Poised to pounce in Euro race

Hearts 2Dumfermline 0 THIS time last year Hearts were infuriated when Celtic played a weakened side and lost to Kilmarnock. It was a surprise result that contributed to Craig Levein's team missing a Uefa Cup place.

Hearts are again clinging to a thread of hope that they might qualify for Europe, and this time a weakened Celtic would delight them. The champions come to Tynecastle next Sunday and only by taking points off them can Hearts have any hope of overtaking Livingston to finish fourth.

However, considering the verbal arrows chief executive Chris Robinson has been directing at the Old Firm recently, it is an unfortunate time for his club to be seeking favours from Celtic.

Last season Stephane Mahe was the most vociferous of those who criticised Martin O'Neill's decision to rest senior players at Rugby Park. Last night, Levein was conciliatory.

"If you look back on your notes from last year you will see that I was never critical of Martin O'Neill at all," he said. "I said it was his prerogative to pick who he wanted. Maybe one of the players here did say it was the wrong thing to do, but next week Martin will play whatever team he feels is appropriate."

It has again reached the point at which supporters need fixture lists and calculators to go with their maroon scarves. Only one Uefa Cup place remains undecided and Hearts are four points behind Livingston with two matches remaining. Levein feels that Livingston will not lose at Dunfermline next week, and his team will therefore have to beat Celtic.

Hearts were entitled to feel pleased with themselves after goals in the final half hour from Kevin McKenna and Andy Kirk ended Dunfermline's even slimmer prospects of making it in to Europe. To keep their momentum going Levein's team have had to win at Aberdeen and at home against Dunfermline, and they cleared both hurdles. Those were the tenacious results of a side with fate on its side, but Hearts' hopes will surely come to a juddering halt against Celtic.

Dunfermline have now defeated Hearts only once in 14 attempts. Few in the stadium would have agreed with manager Jimmy Calderwood's assessment of yesterday's play. His side had been the only one attempting creative, passing football, he said, while Hearts' attempts were based on physique and lumping early balls into attack. "Maybe it's me looking through black-and-white glasses but I didn't think we deserved to lose that game," he said.

It was the black-and-white glasses. Hearts dominated possession and were the more enterprising side. Levein was justified in his verdict that the deserving side won. "There's no requirement from Uefa that you have to play scintillating football," he conceded. "I thought it was a tight game, quite competitive, but we maybe just shaded it."

His only grumble was over yet another injury. Mahe collided with Andrius Skerla after only 22 minutes and had to be stretchered off with suspected knee ligament damage. The Frenchman joined an extensive casualty list at the club, which already featured Steven Pressley, Andy Tod and Tommi Gronlund. Mahe's removal, at least, allowed Stevie Fulton to take the stage.

The clock is running down on Fulton's Hearts career. It is likely that he will leave the club in the summer and that the remaining home fixtures against Celtic and Livingston will be his last. The affection in which he is held by the Tynecastle support stems from his contribution to the club's 1998 Scottish Cup win and, to no lesser extent, those fans' simple appreciation of a gifted footballer.

Fulton's best days, and certainly his slimmest, are behind him, but in what was an untidy, scrappy match he at least added some otherwise absent vision and touch. He was on for only a few minutes before rifling a vicious shot into Marco Ruitenbeek's body, and was later the architect of an unlikely run and one-two with Alan Maybury before delivering a low cross which gave Ricardo Fuller a half- chance.

It was a Fulton delivery which finally brought the opening goal after an hour. Gus MacPherson fouled Flogel on Hearts' left-wing, which invited a Fulton cross. His strike was actually low and poor, but McKenna snapped on to it before Scott Thomson and steered an angled shot beyond Ruitenbeek. The defender, with nine, is his club's top scorer.

Fuller was the other Hearts player capable of illuminating their play. Oddly, the Jamaican seemed more influential during the bleak Scottish winter than in the recent, improved weather. Defenders' wariness about Fuller is clear, whatever his current form. His pace and quick feet can embarrass an opponent, although it is Fuller himself who is sometimes humiliated most by the end result. He danced around Skerla in one move only to slice a shot which flew across straight the pitch and out for a throw-in.

Dunfermline were more concerned about Fuller than his unlikely partner in attack, Thomas Flogel, who sent headers over the crossbar in each half. Fuller and Scott Severin also threatened with long- range shots.

Dunfermline were hard-working and organised but there was little imagination or flair about them. Thomson elicited a save with an early free-kick, and MacPherson missed the clearest chance of the first half when he wildly lashed an 18-yard volley over the crossbar after a Stevie Crawford knock-down.

The game was too tight to be decided by McKenna's goal, but Dunfermline's play was aimless until they were gifted a penalty 13 minutes from time. Maybury seemed to have sabotaged Hearts by needlessly bundling down Colin Nish in the box, but Thomson's penalty was saved when Niemi dived low to his left. Niemi made an identical save at the same corner to later deny Sean Kilgannon. "Niemi's the top man," purred Levein.

By then Dunfermline were playing with two at the back and four up front, but the game was beyond them. Hearts finished it when Fuller broke on the right and flicked the ball away from Thomson to deliver a perfect lay-off for Kirk. The 22 year old, back after a ten-week lay-off, buried the ball low to Ruitenbeek's right for his first of the season.

Copyright 2002
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