Jankauskas finds feet at Hampden

STEPHEN HALLIDAY
AT HAMPDEN PARK

Queen's Park 0
Hearts 2 Jankauskas (16, 45)
Referee: E Smith
Attendance: 2,429

HEARTS eased their way into the third round of the CIS Insurance Cup with a victory and performance which lacked the frills of their scintillating surge clear at the top of the SPL but nonetheless provided plenty to satisfy manager George Burley.

Edgaras Jankauskas scored both goals, his first for the club, to subdue a Queen's Park outfit who to their credit never looked likely to succumb to the kind of heavy defeat many had predicted. Burley made no fewer than eight changes to the side which had defeated Aberdeen on Saturday to take a three-point lead in the championship and it was a calculated risk which only rarely looked like backfiring on him. Injuries sustained by Michal Pospisil and Neil MacFarlane would be Burley's main concern and those left on the sidelines can expect to return en masse against Motherwell this weekend.

Goalkeeper Craig Gordon, captain for the night Andy Webster and striker Jankauskas were the only three players to retain their place in the starting line-up on an evening Burley hoped would deliver more than simply an anticipated place in the third round of the tournament.

While the opportunity to assess the capabilities of Gary Tierney, Christophe Berra and Lee Wallace, who combined with Webster to form an exceptionally young back four, was valuable for the manager, he would also be keen to see Jankauskas improve his level of match fitness which has so far prevented the former Porto player from displaying his best form in a maroon jersey.

After an opening 15 minutes which saw the energetic home side prevent their goalkeeper David Crawford from being called into any kind of serious action, the big Lithuanian duly made the breakthrough when he took advantage of Queen's Park's first serious defensive error. Andy McGinty gave the ball away cheaply to Stephen Simmons on the edge of the penalty area and when Crawford could only parry the midfielder's well-struck shot, Jankauskas pounced to guide home his first goal for Hearts from close range.

He was unfortunate not to add a second just four minutes later, rising to powerfully meet Jamie McAllister's corner, only for his header to be cleared off the line by Ross Clark. Jankauskas then cut inside from the right but drove a shot rather wildly over the top.

Pospisil was making his first starting appearance alongside Jankauskas but the Czech striker's evening ended in frustration when he was forced to limp off after just 24 minutes, replaced by young Calum Elliot. The substitute was quick to become involved and clever link-up play with McAllister set up another chance for Jankauskas, who contrived to miss the ball completely from a few yards out.

Burley, who had moved from a seat in the stand to prowl the technical area as his team failed to build on their goal, suffered a further disruption to his plans five minutes before half-time when MacFarlane, back in the side against one of his former clubs, suffered an injury and was replaced by Paul Hartley.

The first thing the Scotland midfielder saw as he raced onto the field was his international team-mate Gordon making a magnificent save to turn McGinty's close-range header over the crossbar after a free-kick from veteran midfielder Paul Harvey had caught out the Hearts defence. Tony Quinn blazed a shot over from Harvey's subsequent corner but, just as they looked set to reach the interval revitalised, the home team conceded a second goal on the stroke of half-time.

Clark failed to cut out McAllister's low cross from the left, the ball making its way to Jankauskas at the back post and his shot was deflected beyond Crawford by the unfortunate McGinty.

Deividas Cesnauskis has been a peripheral figure in the early days of the Burley reign and the Lithuanian midfielder struggled here to make the kind of positive impression on the manager he would have hoped for, too often taking one touch too many in promising positions. He came close with a well-struck 22-yard shot which flew narrowly wide of Crawford's right-hand post but Hearts, despite being totally dominant in terms of possession, found most of their forward advances foundering on the edge of the home penalty area as they looked to add to their tally in the second half.

Jankauskas, tiring as a satisfying shift wore on, left the field 16 minutes from time to loud applause from the travelling supporters as he was replaced by Saulius Mikoliunas. The doggedness of Queen's Park had ensured Hearts were never able to enter a comfort zone and Mark Ferry twice came close to snatching a goal which would have made life truly edgy for the SPL leaders.

Taken from the Scotsman