Pressley hits right note for Levein

TOUCH and go for Hearts at Dens Park. A penalty converted by Steven Pressley with just seven minutes remaining was enough to give the visitors the points at the start of a season when they hope to challenge the Old Firm.
Referee Craig Thomson had a split second to decide if Dundee goalkeeper Derek Soutar had made contact with Ramon Pereira when he dived at the Spaniard’s feet in the box. To be fair to the official he pointed immediately to the spot; even more tellingly, Dundee manager Jim Duffy didn’t make an issue of it.

“It looked a wee bit harsh,” said Duffy, “but I suppose it was a relatively easy decision for the referee. I’m not going to complain about it.”

If for no other reason Pereira deserved the decision for his hard work throughout the match, and Hearts manager Craig Levein was also pleased with the contribution of midfielder Joe Hamill, who supplied the through ball which led to the penalty. Hamill came on to a strong game in the second half when he moved in off his wing, and Levein said: “It’s the best he has played for Hearts, but that’s just a taster of what’s to come.”

The manager admitted he was slightly apprehensive when Pressley, who had missed two penalties in pre-season, stepped forward for what proved to be the winner. “He told me in the dressing room he only scores the ones that count,” beamed Levein.

It was a reasonable start for Hearts, and Levein declared himself happy to be returning to Edinburgh with all three points. Duffy, naturally, was aggrieved that his side hadn’t held on for a point, blaming a lapse in concentration for the goal, but the outcome was hardly unjust.

Nevertheless, one of the biggest impediments to Hearts finishing above the rest of the pack for the third season running is their lack of an out-and-out scorer, and with Mark de Vries still suffering from a hamstring pull, Graham Weir was given the chance to partner new signing Pereira up front.

Dundee, having to find yet another new side, had a second former Raith Rovers striker, John Sutton, alongside Steve Lovell in a physical partnership, but it was their Hearts’ counterparts who enjoyed the best of the chances in a first half otherwise fought out in midfield.

Although Brent Sancho, in particular, and Bobby Mann looked composed at the centre of Dundee’s defence, Weir and Pereira could both have scored in the opening 15 minutes. The former accepted a pass from his fellow striker in the box but saw his shot saved by Soutar’s foot, while on the quarter hour a fine Pereira volley smacked against the Dundee bar and out to safety.

This was a promising opening, but a false one as a dour midfield battle ensued. Hearts, with their more settled personnel, were the more fluent of the two sides, but with Alan Maybury much less effective at left back than he is on the right, and neither Phil Stamp nor Hamill providing any penetration on the flanks, the young Dundee side were able to keep Hearts’ possession to a minimal threat level.

Despite having the best midfielder in the opening 45 minutes in Garry Brady, the home side were unable to trouble Craig Gordon in the Hearts goal. Sutton looked to resemble Celtic’s Chris in physical appearance only, leaving Lovell with the thankless task of trying to get the better of Pressley and Andy Webster, the latter making a surprise early recovery from his back injury.

Hearts, through the tireless Pereira and Weir, had a couple of half chances to put their side ahead, but it was no surprise that the teams went into the interval without either net having been rippled.

The main question at the start of the second half was when Michael Stewart would be deployed to bring some genuine class to the midfield proceedings, but in the first minute Dundee’s Neil Jablonski nearly upset Hearts’ applecart. The midfielder, along with right back Calum Macdonald, had enjoyed a good first half, and with the teams just settling back into their stride he at last tested Gordon with a powerful shot which the goalkeeper saved.

In his match programme notes Duffy had observed: “A lot of very talented players have left the club, but it’s the badge on the front of the jersey and not the name on the back which is paramount.”

Positive thinking from the Dundee manager, but as the second half progressed and his team were pinned back the size of the job facing him in the next nine months was all too apparent.

Although Hearts remained impotent in front of goal, Hamill, Paul Hartley and Robbie Neilson were combining well and depriving Dundee of possession, while Pereira continued to shape up as a player who will be a big asset once he beds in. The Spaniard set up a chance for Stamp, who looked far from match fit, which Soutar saved, and then the keeper, who is finally getting his chance at Dens after Julian Speroni’s departure, saved a Neilson 25-yarder.

Stewart finally came on with 17 minutes remaining and again impressed with his speed of thought and movement. But Hearts looked like being deprived of the winning start they craved before Hamill slipped the ball to Pereira in the box and the Spaniard won the vital penalty with just seven minutes left.

08 August 2004

Taken from the Sunday Herald