IS THERE A DOCTOR IN THE HOUSE?

Hearts 0 Motherwell 0 DOCTOR Jo Venglos was an unlikely spectator at Tynecastle yesterday. His comments tended to be unfathomable at the best of times, but it may be for the best that his thoughts on this scrap between two of the Scotland's top four clubs are left unspoken.

Taking the league table as evidence, Hearts are the best there is outwith the Old Firm and Motherwell are next in line. Both clubs could claim something from a furious goalless draw - Hearts remain four points clear of the pack seeking a Uefa Cup place, and Motherwell have still lost only two away games in the league, both at Ibrox. But what a scrappy, untidy, mess of a game they served up.

In his column in the match programme, Hearts chief executive Chris Robinson had taken the Old Firm to task for using club magazines to promote their Atlantic League aspirations. "It is always sad to see teams that could and should lead by example putting forward views which are quite clearly based on self-interest," Robinson fumed.

"Hearts' board will not sit back and allow the self-interest of the Old Firm to unsettle the tremendous start the SPL has made in the development of the game in Scotland at the top level."

Leaving aside what those clubs excluded by the SPL would say about the "self-interest" of Hearts and others, Robinson's comments could not have been more unfortunately timed. There was passion and commitment aplenty, of course, but evidence of development in Scottish football was entirely invisible at Tynecastle.

There was no shortage of muscle, snapping tackles, and passing and movement at a pace which made studied football impossible. Hearts were aggrieved that three penalty claims were rejected by Mike McCurry, the otherwise fussy referee who booked six players. "Maybe if someone was diving full length in the net with his hands that's the only way we were going to get a penalty," said Hearts manager Jim Jefferies.

Their strongest claim was their first. Two minutes into first half injury time Lee Makel, playing with renewed vigour in the past week, threaded a through ball for Colin Cameron and the Scotland squad member was nudged off the ball by Stephen McMillan and then scythed down by Greg Strong. Either challenge merited a penalty.

Strong, 24, was once an England under-18 contemporary of Paul Scholes, Nicky Butt and Robbie Fowler. He will spend the rest of the season with Motherwell on loan from Bolton and went into this game with the distinction of having scored on his debut for his previous three clubs.

Doubtless they were headers, as in the air the powerful Englishman lived up to his name by mopping up anything which came within his orbit. Given how easily Motherwell surrendered goals from crosses when conceding six last weekend at Ibrox, the need for a player with his physique was clear.

"It was obviously a very tough, physical game with two teams going for third," said Strong later. "Football didn't get much of a chance to shine, though, it was more of a battle. The pace is very similar to England. It's physical, it's quick, and you have to win the battle before you win the game."

Debut or not, it was a game in which a player of Strong's build could flourish. Hearts' Robert Tomaschek, meanwhile, had to keep his elegant Slovakian skills on the bench throughout.

All around the pitch players thundered into each other, abruptly cutting off moves and starving the game of any satisfactory rhythm. It was breathless but far from breathtaking. Play was more box-to- box than end-to-end, with moves breaking down among a cluster of bodies on the edge of either penalty area.

What chances there were tended to come from distance. Lee McCulloch smacked the face of Hearts' crossbar with a fine strike from the edge-of-the-box after Don Goodman's lay-off and Steve Fulton threatened with a couple of long-range attempts which Stevie Woods, in for Andy Goram, who had an ankle injury, dealt with comfortably.

Motherwell's refusal to bow to Hearts' will, and that of a noisy 13,000 crowd, said much for the mental strength they have developed from resisting defeat in so many away matches.

They are not a physically big team but Lee McCulloch continually made his presence felt alongside the stocky Don Goodman and their other most promising young Scot, left-back Stephen McMillan, produced another pleasing performance.

Hearts pressed Billy Davies's side back for much of the second half but their back four was tight and well supported by backtracking midfielders. Hearts' forwards found it nearly impossible to wriggle into space for a meaningful shot past Woods.

Gary Wales broke on the left and squared for Adam to smash a drive off the keeper's knees before Cameron thumped the rebound over the bar. Adam then had Hearts' best chance of the game after 62 minutes but was too clumsy in his control of a Makel cross and was blocked by Strong before he could fashion a shot. From a Jackson pass Cameron then smacked a shot off the same crossbar McMillan had hit earlier.

"Everything we hit today went straight at the goalie," said Jefferies. "It would go through a ruck of players straight at him. At least in the second half we did the right thing, we tried to get it down and play it. We created enough chances to win the game."

The addition of Nevin, sadly for his old limbs, did nothing to slow the game's frenetic tempo. Nevin was culpable, too, when he spooned a six-yard shot over the bar when the ball dropped to him from a Paul Harvey corner. It was Motherwell's best chance.

Davies was coy when asked about Hearts' three penalty claims. Strong also caught Cameron with a trailing leg when the midfielder skipped past him in the first half, then Nevin nudged Gary Naysmith to the ground in injury time.

Both managers said they were eager to see the incidents again on the television highlights. A TV audience of two would have been about what it deserved.

Substitutes: McSwegan for Wales 59 Not used: McKenzie, Simpson, Tomaschek, Severin Substitutes: Nevin for Twaddle 62, Harvey for Adams 62, Not used: Brown, McGowan, Nicholas,

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