Hearts 1 Motherwell 0: Grainger earns his pay after spectacular winner at Tynecastle

scott mullen at tynecastle

IN a week that saw the issue of players' wages – or lack of them – rear its head again at Tynecastle, it was Danny Grainger who bailed out Hearts yesterday.

The left-back's rasping drive after 14 minutes, which was justifiably considered to be a contender for Goal of the Season by the tannoy announcer, was enough to dispatch both Motherwell and talk of financial troubles – at least until today. Six players, as well as John McGlynn, the Hearts manager, were late in being paid in September, with the Scottish Premier League board convening this morning to discuss what action to take next. However, any off-field concerns were quickly swept away by Grainger.

"It will be sorted," said McGlynn. "You didn't see the players go begging round the stands, there wasn't an issue at any time.

"The goal was worthy of winning any match. The back four were also immense and everyone else worked very hard. We may have played better before and lost, but we're delighted."

Oddly, both teams came into the match on the back of defeats by Celtic, with Motherwell's 2-0 loss to the defending champions taking place three weeks ago. That deflating result threatened to knock the wind out of the Fir Park club's sails, coming just a matter of days after the then SPL leaders were humbled in the Scottish Communities League Cup by a Rangers side who failed to overcome Queen of the South the previous week. However, any suggestion that the wait might have caused rustiness was eroded by a fervent start.

It took just a matter of seconds for last season's third-placed side to show their credentials as Jamie Murphy picked up a loose ball in the Hearts half before sending a 25-yard shot towards goal for Jamie Macdonald to save. Unfortunately for the small band of travelling fans who were sparsely distributed at the back of the Roseburn Stand, all it did was awake Hearts from their slumber.

After 10 minutes, Andy Webster lofted the ball up to Arvydas Novikovas, who in turn provided a delicate lay-off for Andy Driver at the edge of the area, leaving the 24-year-old space to bend his shot just inches beyond the far post. It was a signal of intent from Hearts that was about to be validated.

Four minutes later, a Motherwell move broke down on the halfway line with the ball being worked out to Grainger. The 26-year-old was afforded time and at least 20 yards of open space to stride into before unleashing an unstoppable shot that flashed past the advancing Fraser Kerr and beyond goalkeeper Darren Randolph from 25 yards.

"I'm happy it ended up in the goal and not endangering any of the Motherwell fans," said Grainger, who refused to confirm if he was one of the unlucky few not to receive his wages on time.

"It's not the kind of thing I practice in training. It's more afterwards when you're messing about with the boys and lashing balls at the goal. We do exercises to work on shooting from distance and I'm glad it paid off."

While the latest wage delay at Hearts will be resolved one way or another at Hampden today, Motherwell cannot buy a goal at the moment. Their last came in a frenetic 3-3 stalemate at Pittodrie last month, with the Fir Park side firing blanks ever since against Rangers, Celtic and now Hearts as they trickle down the Clydesdale Bank Premier League table, with the club now having dropped to fifth.

This was a match that Motherwell deserved to take something from on the balance of play, but circumstances conspired against them. They were hindered by the loss of Shaun Hutchinson at the end of the first half, as well as being denied what appeared to be a worthy penalty after 34 minutes when Webster climbed over the top of Michael Higdon, causing him to collapse like a 6ft pack of cards.

"It's a stonewall penalty if you ask me," said the striker, who could have levelled the game two minutes into the second half after lashing a close-range volley just wide. "He came right through the back of me. If it was outside the box I think the referee would give it, but I don't think we got much off the referee today."

Apart from Higdon's effort in the opening stages of the second half, the closest Motherwell came to a goal was when Nicky Law's header was cleared off the line by Webster with 15 minutes left to play. Despite the late rally, however, including Randolph throwing his weight to the visitors' attack as the game neared a conclusion, Motherwell will have to wait until a match against Hibernian on Friday before they have a chance to get their season back on track.

"We have lost to a terrific goal from their point of view. We are disappointed we didn't close him down as Grainger has a great left foot," said Stuart McCall, the Motherwell manager. "There's no disgrace to come here and lose because they have good players. Despite not defending well for the goal, I thought we played our part in a decent game and merited a point."

Taken from the Herald