There hasn`t been much in the way of positive news coming from Tynecastle in recent weeks, so it was especially good to see the players produce a very good performance today to beat a Dunfermline side who seemed to lack belief in their ability to play at this level.
The visitors did force a good early save from Marian Kello, but fell behind when a Black corner from the right was knocked back across goal by McGowan for Stephen Elliott to react well to fire in from close range.
Zaliukas managed to miss the target twice when presented with a free header at corners, before Taoiul scored a well crafter goal. Lovely play between Elliott, McGowan and Templeton on the left allowed the young Australian to slip the ball to Taouil on the edge of the box, and his shot deceived Gallagher to put Hearts 2-0 up.
David Templeton missed a couple of good chances before scoring a third midway through the 2nd half, after Black and McGowan gained possession from the visitors as they attempted to break from their own box. Templeton cut inside from the left and placed the ball into Gallagher`s left-hand corner.
The Dunfermline keeper stopped further shots from Mrowiec and Stevenson, but Rudi Skacel pounced on the rebound from the latter`s effort to head a forth goal.
Hearts` domination and clever passing should have resulted in an even more emphatic win – however a 4 goal win in the current financial gloom was most welcome.
Top performers were Ryan McGowan, Scott Robinson and Mehdi Taouil – with Ian Black and Jamie Hamill also contributing well.
Motherwell next week will be much stronger opponents, and we don`t have a good record against them in recent seasons. It will take a very focused and athletic performance from Hearts live with the Lanarkshire men.
Meanwhile, it seems that Andrew Driver may have sealed his own fate by apparently deciding that his future lies away from Tynecastle. We had such high hopes for him in these last 3 years, but a series of injuries and some indifferent performances have definitely hindered his development. However I can`t blame him for wanting to try his luck elsewhere, given the financial uncertainty plus the reluctance of Paulo Sergio to pick him. We can only hope that a club makes a decent offer for him in January, since he is likely to be one of the highest paid players at Tynecastle.
Janos Balogh, Callum Elliot, Jason Thomson, Gary Glen and Jonathan Stewart are earmarked to leave the club now or in January – with more sure to follow – as the club make a long overdue attempt to bring the wage bill down to a realistic level.
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