Snodin's vital strike for Hearts

RAY HEPBURN

1 Oct 1992

Hearts 4, Slavia Prague 2 (Aggregate: 4-3)

HEARTS' experienced midfield player Glyn Snodin waited until last night, at the tender age of 32, to take two significant moves forward.

The player released by Leeds United to join the Edinburgh team six months ago scored a UEFA Cup-tie winner -- his first club goal in his first European game.

The Edinburgh team deserved their success against a team packed with quality, but who rather predictably let themselves down with a lack of discipline.

Hearts were given an early reminder that Slavia were a team capable of breaking with menace when Petrous crossed from the right after four minutes.

Fortunately for the home players, Kuka had made his run too early and ended up in front of the ball.

But Hearts were soon fulfilling their promise to pressurise their opponents and both John Robertson and Eamonn Bannon reached the bye-line in the sixth minute only to see their cut-backs crowded out.

Ian Baird was the first Hearts player to find the target after eight minutes, when his diving header on the end of a Tosh McKinlay cross was too far out to trouble Janos.

The Slavia keeper had no such simple task in the eleventh minute, when Hearts took the lead.

Glyn Snodin sent Robertson clear on the right and when his centre came in Gary Mackay gathered the ball on the edge of the area and drilled his shot low into the net.

Hearts' joy was fairly brief.

The Prague side were playing at a terrific pace, although they needed some gamesmanship from Tatrchuk to take the concentration away from the Hearts defence.

He rolled around in apparent agony after having bumped into McKinlay before Necas took a corner.

His kick was aimed for the near post, where Penicka got the flick on for Jaroslav Silhavy to force the ball over the line.

However, Hearts were not in the mood to be denied and after 21 minutes they were back in front.

Bannon fed Robertson and then quickly accepted the return pass.

When the former Dundee United player's cross reached the near post, Ian Baird was in perfect position to head the ball down and into the net.

The vital third goal that pushed Hearts in front in the tie for the first time arrived three minutes from half-time.

After a Bannon corner on the left, Craig Levein was in perfect space eight yards out to glide his header in at the far post.

The visitors still seemed to be short on discipline and they paid the price in 58 minutes when Penicka, who had been booked in the first half, was shown the red card for a crunching tackle from behind on Baird.

In the sixty-fifth minute the 10-man Slavia side pulled themselves back into the tie.

Binic played a superbly weighted pass in front of Kuka deep in the Hearts penalty area and, after taking a couple of strides, the international striker chipped the ball over Henry Smith and into the far corner of the net.

Three minutes later, the same player scorned an obvious opportunity to kill the tie dead, when he was left in possession six yards out by Lerch's cross, but he somehow managed to lift the ball over the bar.

Lerch's clumsy challenge on Levein as the defender attacked down the Hearts' right had disastrous consequences for the Czech side.

The referee awarded the foul 25 yards out, and Snodin's shot flew into the roof of the net.

HEARTS -- Smith, Hogg, McKinlay, Levein, Mackay, van de Ven, Robertson, McLaren, Baird, Snodin, Bannon.

Substitutes -- Crabbe, I Ferguson, Wright, Wilson, Walker.

SLAVIA PRAGUE -- Janos, Petrous, Suchoparek, Silhavy, Juresko, Tatrchuk, Binic, Penicka, Kuka, Necas, Lerch.

Substitutes -- Berger, Bejbl, Novak, Prazenica, Vahala.

Referee -- R Larsson (Sweden).

Taken from the Herald