Ok, the next installment begins with an apology for missing last weeks update. The truth is i am just finding it hard to get excited or motivated - why on earth should that be, we beat Motherwell 3 - 0 for crying out loud and the game saw the return of two of our more celebrated players, to help us think that things may be going to get better very soon. Even more, if you handed any Hearts fan this season so far at the start of it all, to a man we would have bitten your hand off, so why should i feel a lack of motivation to keep this going.
Confessions, i think we just expect too much, have been spoiled into thinking we have some devine right to annihilate the opposition every time they turn up at Tynecastle. Now who does that remind us of i wonder?- those buggers have had decades of dominance and the knowledge that they have dwarfed the rest of us for a time spanning 3 centuries now, and we mump and moan about their arrogance and the devine right to win that they think they have. It feels symptomatic, i just accepted the 3 - 0 defeat of Motherwell as matter of fact ( in truth it was pretty uninspiring in any case ), it is a week later now and i am thinking hard to remember the goals, i will get there.
So how come i am inspired to right some stuff down this week? cos i am inspired alright! I am packed to the windaes with sporting superlatives and literary juice to match ( maybe not quite enough for a beach towel but not far off it ). This was cup week, we are through to the semi final without having really broken sweat yet or having to step outside of Gorgie either. But that is not why i am so full of it today. No, what went on yesterday evening just blew me away, blew away all the maroon fog of reliance on HMFC to make me stand up and shout.
SCOTLAND 18 - ENGLAND 12
That was the most fantastic performance by a Scottish rugby team that i have seen in years, 1990, 2000?
Scotland absolutely nailed England in every respect on every inch of Murrayfield last night - save for a very ropey lineout we were unbelievable. Scotland out-fought, out-thought, out-ran, out-played and in the end out-shone their southern counterparts from the first minute to the last. The stats are supposedly outrageous too - apparently Scotland made 112 tackles and missed just 6 of them, that doesn't tell the whole story tho it doesn't bring home the bone shattering force of every one of those 112 hits.
It has always been the case, as long as i have taken notice, that when we match up against the auld enemy we give away some pounds per man in the pack. My limited understanding of this game for mentalists aside, that always seemed like an unfair advantage to me - like Marvin Hagler meets Mike Tyson. This time round it was worse, the English just keep getting bigger. They were a full stone a man heavier than us. So the perceived wisdom is - eventually the heavier pack will grind down and wear out their smaller opponents and that is the story of England's 6 nations so far this year. The opposition are in touch with them until the last 20 minutes of the game, then the English power superiority starts to pay dividends and they run away with the game scoring most of their points in that last quarter.
So at half time after the English had owned the ball for the last 30 minutes and had pummelled and bashed against a solid Scottish defence, you could be forgiven for thinking that the second half would be more of the same eventually leading to the innevitable English tries and Scottish gallant defeat - well think again - we made them think again.
The Scottish teams defensive performance had the curious effect of wearing down the heavier opposition, but more we wore down their thought processes and their belief in themselves. As sure as the sun comes up each day the game was turned by degrees in Scotland's favour. By half way through the second half the English attack had run out of ideas and ability to cross the gain line and Scotland's running play was forcing penalties, which we were converting. A drop goal set the seal on a passage of play and forced home the fact that we not only could but probably would win this one. I would have been quite happy to report on a valiant Scottish pack holding on desperately to snatch a narrow win from under the noses of the superior English but that wouldn't be the truth. In the end Scotland were as likely to score as the English were and ran out well deserving winners.
It has been many years since i have gotten excited about Scotland and the six nations, i remember when i used to spend Saturday afternoons in the pub watching great games ( and many a mental night followed ), some we lost and some we won but we always thought we could win. That belief has been gone for a while now from Scottish rugby, this and the earlier victory against France might just bring those days back - that would be fantastic.
So back to the football -
3 - 0 against Motherwell last weekend.
A storming run down the left and cross to the near post was parried by the keeper only for Jankauskas to pounce on the loose bal and slam it into the top of the net. This came immediately after Motherwell hit the post, with Craig Gordon stranded. Hearts were 1-0 up after 7 minutes. Not so long after we were 2 - 0 up, quite similar only the cross came from the right this time and the ball came all the way out to past the 18 yard line. Jankauskas again, he started this move passing out to the right from a midfield position. He had just kept jogging toward the box and did not have to break his stride when the ball came back out his way - he just melted it into the top right hand side of the net. It was a screamer. So the famous Tynecastle mauling for the next half an hour i think, but no we are not really ticking just now. The disruptions of January and early February are still flowing through the team i think.
Motherwell kept plugging away and probably deserved something out of the game but the nail came with a neat move through their midfield and back four that saw Callum Elliot in one of those chases for the ball that can go one of three ways.
The keeper rushing out just gets there before the attacker and manages to smother the ball or launch it up the park.
The desperate defender brings down the attacker, penalty and sent off
or
The attacker gets there just in front of the keeper and deftly clips the ball over his head and into the empty net - Elliot accomplished this with great aplomb.
Still when all is said and done we made heavy weather of a 3 - 0 gubbing.
So to the cup game, Partick Thistle at Tynecastle. They were in the Premier League just a couple of seasons ago but have fallen badly and are now stuck in the second division. Looked like there were divisions between the two when Hartley crossed for Jankauskas to head in after only 3 minutes. So you would be forgiven once again for thinking - here we go, this one will be over by half time. Not a bit of it a combination of a pretty sloppy game by Hearts and Partick indulging in their cup final meant that Partick were always in this and should really have gotten a draw out of it. A cracking effort by Cesnauskis which reminded me of a goal Kenny Dalgleish scored against Spain at Hampden in the qualifiers for the 86 world cup - i was behind the goals at the time watching King Kenny curl the ball into the top left corner - you know i think that is the last time i have gone to a Scotland game? Maybe Cesnauskis hit the ball in a bit straighter and with more venom than Dalgleish's glorious curling effort but other than that they were pretty much the same thing.
Bednar had come on as part of his recuperation from long term injury but got booked after a couple of minutes and red carded ten minutes later for diving in the box - it was pretty hard to see but i think he took a dive the fanny.
So twenty minutes left and we are 2 up and down to ten men, Partick throw everything they had at us and went 5 up, a decent Hearts performance would have picked them off on the break but we were pretty poor and struggled just to keep possession.
A great solo effort ended in Partick scoring a well deserved goal and the stage was set for Hearts to hold on desperately in the end.
So we are through all be it with no glory, who cares really. I have made my mind up that i will be satisfied with nothing less than tanking Hibs in the final. So Hibs beat Falkirk 5 - 1, excellent, we must avoid each other in the semi's tho.
Confessions, i think we just expect too much, have been spoiled into thinking we have some devine right to annihilate the opposition every time they turn up at Tynecastle. Now who does that remind us of i wonder?- those buggers have had decades of dominance and the knowledge that they have dwarfed the rest of us for a time spanning 3 centuries now, and we mump and moan about their arrogance and the devine right to win that they think they have. It feels symptomatic, i just accepted the 3 - 0 defeat of Motherwell as matter of fact ( in truth it was pretty uninspiring in any case ), it is a week later now and i am thinking hard to remember the goals, i will get there.
So how come i am inspired to right some stuff down this week? cos i am inspired alright! I am packed to the windaes with sporting superlatives and literary juice to match ( maybe not quite enough for a beach towel but not far off it ). This was cup week, we are through to the semi final without having really broken sweat yet or having to step outside of Gorgie either. But that is not why i am so full of it today. No, what went on yesterday evening just blew me away, blew away all the maroon fog of reliance on HMFC to make me stand up and shout.
SCOTLAND 18 - ENGLAND 12
That was the most fantastic performance by a Scottish rugby team that i have seen in years, 1990, 2000?
Scotland absolutely nailed England in every respect on every inch of Murrayfield last night - save for a very ropey lineout we were unbelievable. Scotland out-fought, out-thought, out-ran, out-played and in the end out-shone their southern counterparts from the first minute to the last. The stats are supposedly outrageous too - apparently Scotland made 112 tackles and missed just 6 of them, that doesn't tell the whole story tho it doesn't bring home the bone shattering force of every one of those 112 hits.
It has always been the case, as long as i have taken notice, that when we match up against the auld enemy we give away some pounds per man in the pack. My limited understanding of this game for mentalists aside, that always seemed like an unfair advantage to me - like Marvin Hagler meets Mike Tyson. This time round it was worse, the English just keep getting bigger. They were a full stone a man heavier than us. So the perceived wisdom is - eventually the heavier pack will grind down and wear out their smaller opponents and that is the story of England's 6 nations so far this year. The opposition are in touch with them until the last 20 minutes of the game, then the English power superiority starts to pay dividends and they run away with the game scoring most of their points in that last quarter.
So at half time after the English had owned the ball for the last 30 minutes and had pummelled and bashed against a solid Scottish defence, you could be forgiven for thinking that the second half would be more of the same eventually leading to the innevitable English tries and Scottish gallant defeat - well think again - we made them think again.
The Scottish teams defensive performance had the curious effect of wearing down the heavier opposition, but more we wore down their thought processes and their belief in themselves. As sure as the sun comes up each day the game was turned by degrees in Scotland's favour. By half way through the second half the English attack had run out of ideas and ability to cross the gain line and Scotland's running play was forcing penalties, which we were converting. A drop goal set the seal on a passage of play and forced home the fact that we not only could but probably would win this one. I would have been quite happy to report on a valiant Scottish pack holding on desperately to snatch a narrow win from under the noses of the superior English but that wouldn't be the truth. In the end Scotland were as likely to score as the English were and ran out well deserving winners.
It has been many years since i have gotten excited about Scotland and the six nations, i remember when i used to spend Saturday afternoons in the pub watching great games ( and many a mental night followed ), some we lost and some we won but we always thought we could win. That belief has been gone for a while now from Scottish rugby, this and the earlier victory against France might just bring those days back - that would be fantastic.
So back to the football -
3 - 0 against Motherwell last weekend.
A storming run down the left and cross to the near post was parried by the keeper only for Jankauskas to pounce on the loose bal and slam it into the top of the net. This came immediately after Motherwell hit the post, with Craig Gordon stranded. Hearts were 1-0 up after 7 minutes. Not so long after we were 2 - 0 up, quite similar only the cross came from the right this time and the ball came all the way out to past the 18 yard line. Jankauskas again, he started this move passing out to the right from a midfield position. He had just kept jogging toward the box and did not have to break his stride when the ball came back out his way - he just melted it into the top right hand side of the net. It was a screamer. So the famous Tynecastle mauling for the next half an hour i think, but no we are not really ticking just now. The disruptions of January and early February are still flowing through the team i think.
Motherwell kept plugging away and probably deserved something out of the game but the nail came with a neat move through their midfield and back four that saw Callum Elliot in one of those chases for the ball that can go one of three ways.
The keeper rushing out just gets there before the attacker and manages to smother the ball or launch it up the park.
The desperate defender brings down the attacker, penalty and sent off
or
The attacker gets there just in front of the keeper and deftly clips the ball over his head and into the empty net - Elliot accomplished this with great aplomb.
Still when all is said and done we made heavy weather of a 3 - 0 gubbing.
So to the cup game, Partick Thistle at Tynecastle. They were in the Premier League just a couple of seasons ago but have fallen badly and are now stuck in the second division. Looked like there were divisions between the two when Hartley crossed for Jankauskas to head in after only 3 minutes. So you would be forgiven once again for thinking - here we go, this one will be over by half time. Not a bit of it a combination of a pretty sloppy game by Hearts and Partick indulging in their cup final meant that Partick were always in this and should really have gotten a draw out of it. A cracking effort by Cesnauskis which reminded me of a goal Kenny Dalgleish scored against Spain at Hampden in the qualifiers for the 86 world cup - i was behind the goals at the time watching King Kenny curl the ball into the top left corner - you know i think that is the last time i have gone to a Scotland game? Maybe Cesnauskis hit the ball in a bit straighter and with more venom than Dalgleish's glorious curling effort but other than that they were pretty much the same thing.
Bednar had come on as part of his recuperation from long term injury but got booked after a couple of minutes and red carded ten minutes later for diving in the box - it was pretty hard to see but i think he took a dive the fanny.
So twenty minutes left and we are 2 up and down to ten men, Partick throw everything they had at us and went 5 up, a decent Hearts performance would have picked them off on the break but we were pretty poor and struggled just to keep possession.
A great solo effort ended in Partick scoring a well deserved goal and the stage was set for Hearts to hold on desperately in the end.
So we are through all be it with no glory, who cares really. I have made my mind up that i will be satisfied with nothing less than tanking Hibs in the final. So Hibs beat Falkirk 5 - 1, excellent, we must avoid each other in the semi's tho.
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