Tynecastles in the Sky

Originally sent on 28th August after a 2 - 1 defeat of Motherwell


Right, i have decided - whilst this unbeaten run continues i will send a match report after each victory ( lets hope i am still sending you e-mails deep in to the winter and beyond ).
So here is this one

Hearts 2
Motherwell 1 ( pen )

So someone has scored against the mighty Jambo's, it was a soft penalty ofcourse. There were ten minutes left and Hearts were cruising at 2 - 0. The game should have / could have been buried long before this with Hearts front line squandering a barrow load of chances.
As it ended up Hearts hung on at the end and it was only a fantastic save from Craig Gordan ( Scotland's #1 ) with the last action of the game, that allowed us to take all 3 points.
It doesn't take long, teams watch and see and gain respect and fear, Motherwell had done their homework -
They doubled up on Rudi Skacell - ( 21 year old czech internationalist on loan for the season from Marseille ). The more i see this guy the more i think it is him that is making the team tick. He plays on the left of midfield in front of Takiss Fyassas ( 32 year old stallwart left back for Greece, played in all games during their glorious Euro championship last year - This guy is pure quality, not the fastest any more but i have never seen a left back for Hearts look so much like a midfielder for Ajax ).
Motherwell played with that 'first to every ball' attitude that we love so much in dreich January derbies. If they didn't get to the ball first then they took the man second.
So in short it was tough to make headway, in the first 40 minutes or so - until. Motherwell make the mistake of trying to score - would you believe it - they tried to score against Hearts, at Tynecastle no less. They failed ofcourse and a slick counter involving 3 players, 3 single touches, 3 passes along the carpet and Rudi Skacell is bearing down on goal to slam the ball under the keeper 1 - 0
A couple more chances before half time go a begging but the most notable point is - Rudi gets injured!!! Good god no, the stretcher comes on and he gets strapped in. A collective breath hold. The moment the stretcher is off the pitch tho Rudi jumps of the stretcher and limbers up a bit ( he comes back out of the tunnel at the start of the 2nd half ) The collective breathe again, this is not easy, have you ever tried holding your breath for the whole of a half time, our faces were the same colour as our shirts.
Hearts dominate the next half hour with what must be 70% possession, we must have created a half dozen chances without success until a storming run down the left by Hartley a cut back to the near post. Jankauskus ( 6ft3 centre forward ex Porto, champions league winners medal in his back pocket ) collects the ball 6 yards out, two claret defenders around him. I don't know how he done it! he rolled the ball forward stepped over it and slammed the ball into the top of the net 2 - 0 and the party starts again.
That should have been it but Hearts went to sleep a bit and allowed Motherwell, still working hard, back into the game. ( The first game of the season they played Celtic and from 2 - 0 nil down went into a 4 - 2 lead, in the end it was 4 - 4 but still 2 - 0 down with 10 minutes left is not an unnassailable deficit for the steel men).
They got their penalty and could have sneaked a draw.
This i think is more like reality for this season, the weather was a bit nastier than it has been - windy and bits of rain here and there. Hearts at Tynecastle are faced with grinding out results against well organised, tough opposition playing for the draw from the off.

Meanwhile Hibs get a stunning 3 - 0 smash and grab victory at Ibrox - Hearts are now 6 points ahead of Rangers and 8 points ahead of Celtic ( play later today ), 5 ahead of Hibs and Kilmarnock. It is all very interesting. Two away games now - Livingston we should win by a mile and Inverness - much tougher but still think we can come away with the points.
So 7 games and 21 points in the bag when Rangers come to Tynecastle in a month?
If this carries on into a real challenge my nerves will be toast.