Paul Hartley scored twice as Hearts
edged past Kilmarnock to reach the quarter finals of the CIS Cup.
With 15 minutes gone Hartley drove the ball through a crowd of
players from 25 yards to give the hosts the interval advantage their
pressure deserved.
Hartley shot home his second goal after 51 minutes but Killie winger
Peter Leven drew one back from the edge of the penalty area three
minutes later.
The visitors pushed for an equaliser but Hearts held on to secure the
win.
Hearts started well and in the fifth minute a Robbie Neilson cross
was pushed away by Killie keeper Alan Combe, but only to Patrick
Kisnorbo 16 yards from goal.
The Australian's goal-bound effort was blocked, but the ball fell
kindly to Mark de Vries only five yards out, but the striker put the
ball over the bar.
When the opening goal arrived it owed a little to luck.
A Jamie McAllister corner to the edge of the box was missed
completely by Joe Hamill and Hartley slammed home a powerful drive
through a wall of players.
On 37 minutes, Dennis Wyness shot from the edge of the box after a
good interchange with Hamill but his low drive was well held Combe.
The home side looked to be coasting in the 52nd minute when they
scored a well-worked second goal.
A cross-field pass from substitute Robert Sloan was cushioned into
the path of Hartley by Hamill.
And the midfielder took just one touch before confidently knocking
the ball past Combe from 12 yards.
Kilmarnock looked down and out but, four minutes later, the Ayrshire
men pulled a goal back when Peter Leven
got beyond the Jambos defence, picked up an Allan Johnston pass and
drove home an angled shot from 14 yards.
The home side had lost impetus going forward and Kilmarnock began to
press them back for the first time in the game.
Hearts' slender lead looked increasingly fragile as the second half
wore on, but the Rugby Park side were being frustrated in their attempts
to get at Craig Gordon by a combination of determination and desperation
by the home defence.
But the pressure on the home side eased in the final stages and a
fine drive from Alan Maybury had Combe scrambling to push the ball to
safety.
Kilmarnock: Combe, Fowler, Lilley,
Greer, Dindeleux, Invincibile,(Wales
80 mins), Joly, McDonald, (Dargo
27 mins
) Johnston, Dodds,
Leven,
Subs: Smith, Dillion & Dodds
Attendance: 5,924
