."

The home side were looking for someone to stand up and be counted yesterday and in the early stages midfielder David Graham suggested he might just be the man to do it.

He was full of energy as his side bossed possession but they were struggling to create clear-cut chances.

In 13 minutes Graham did well on the left to create some space and drill in a dangerous delivery but Jambos keeper Jamie MacDonald was able to pluck to ball out of the air.

The Pars continued to enjoy the bulk of the match but were continually found wanting in the final third.

With 19 minutes gone the lively Graham slipped the ball wide to McCann who fired over a deep cross but ex-Hearts hitman Andy Kirk couldn't capitalise.

And six minutes later Paul Willis had perhaps the Pars' best chance of the half when he picked up a flick-on from Kirk but the striker could only land a right-foot volley on to the roof of MacDonald's net.

The visitors gradually grew into the game and as half-time approached they looked like hitting the front.

Glen should have scored on the whistle when he pounced on a wayward McCann header but after rounding Chris Smith his shot was blocked by Alex Keddie.

Home boss Jim Jefferies would have been warning his side to keep it tight in his half-time team-talk but sure enough they were caught out straight after the break.

Rudi Skacel served the Pars an early warning when he stung keeper Smith's palms just seconds after the restart from a Jamie Hamill cross.

But Pars switched off at the resulting corner from Ian Black and as the ball bobbled around the area Glen hooked it home to make it 1-0 in 49 minutes.

And things went from bad to worse for the home side just four minutes later when Barr doubled the Jambos' lead.

Keddie managed to scramble a Glen effort off the line but the ball dropped to the big defender who powered it beyond Smith from close range.

The goals knocked the stuffing out of the home side and from then on there only ever looked like being one winner.

Dunfermline grabbed a lifeline with five minutes to go when sub Joe Cardle rifled in a shot that Zaliukas deflected past his own keeper, but despite the late onslaught, the visitors held firm.

Taken from the Daily Record