Relief for Hay as Dunfermline find a way past gallant Gordon

STUART BATHGATE AT EAST END PARK

Dunfermline 1 Nicholson (63)
Hearts 0
Referee: M Ritchie. Attendance: 5,883

A WIN which was far more emphatic than the scoreline suggests lifted Dunfermline off the bottom of the Bank of Scotland Premierleague table yesterday, bringing relief to their embattled manager Davie Hay. But for Craig Gordon, who saved a penalty and had several more outstanding saves, the Fife side would have scored three or four times against an understrength Hearts team who were almost inevitably showing a bit of a hangover from their UEFA Cup heroics in midweek.

Despite the pressure he had come under after failing to achieve a competitive victory since taking over at East End Park, Hay chose to keep faith with the players who had started the team’s last game, a draw with Motherwell. That decision was vindicated, as, while Gary Dempsey and Barry Nicholson supplied the finesse, the rest of the side all did their bit to contribute to the morale-boosting result. Craig Levein, by contrast, made six changes to his starting line-up. Steven Pressley and Mark de Vries were the most prominent names to be omitted from the squad, while four other members of the team which beat Braga 3-1 dropped to the bench - Paul Hartley, Alan Maybury, Patrick Kisnorbo and Joe Hamill.

Michael Stewart came in for his first start, while Neil Janczyk, Christophe Berra and Craig Sives started along with two players who had come off the bench in Thursday’s UEFA Cup tie, Dennis Wyness and Neil MacFarlane. Sives, making his league debut after playing so well in the Festival Cup a couple of weeks ago, was part of a defensive trio along with Berra and Andy Webster. Phil Stamp again played as a striker, this time alongside Wyness, as Levein opted for a 3-5-2 formation.

The relative inexperience of the Hearts side was not immediately obvious as both sides struggled to come to terms with the windy conditions. There was barely a shot on goal in the first half-hour, with the best effort in that time being a Craig Brewster shot-cum-cross right on the 30-minute mark which curled just past Gordon’s far post.

Moments later Stewart found himself in space but shot straight at Derek Stillie in the Dunfermline goal, then two minutes from half-time the same player shot over from a cutback by Neilson. The Hearts wing-back had seemed to be in a better position himself, even though he received the ball with his back to goal.

That was the closest the Edinburgh side came to breaking the deadlock in the opening half, and Neilson was also involved in Dunfermline’s best chance. A corner from Dempsey was headed towards the corner of the goal by Billy Mehmet, but Neilson headed the ball wide.

Those were brief moments of excitement in a torpid first half, and the game was in desperate need of something or someone to enliven it. That came within a minute of the restart when Dunfermline were awarded a penalty after Dempsey went down following contact with Berra. Dempsey took the kick himself, but Gordon dived to his right to pull off a fine save, and Neilson cleared the rebound.

Far from being dejected by the missed opportunity, the Fifers began to play with greater confidence. In the 50th minute Dempsey had another chance to open the scoring, but was again thwarted when Gordon blocked his shot.

Notwithstanding the Hearts goalkeeper’s form, it seemed to be only a matter of time before Dunfermline took the lead. Deciding it was better to shore up his side before they went behind rather than after, Levein made a double substitution, introducing Maybury for Sives and Hamill for Stamp. A few minutes later he withdrew the ineffectual Stewart, replacing him with Hartley.

With no other striker available to partner Wyness, the substitution of Stamp meant that Hearts were playing with a lone front man. They had also gone to a flat back four, Maybury and Neilson playing either side of the two remaining centre-backs.

Those alterations, however, were unable to stop Dunfermline taking the lead in the 63rd minute. Intercepting a Maybury pass up the right, Nicholson steadied himself with the first touch, then chipped over the retreating Gordon from around 30 yards. It could have been two five minutes later when Mehmet got a header in from just a few yards out, but Neilson was again there at Gordon’s right-hand post, this time hooking the ball clear. Hartley was then booked for a reckless tackle on Greg Shields as Hearts’ frustration showed.

By this time Dunfermline were playing with the confidence which their game had reportedly been lacking in previous weeks, and Dempsey in particular was causing all sorts of problems for the visitors. Another fine save by Gordon prevented the No12 from making it 2-0.

Hearts attempted a rally in the last quarter-hour, and twice within a minute Maybury had half-chances. The first, a shot, was gathered comfortably by Stillie, and the second, a lob on the run, drifted harmlessly over the bar.

At the end of the match Hearts mounted a mini-siege of Stillie’s goal, but came no closer to scoring what would have been an unmerited equaliser.

Dunfermline: Stillie, Shields, Wilson, Darren Young, Skerla, Thomson, Nicholson, Mason, Brewster (Butler 90), Dempsey, Mehmet. Subs not used: Langfield, Hunt, Donnelly, Tod, Labonte, McEwan.

Hearts: Gordon, Neilson, Sives (Maybury 56), Webster, Berra, McAllister, MacFarlane, Stewart (Hartley 60), Janczyk, Stamp (Hamill 56), Wyness. Subs not used: Moilanen, Kisnorbo, Elliot, Sloan.

Taken from the Scotsman