Hearts stand Tall as new manager enters the Romanov warzone

Ewan Murray at Fir Park
Tuesday March 6, 2007
The Guardian

Another game, another interim Hearts manager. This time it was the turn of Anatoly Korobochka to take charge - he became the sixth man to hold the post in 18 months - and his players responded by returning a result which keeps their aspirations of playing European football next season firmly alive.

Make no mistake, Hearts are well short of the irrepressible touch which made them genuine title contenders under George Burley early last season, but this performance was a marked improvement on the stuttering fare which their followers have been forced to endure in recent weeks. Moreover, it came at a traditionally troublesome venue. Ibrahim Tall opened the scoring for Korobochka's side here with Stephen Craigan's own-goal midway through the second period sealing three points for the Edinburgh team.

"There has been no disruption, really," insisted Stephen Frail, Hearts' assistant head coach, speaking for Korobochka, who does not speak fluent English. "We have just kept chipping away at the players. There are a lot of Lithuanians in the squad, a lot of Europeans and a lot of Scots. We have tried to integrate them as much as possible in training."

Hearts insist tales of their demise under the controversial Vladimir Romanov regime have been greatly exaggerated yet they began this match as the SPL's fourth-placed team and having been eliminated from the Scottish Cup, which they won last season, in the fourth-round. Such a situation is hardly befitting a club that spends £10m a year on players' salaries.

Both sides struggled to find any momentum in the opening half amid treacherous weather and tricky under-foot conditions.

Motherwell passed up a glorious chance after 23 minutes, Jim Paterson failing to control the ball when sent clean through on goal by Ross McCormack. Hearts' response was impressive; Tall heading Laryea Kingston's corner past Graham Smith eight minutes before the interval. The goalkeeper was partly at fault, caught in no man's land eight yards from his line, but Tall rose without any significant challenge from the Motherwell defence.

The second half began in a similar vein to the first, with flowing football at a premium. Hearts always appeared the more dangerous .

Both sides had tentative claims for penalties turned down before Kingston, the game's outstanding performer by a considerable margin, kicked a David Clarkson headed effort off the Hearts goalline.

Hearts clinched victory when the Motherwell defender Craigan headed another searching Kingston cross beyond Smith, with a little help from the crossbar, while under pressure from Calum Elliot.

Motherwell rallied in the closing stages, but found themselves unable to break down a strong Hearts rearguard. Maurice Malpas's outfit remain ninth and struggling to secure a place in the top six before the league splits in five games' time.

"We are going to have to win virtually all of those games before the split," conceded Malpas. "But until it is impossible, we will keep going for the top six. I thought the players' attitude was different class, we just lacked a quality of ball into the box."

Taken from the Guardian/Observer