McGhee inspires high achievers

HEARTS 1

Driver 12

MOTHERWELL 2
Porter 55; Zaliukas 70 og

SO THIS is what we will get if Mark McGhee is handed the keys to Hampden Park. A touch of inspiration, more than a dash of tactical acumen and a liberal splash of bloody-mindedness. All those qualities were to the fore yesterday as Motherwell deservedly came from behind at the break to climb to the heady heights of third place in the SPL.

They did so by taking the fight to Hearts during a second half of unremitting commitment and tempo in blizzard conditions that should have been more suited to half of the home team and their employers.

If this match is any guide, a McGhee Scotland side would be a markedly different proposition to the one that has just completed the Euro 2008 qualifying campaign. Not that McGhee would change the playing personnel; judging by the evidence of this season he is more than capable of increasing performance without wholesale changes. The events at Tynecastle were a classic example of how McGhee works.

"I was surprised and disappointed by us in the first half," said McGhee. "Hearts came out well and looked like a decent team, and it intimidated us. We looked as if we felt we weren't as good as Hearts and I had to tell the players that at half-time. I also changed to four in midfield because we were losing the battle there and I got a great response. I thought we deserved to win. This shows we have the resolve to come to places like this and win from behind. We shouldn't fear anyone."

Motherwell have been transformed since McGhee's arrival. Rather than the adrenaline-fuelled passion of Terry Butcher's youngsters or Maurice Malpas's relegation-threatened desperados, they play with a compelling mix of precision, discipline and ambition. This is a tidy outfit that has the best away record in the SPL. It is more than the sum of its parts, and there are few higher compliments you can pay any manager.

David Clarkson and Ross McCormack in particular have been brought to life by McGhee, the two mercurial talents playing off point man Chris Porter. After the break their input was absolutely crucial yesterday. Both were relatively quiet before the interval, with Hearts' central defensive duo of Marius Zaliukas and Christophe Berra quietly efficient, but the width of the Motherwell front men provided a structure that Hearts struggled to break down.

That Hearts drew first blood after just 12 minutes was largely down to the verve and invention of Andrew Driver. He finished off a flowing move that came down the right wing, but his pace down the left wing gave Motherwell endless headaches before the break. The goal came from a move that had its origins in Hearts' defensive solidity. Zaliukas cut out a pass down the Motherwell left flank to Porter, and wasted no time in working the ball down the line to Robbie Neilson. When the Hearts right-back played the ball in behind the visitors' defence for Andrius Velicka to run on to, the yellow line had been breached and the Lithuanian striker had plenty of time to pick out the unmarked and onrushing Driver at the back post. The young Englishman's finish was of the highest quality, volleying the ball back across the prone figure of Graeme Smith and into the corner for the opening goal, his sixth of this campaign and Hearts' 499th SPL goal.

Motherwell's obduracy and spirit were impressive, and kept clear chances for Hearts at a premium. Indeed, the only other time the home side threatened to extend their lead was when some neat interplay between the diminutive Andrius Ksanavicius and Velicka saw the striker through on goal with only Smith to beat, only to flick the ball against the Motherwell keeper.

If the first half was all about Driver and Hearts, the second was dominated by the Motherwell duo of Clarkson and McCormack up front and by the midfield drive of Stephen Hughes. With McGhee bolstering the midfield with an extra man, all three were transformed after the break, their joint contribution the catalyst for a Motherwell revival that swept aside increasingly hesitant Hearts. It began within two minutes of the restart when McCormack kidded referee Craig Thomson into awarding a free kick with a dive worthy of inclusion in next year's Beijing's Olympics before blasting the ball just over the bar.

But it was Clarkson who was largely instrumental in getting Motherwell back on level terms ten minutes after the break. He pounced when Zaliukas failed to clear an innocuous Stephen Craigan cross to the back post, hooking his leg around the defender to deliver a cross which a grateful Porter tucked away in the corner with a nicely cushioned header for the visitors' opening goal.

It was no surprise when Motherwell extended their lead 15 minutes later after long a period of domination. Again it was sloppy defending around the fringes that did for Stevie Frail's men, Hearts failing to clear despite several opportunities, the ball eventually falling to Steven McGarry right on the bye-line. His cross looked to be too deep for McCormack at the back post but the striker curled his foot around the ball and guided it netbound with the outside of his boot from what had looked like too tight an angle, Zaliukas applying the final touch as he tried to clear.

Even then the game wasn't beyond doubt and just two minutes later Eggert Jonsson's driven shot from outside the box cracked off the Motherwell crossbar. Despite a frantic final few minutes, that was to be the last hurrah. As the sodden pitch disintegrated so did Hearts' resolve and eventually their challenge.

Frail complained before the game that the last two matches had finished 1-1; what he would have given for that scoreline yesterday. As for Motherwell, their main ambition for the immediate future will be to keep hold of their manager. Whether that now happens is surely out of their hands.

MAN OF THE MATCH: Stephen Hughes. Anonymous and lethargic in the first half, after the break he was the driving force behind Motherwell's revival.

ASIDE: Hearts announced that the long-awaited planning application for a revamped Tynecastle will be lodged with Edinburgh City Council this week.