Gordon hails Hart of gold

HEARTS star Craig Gordon today hailed the performance of hat-trick hero Paul Hartley, describing him as "magnificent."

The Scotland midfielder netted his first-ever treble at any level of football and inspired the Jambos' 4-0 rout over their Capital rivals with arguably his finest display in a Hearts jersey.

The ex-Hibs player covered almost every blade of grass at Hampden Park in a match-winning performance but Gordon conceded he hadn't been surprised to see his team-mate putting in such a show, admitting he had come to expect displays like that from him.

"He showed great energy and was probably the man of the match by a mile," admitted Gordon. "It was a magnificent display from Paul and to top it all off with a hat-trick was great for him as he gave his all during the game.

"But Paul has been a very important player for us for a while now. I doubt he could have dreamt of scoring a hat-trick in a game like yesterday's but nobody deserves it more than he does."

Taken from the Scotsman