Hearts 0 Liverpool 1

BILL LECKIE at Tynecastle
Published: 24th August 2012
15
THEY had been just about to phone the announcement into the local paper.

“On August 23, 2012, to the Hearts family. A beautiful bouncing stadium.

“Players, gaffers and fans all thrilled at the birth of a real European dream.”

Hearts had put in all the hard labour. All that pushing and grunting, the buckets of sweat — not to mention plenty around the stands who would have bitten your arm off for an epidural to calm them down.

And on a night when keeper Jamie MacDonald turned up bleary-eyed after a marathon shift at the birth of his daughter, it was so nearly worth all the effort.

Did the Jambos deliver? They most definitely did.

A year ago, it had been men against embryos as Tottenham’s superstars swaggered to a 5-0 win at the same stage of this same competition. This time, Hearts truly earned their Spurs.

So what a crying shame one tiny lapse in concentration cost them so dear.

With 13 minutes to go, Liverpool right-back Martin Kelly found space for a low cross.

Down went the new dad MacDonald, but the ball bobbled beyond him — right into the path of Andy Webster for the clumsiest, most luckless of own goals.

Hearts didn’t deserve such a rotten break. More to the point, Liverpool didn’t deserve to benefit from it. For all their array of stars, the Kop idols were way below the standard that Harry Redknapp’s men set last season.

It was no reserve 11 either. New gaffer Brendan Rodgers might have left Luis Suarez and Stevie Gerrard at home but he still had a top-drawer keeper in Pepe Reina, a centre-back in Daniel Agger who’s been on Barcelona’s radar, a midfield pair of £19million Jordan Henderson and £9m Charlie Adam and a striker in Fabio Borini who’s just arrived from Serie A.

Yet it was the Jambos, with their frees and their journeymen and their Academy kids, who came away from this one with all the credit.

All in white, they tore into the five-times European champions non-stop from Arvydas Novikovas dipping one early on that forced Reina to palm behind, to sub Andy Driver scuffing a golden chance with 90 almost up, they could scarcely have given more. After 15 minutes against Spurs, they were already two down and counting.

Now, Hearts were quick, direct and frightening the life out of the big guns.

Twice David Templeton came close, then big John Sutton, then Webster sparked wishful-thinking penalty shouts with a header against Jamie Carragher’s back.

There were scares, too, though. Darren Barr went in the book for hauling Adam back by the shirt.

And when Adam slid the free-kick into the inside-left channel, Ryan McGowan slid to toe it away from teenage winger Raheem Sterling — then held his breath as the ball beat MacDonald and clipped the base of the post on its way for a corner.

Sterling, just 17, is one they are raving about on Merseyside and the longer the half went, the more he found his stride, burning away from McGowan for a shot that swerved in the night air and made MacDonald punch two-fisted.

It was half an hour before Hearts had a real scare. Mehdi Taouil’s weak header let Borini feed a pass wide and race into the centre for a return ball he really should have done better with.

Hearts had put so much into it. Yet all it needed was one slip to ruin everything, and it nearly came right on the brink of half-time.

What Taouil was thinking as he tried a worldy crossfield pass was anybody’s guess, because it fell straight to Sterling, who squared for Borini.

As MacDonald spread himself, Tynecastle held its breath, but Borini somehow hit the post with the keeper beaten and the goal empty.

In 55 minutes impressive teenager Callum Paterson bombed towards the bye-line and slashed wide before Novikovas blasted over from long range. For the next 20 minutes, it could have gone either way. But then, that moment Webster and MacDonald will want to forget.

Even then, though, back Hearts stormed. Twice, young Paterson seared forward and was just off target with shots.

And, closest of all, Driver — on for the weary Templeton — found space 12 yards out, got the ball out from under his feet, but couldn’t squeeze enough power to beat the diving Reina.

That was it. Pipped. Heart-broken. But still roared to the rafters and quite right too.

All their fevered, baying fans asked was they would have something to play for when they head south a week from now.

They got their wish. And on this evidence — Kop in full voice or not — there’s no reason to be scared.