HAMMY: GOAL WAS FOR BIG LEISH

JIM HAMILTON dedicated Dunfermline's draw at Tynecastle to former boss Jim Leishman â€" but refused to be drawn on whether he'd used his hand to net them a point.

Hamilton's equaliser early in the second half was surrounded in controversy with Hearts keeper Craig Gordon (right) furious with the officials for allowing it to stand.

But in a testing week which started with a drubbing at the hands of Hibs and also saw Leishman stand down as boss, Hamilton was relieved to get a result in Edinburgh. Asked if he'd used a hand to knock the ball over the line, though, Hammy said: "Who knows? It went in and I'll take the goal.

"That's me off the mark now and I'd take anything. I think we deserved to take something from the game We battled our corner and had some good chances to snatch a win.

"It's not been a good week for us with the Hibs defeat and it's not nice when a manager loses his job.

"Jim was Mr Dunfermline and it wasn't nice when he walked in on Thursday and told us the news.

"He's an emotional person and it was hard to see him the way he was. A bit of this was doing it for him but we must do it for ourselves as well."

Hamilton also had a goal chopped off for offside in the second half but he said: "I've never been offside in my life, I've not got the pace for that! "Seriously, it was one of those things.

The ball came across, I put it in the net and then debated it but the linesman had a good view. Last week losing 4-0 to Hibs was as low as we could have been and there was professional pride at stake so the boys deserve major credit.

"We took a point from Rangers at East End Park earlier in the season and this was as good a result but we need to play like this every week."

Hamilton also dismissed Vladimir Romanov's threat to axe the entire Hearts team if they failed to beat Pars. He said: "With the things he comes out with is it really a surprise?

"We just took it with a pinch of salt and prepared as normal."

Taken from the Sunday Mail