Jeff shouts about point well earned

It did not take long to reach the conclusion that a goal from the visitors was unlikely on such a threadbare surface. Aberdeen adjusted better to the underfoot conditions so Jefferies' next target became a draw to preserve Hearts' unbeaten away record outwith Glasgow this season. Thankfully, Marian Kello was at hand with another imperious goalkeeping performance to safeguard the blank scoreline.

"I was happier with the second half than the first," said Jefferies. "If you aren't going to win - and we try to win all the time - you make sure you don't get beat. There was always going to be somewhere where we would get a draw. We're a target for teams now and the surface made it even harder for us. At the end of the day we got away with a point."

The result was achieved with the manager roaring from the technical area. Whenever anyone in his team switched off, even momentarily, Jefferies was out of the dugout in full voice to waken them and demand an extra effort. Consequently, the Tynecastle side departed the north east satisfied with a draw given Aberdeen had commanded possession and hemmed them in their own half for long periods.

If this was an underwhelming performance from Hearts, and those have been a rarity this season, then credit them for the resolve shown against another of the SPL's in-form teams. The result secured a 16th clean sheet of the campaign and, once again, Kello was largely responsible. He was about the only one who didn't incur the full wrath of Jefferies' ire during the 90 minutes.

"We didn't compete in the first half, too many passengers," continued the manager. "There were a few choice words at half-time. I wasn't wanting that because my throat is sore and I asked them not to give me a reason to shout. We competed better in the second half.

"What we had to understand was that it wasn't a pitch for silky football. You just had to go back to front, which would have suited Kevin Kyle had he been playing. That's what we asked the players to do.

We had boys playing who you would want to get it down and pass it to, like David Templeton and Andy Driver, but you just couldn't on that surface. Aberdeen were closing us down quickly and we just tried to be first to every ball and play percentages ."

That said, Aberdeen stroked the ball around as well as anyone could be expected to on such a rutted pitch. Four games in 12 days have taken their toll on the Pittodrie surface but the hosts made light of it by passing their way through their opponents on several occasions. When they reached the firing zone, Kello protected the target like a man possessed. He pushed away stinging efforts from Sone Aluko (twice), Rory McArdle, Chris Maguire and Nick Blackman, the last save coming in stoppage-time at the end of the match.

"McGregor and them are great goalkeepers but Kello is up there with the best," added Jefferies. "Aluko's early effort was a fantastic strike and I thought it was in. It was just a fantastic save from a top goalkeeper. We have Jamie MacDonald and Janos Balogh in our squad, two goalkeepers who would get in most SPL teams, but Kello has been number one virtually since I came in."

Marius Zaliukas, the Hearts captain, was equally grateful to his Slovakian colleague. "We came here expecting a tough game and I think a draw is good enough from my point of view," he said. "Kello was good. Like I said last week, a good goalkeeper is like half of a team. How many clean sheets has he had this season? We try to win every single game but this one was most important not to lose and we didn't. Football is a 90-minute game so probably you could say we were a bit lucky. Marian did his job well. This year he is the top man."

Aberdeen's resurgence under Craig Brown ensured a repeat of the 5-0 scoreline last time these clubs met was never likely. However, the Pittodrie side have still yet to score against Hearts this season despite controlling play for much of Saturday's encounter.

"I'm biased but I think we probably did edge it in terms of play," said Brown. "Hearts came back in the second half but we had enough of the ball and had chances to win the match. It's greedy thinking we should win every game but particularly against a very good side. I'm pleased with the improvement and authority we displayed in the game.

"Hearts are a big strong team but the Aberdeen boys stood up well. That's our third successive clean sheet and I keep saying that if you don't lose goals, you don't lose games. We've now had three clean sheets in a week. It's a point against a very good side and I think we can accept that. Hearts can still challenge the top two and don't forget they were without a few key players."

That they were. They also lost Andy Webster after half an hour's play. He jarred his groin taking a free-kick and was replaced by Ismael Bouzid.

Likewise, Aberdeen saw a centre-back injured when the aforementioned McArdle suffered a badly cut forehead in a first-half aerial collision with Rudi Skacel. He departed for five stitches but returned to deliver an authoritative defensive display, despite having to leave the field several times to have blood cleaned away and his headband adjusted.

McArdle's head was probably pounding as he entered the post-match media conference, for everything which came his way he tenaciously headed clear. Jefferies' throat would certainly have been burning. The pain would have been worth it, for this was a well-earned point for all concerned.

Taken from the Scotsman