Hearts 2-1 Falkirk

After 16 minutes of this match the old phrase ‘be careful what you wish for’ was floating around in my head, and I probably wasn’t the only one.

Hearts had won their previous three matches 1-0 but had failed to inspire their supporters in the process, and many of us were clamouring for some slightly more enterprising play to go with the positive results.

So how ironic then, that arguably their best opening to a match since the first of the season against Motherwell should coincide with our visitors Falkirk opening the scoring after 16 minutes!

Hearts really did start this game very well, and their performance in that first period really did have shades of the Motherwell and St Mirren games at Tynecastle earlier in the season about them.

However despite creating a few decent openings that gave us the impression that it would only be a matter of time before they’d take the lead, Falkirk went on a rare raid up the field and scored a quickfire goal on the break.

From a Hearts point of view it was a disappointing goal to lose – a simple enough ball through the middle from Craig Higdon cut the defence open

nd Steve Lovell found himself bearing down on ‘keeper Janos Balogh. Balogh came charging out of his penalty area in an attempt to get to the ball before Lovell, but the striker got his toe to it a fraction of a second before Balogh clattered into him, and he got just enough contact on it to put his side into the lead. To be honest it was possibly a good thing for Hearts that the ball did go in, as I could have seen Balogh being sent off for the late challenge!

Thankfully Hearts were able to bounce back quickly from this setback, and from a softly awarded free-kick 25 yards from the Falkirk goal, Bruno Aguiar continued his fine comeback with a well-struck free-kick that, although it went into the top corner, Falkirk goalkeeper Flinders will be disappointed he didn’t save having gotten a good hand to the ball on its way in.

The remainder of the first half saw Hearts continuing to do most of the pressing, but with very little end product to report.

Half time 1-1

The second half started in controversy when referee Eddie Smith inexplicably booked Lee Wallace for an innocuous challenge on the halfway line. Considering the challenges that had gone unpunished before it, the decision was extraordinarily harsh, and the ref made a rod for his own back there and then as every subsequent back tackle that went unpunished saw him receiving stick from the crowd. They never learn do they?

Andy Driver was starting to find some form and went on a couple of excellent runs down the left wing, with the main problem tending to be a lack of support for him when he arrived in good positions to deliver a cross.

However from one such run he did find help from Hristos Karipidis on the edge of the area. Driver found him with his cutback, and the Greek moved onto his left side and fired an angled drive just wide of the post.

Driver was unsettling Falkirk though and he eventually made them pay for some slack play at the back when he dispossessed a defender just inside the Falkirk half and weaved his way past two challenges, rounded the ‘keeper and stroked it into the empty net right on the hour mark. It was a fine goal by Driver – probably the best of its kind at Tynecastle in quite some time – and great reward for some excellent attacking play. I should point out though, that Christian Nade was in line to get his erse kicked for not running through in support of Driver – if he had then a simple sideways pass would have resulted in a certain goal, rather than Driver having to beat the final defender and the goalkeeper. Still, let’s focus on the great goal instead!

Right after the goal Csaba Laszlo then made what I thought was a strange substitution when he took of Eggert Jonsson and replaced him with David Obua. This meant that Driver had to switch from a position where he’d been doing all the damage to make way for Obua, and I found this puzzling as for me Jonsson hadn’t been doing too badly out there. It seemed a bit of a waste of a sub to me, but then that’s not the first time I’ve had cause to say that about Csaba.

Hearts then threatened to do what they did against Hamilton and drop back a little to invite their opponents onto them, but thankfully this only seemed to last around ten minutes instead of the entire remainder of the match, and generally in the later stages Hearts were still the side who were looking more likely to score.

All in all you have to be satisfied with this from a Hearts point of view. It was always going to be a difficult fixture for us so the result was obviously pleasing, but there were a few positives out on the field too that bode well for the weeks ahead, most notably the performances of Driver, Berra and once again Aguiar.

Next week sees us hosting Rangers on the back of four straight victories, and although there are those who say that the Old Firm are now miles ahead of the rest, another Hearts win there will see the gap reduced to a mere seven points between second and third. Should we even be thinking in those terms…..?!

Player Ratings

Balogh 5
Still not completely convincing, although did steady up as the match progressed. Probably quite fortunate that Lovell scored when he did as he may have been sent off for going through him whilst outside his area in the challenge – also didn’t feel he shouted enough to his defence when coming off his line.

Neilson 6
There were a few typical ‘Robbie moments’ displaying ultra-limited ability, but the team definitely looked more solid with him starting at right-back. Generally steady enough.

Wallace 6
Started the game extremely well in an attacking sense, with his perseverence helping to set up a couple of good openings. Involvement faded as the match went on but he’s definitely playing much better now.

Berra 7
His recent good form continued yesterday, when he turned in another solid performance at the back. Also made a couple of good surges forward after cutting out passes. One thing he could do with improving upon are his headers in the opposition penalty box – he gets on the end of set-pieces but rarely gets much force behind the ball.

Zaliukas 5
Had a couple of real horror moments that nearly cost Hearts goals when being sloppy on the edge of his own penalty area, but got marginally better as the game went on.

Karipidis 6
Generally solid in the middle of the park, without ever being overly influential. Nearly scored a fine goal with left foot early into second half though.

Palazuelos 6
Performed better than he did the last couple of times I’ve seen him – even managed to win a tackle on one occasion!

Jonsson 5
Looked more comfortable in midfield than full-back, and although he made mistakes was still good to have out there for his energy alone. Strangely subbed after an hour.

Driver 8
Came onto a great game in the second half, when he was able to use his pace to devastating effect. Some great runs, with his solo goal being one of the best at Tynie in quite a while. Not quite as effective when inexplicably switched to the right though.

Aguiar 6
Once again he was the man who always looked most likely to create something from the centre. Drifted in and out of the game but made a few telling contributions, most notably his equaliser in the first half.

Nade 6
Put a decent shift in without possibly getting as much return a he deserved. The one time he WAS lazy was when Driver burst through to score – he should have helped out his team-mate but thankfully Driver managed it all on his own – if he hadn’t then Nade was getting dog’s abuse!

Obua 5
Actually did reasonably well in the left midfield position when he came on, but obviously lacked the dynamic creativity of Driver who was moved across to the right.