Hearts 2 Ross County 2: Sutton strike saves the day for Jambos

28 Oct 2012 00:01

By Gordon Waddell

HEARTS salvaged a point from a game they could have won at a canter with only a last gasp goal from John Sutton saving them from defeat.
John Sutton is hailed by Hearts team-mate Darren Barr after scoring equaliser John Sutton is hailed by Hearts team-mate Darren Barr after scoring equaliser

OUTSIDE the ground Hearts were trying to sell shares. Inside, it was like they were trying to
sell the jerseys.

In a game they should have had out of sight they ended up needing a desperate John Sutton equaliser 10 seconds from the end of injury time to salvage a point.

Michael Fraser’s heroic display had County on the brink of back-to-back wins over the capital’s clubs after last week’s 3-2 victory over high-flying Hibs.

Arvy Novikovas had given Hearts the lead in the first half but Richie Brittain’s penalty and Stuart Kettlewell’s killer strike had turned the tables at Tynecastle.

It was a position County should never have been in, according to Jambos boss John McGlynn.

And he’ll be asking some serious questions of a suicidal defence that are undoing their chances of climbing in to the top six.

He said: “I suppose we should be grateful that we never gave up and salvaged a point – but it’s still two dropped.

“It’s the same old story. We’re not killing teams off when we’re on top.

“We dominated but for some reason, despite our opponents getting far fewer chances than us, the ratio of goals they get from them is high.

“They scored two from what, three or four chances?

“We were so far ahead in the first half but maybe were guilty of thinking we just had to come out for the second half to win the match.

“The penalty we gave away though was cheap. But to be fair when you’re 2-1 down with not long to go, you keep going right to the end. We did that and I’m glad big Sutty got the equaliser.”

One thing not coming cheap will be Hearts shares – but McGlynn was snippy when he was asked if he’d be investing.

“I’m not getting into that,” he muttered.

Ross County's dejected Michael Fraser (left) and Marc Fitzpatrick Ross County's dejected Michael Fraser (left) and Marc Fitzpatrick

Whether the fans are is another question. They took a while to get in to the game – the atmosphere was subdued by Tynecastle standards, despite their team getting out of the blocks quickly.

Maybe the gloom had set in over the tax bill, the wages debacle and the transfer embargo.

Maybe the supporters were all too busy reading their prospectuses and calling their stockbrokers.

Either way, the mood was flat.

An early goal would have helped but Fraser made the first of half-a-dozen class saves to deny Jambos in the 16th minute.

County had lost only one goal in the first six SPL games, then 12 in their next four.

Their priority yesterday was getting back to basics – but it nearly unravelled with some poor defending.

Former Inverness and Motherwell keeper Fraser had to make a terrific double save – first from a drilled Andy Driver shot then a launch at the loose ball from Ryan McGowan.

Beyond that chances were few and far between. It wasn’t quite midweek in the Nou Camp but the end product was disappointing.

A Darren Barr header and a Callum Patterson penalty claim, deservedly knocked back by ref Craig Charleston, were as good as it got.

County showed little at the other end apart from a solitary 30-yard swerving shot from Ian Vigurs that forced home keeper Jamie MacDonald into a panicky parry.

But the landscape changed five minutes from the break with a goal made in Lithuania. Marius Zaliukas sent his pass along a rope up the right channel for Novikovas to chase down. The weight was perfect and the little winger beat both Marc Fitzpatrick and Fraser to get the touch.

The keeper managed to snake out an ankle to deflect the ball and for a second it looked touch and go if he’d done enough – but it spun just at the right moment to sneak in.

The little winger could have had his second two minutes after the break as well, getting another look at the whites of Fraser’s eyes again – but this time the keeper got enough on the ball to push it for a corner.

Barr also had a chance from the resulting delivery, only Mihail Kovacevic on the post denying the midfielder his first goal since the Scottish Cup Final. But a game Hearts were in control of slipped through their fingers.

Richie Brittain’s ball into the box from the right was decent but Andy Webster’s shove in Kettlewell’s back was criminally blatant – the most stonewall spot-kick you’ll see.

Brittain dispatched it – and the place flatlined.

Hearts still had chances – Fraser produced heroics at times and denied a Ryan Stevenson stinger.

Then he had to deal with an ambitious hitchkick by Paterson teed up by the dangerous Novikovas – who was strangely subbed straight after it – followed by a 20-yarder from sub Sutton.

But you always sensed bad news on the way for the home side – and Kettlewell duly delivered it with 13 minutes left. The Hearts defence, Barr in particular, stood off him, waiting for the little ball out wide to meet what turned out to be a brilliant decoy run by Brittain.

Instead the midfielder took advantage of the space and just smashed a shot low and hard past MacDonald from 20 yards.

You wondered how Hearts would respond from that body blow.

But just when they were on the brink, Danny Grainger flung one last ball into the mix, Zaliukas fluffed his attempt – and the ball fell into the path of Sutton who spun and smashed home with 10 seconds of the three minutes’ injury time remaining.

The Englishman admitted: “My goal was a bit scrappy but we’d put enough pressure on them to deserve it.”

Taken from the Daily Record