Hearts 3-1 Kilmarnock

Hearts turned in one of their more accomplished performances of the season yesterday when they came from a goal behind to comfortably defeat a physical Kilmarnock side by three to one.

As we’d suggested in the preview yesterday, Hearts’ opponents adopted similar spoiling tactics to those that had served them so well the last time these two sides met in Gorgie, and for a spell at least early in this game, it looked as though it could well have worked once again.

Killie started the match the hungrier and sharper of the two sides, and it wasn’t long before midfield villain Manual Pascali was up to his usual tricks, namely crunching cynically into opponents and then getting straight into the face of the referee to put pressure on him. It’s definitely a tactic that can work in Scotland given that we have so many weak referees, and the Spaniard got away with this on several occasions yesterday. How our own team could do with someone of this style….although perhaps we’d want our version to have just a tad more footballing ability.

Killie took the lead after eight minutes, and it was scored by a player who has always impressed me, Danny Invincible. It was as simple a goal as you’re likely to see and one which you’d have to point the finger at the static Hearts defence for in all honesty – the tiny and talented Mehdi Taouil jinked himself into space on the left wing and from his right-footed cross, Invincible stole in at the back post to direct a header past Balogh into the top left hand corner of the net. There’s an argument to say that Balogh himself could have been out for the cross to prevent the goal (the ‘keeper’s biggest weakness for me), but perhaps re-examination on TV will show this to be a harsh suggestion.

Thankfully Hearts responded swiftly and effectively. They were playing some good, crisp football in response to going a goal down, particularly down the left flank where Wallace, Driver and Elliot (making his first start of the season) were linking up well.

From one of several free-kicks earned from that area, Hearts drew level. A dangerously whipped-in ball from Bruno Aguiar was steered goalwards by Zaliukas – ‘keeper Combe did well to get down to beat it away, but it only went as far as Calum Elliot who bundled the rebound over the line. 1-1 and a great confidence boost for a player whose previous relationship with the Hearts support was less than idyllic.

Minutes later and Elliot further endeared himself to the fans with a beautifully well-taken second goal to put his side in front. Lee Wallace fired over a low cross from the left and Elliot seemingly arrived from nowhere to get in front of his marker and volley expertly into the corner of Combe’s net before the ‘keeper could even move. Was this the same Callum Elliot that we had all grown to know and er…..acknowledge…in the past few years?

It most definitely was, and his excellent contribution continued as half-time approached. Playing on his own up front was always going to be a difficult job for him, but Elliot put in possibly the best performance I’ve seen from a Hearts player in this role this season – his lay-offs were clever and generally either accurate or a few steps ahead of team-mates who weren’t expecting such an accomplished touch, while he won his fair share of balls in the air.

However there were still glimpses of the ‘old’ Elliot despite this greatly improved performance. Just before half-time, he started a great move with a nice flick that sent Andy Driver clear down the right. The winger got into position to cut the ball back to Elliot, who was on his own just inside the penalty area and he looked certain to complete a fine first half hat-trick, but instead badly dragged his shot wide of the target. Thankfully, instead of berating him for the miss as I’m sure the crowd would have done just a few short weeks ago, he was applauded for his efforts in starting the move in the first place instead. Amazing what a couple of goals will do for football fans isn’t it?

Half time 2-1

Hearts put the game pretty much out of sight shortly after the re-start.

Driver broke clear down the left and from his cut-back, Elliot’s latest attempt to get his hat-trick was blocked on the six-yard line. However the ball broke kindly to Bruno Aguiar, who gleefully buried the ball high into the net from close range. Right there and then you could literally see the fight disappearing from Kilmarnock – even Billy Brown on the visitors’ bench calmed down after that, and he cut a beleaguered, sad figure on the touchline for the remainder of the 90 minutes.

From this point onwards it really was just a case of how many, which was a situation that Hearts have scarcely been in this season. In all seriousness if the finishing hadn’t been so lax in the final half an hour or so, they really could have chalked up something approaching a cricket score, as the opposition really had chucked it by this stage.

The most obvious opportunity to increase the margin of victory came midway through the half when Hearts were awarded a penalty after Ryan O’Leary’s clumsy challenge on Elliot was penalised. The fans were chanting for Elliot to step up and complete his hat-trick, but instead it was Aguiar who took the kick, although to be fair to the Portuguese he did offer it to his team-mate who declined.

Aguiar’s kick was not the best struck penalty you’ll ever see, and it wasn’t the most accurate either as it came clattering back off Combe’s right-hand post. Let’s be thankful for small mercies though – at least the initial decision to award the kick was not overturned this time, and we actually got to see a Hearts player at least being able to take a penalty at the Gorgie Road end!

There was to be no more scoring on the day but as I’ve already mentioned a combination of complacency and bad luck prevented what could have easily been a much bigger victory for Hearts. Killie did have a couple of late chances to take some of the gloss off the result for the home side too, but in the end it was a very comfortable victory for Hearts which will have greatly aided their confidence as the finishing stretch of the season draws closer. For Calum Elliot in particular it will have done him the power of good, and we have to hope that he can now finally start to pick up from where he left off at the tail end of 2005 when he really did look like a decent prospect. He’s clearly a ‘confidence player’ and hopefully the fans now realise that and start to treat him the way that those types of people generally need to be in order for them to produce their best.

All in all, a very productive afternoon for our team, particularly in view of the other results that ensure that our lead over the pack in third place has now been extended to seven points.

Player Ratings

Balogh 5
Pretty quiet day for Balogh. I still place a question mark over his command of the penalty area though, and indeed this could well have cost us the first goal yesterday. Apart from that though, his handling was safe throughout whenever called upon.

Neilson 6
A pretty solid 90 from Robbie, who despite not having his most difficult afternoon was still able to give us a couple of real ‘Robbie moments’ to entertain us when boredom was setting in!

Wallace 7
Another fine performance from arguably our most consistent player now. Solid at the back and very regularly involved in our best moves going forward.

Zaliukas 7
Very solid performance – best I’ve seen him in quite a few months.

Karipidis 6
Steady if unspectacular. Partnership with Zaliukas looked good on the day, although that may have something to do with the poor quality of opposition.

Palazuelos 6
Typical Ruben performance – did nothing wrong but did little of any real note either. Kept things ticking quite well through the midfield though…

Stewart 6
Similar to Ruben really in that there wasn’t anything he did of any particular note that sticks in the memory. Did get stuck in though – really tried to mix it with the likes of Pascali.

Driver 7
Always dangerous, even if his final ball was often found wanting. The fact that he usually does take the ball with him on his pacy runs is a great asset for Hearts though – we always play much better going forward when he is in the team.

Obua 6
Drifted in and out of the game, but what he did do he did pretty well. Cultured whilst in possession – just wish he could get involved a bit more as he has a great left foot, as he showed a couple of times with fantastic whipped-in crosses.

Aguiar 7
Got a lot of stick from the guys around me for some reason, but even if he didn’t have the perfect game, he was still an important contributor for Hearts yesterday. Took several dangerous free-kicks, one of which was scored from, and was always an outlet for the defence. Took his goal well, although penalty wasn’t the greatest.

Elliot 8
Great all round performance. Clever lay-offs, good use of the ball in the air and two good ‘striker’s goals’. Just a pity he didn’t manage to crown his afternoon with the third goal that his play deserved.

Jonsson 3
Late sub.