Match date : Saturday 6th December 1997 Competition : Premier League Attendance : 12,706
BUNGLING CLYDE COSTS MOTHERWELL DEAR
Hearts 2 Motherwell 0BUNGLING REF George Clyde helped hesitant Hearts to overcome a shot-shy Motherwell at Tynecastle on Saturday. The incompetent official had booked six Motherwell players and sent off Kevin Christie as he seemed to have a personal vendetta against the Fir Park side, with Hearts seizing the opportunity to take all three points.
Although the opening play began fairly even in terms of possession, Hearts were looking more menancing when they attacked. However, with McCann tending to loose his balance all too easily Hearts were being awarded rather soft free kicks in-and-around the box, and from an early award, Fulton swung the ball in low which deceived Woods, but fortunately for the Motherwell keeper Philliben cleared on the six-yard line. Motherwell were failing to do any creative work up front, with Coyne, Coyle and McSkimming failing to connect up with any real threat. McCann then fired in a cross which Adam, able to jump unattended despite the close proximity of both Craigan and Philliben, failed to trouble the Motherwell keeper. The play was breaking down in midfield for the visitors, and as Hearts broke upfield they won a corner. Fulton took it, and Ritiche was only inches away with another free header. Flogel then missed a great opportunity for the home side and it seemed only a matter of time before the pressure paid off. Referee Clyde then booked Kevin Christie after the defender appeared to win the ball back from Cameron on the edge of the box. It was a harsh decision, and a costly one later. From the kick, Flogel's over-head kick flew well beyond the bar. Woods then produced a brilliant block from Cameron's low shot and it was beginning to look as if Hearts just would not score. At the other end, Shaun McSkimming was booked for a wild challenge on Locke as the frustration for the Motherwell forwards was beginning to tell. That booking, however, was perhaps the only justifiable one of the afternoon. From somewhere, Referee Clyde managed to find 4 minutes of injury time in a fairly fluent first-half, and during that time he made the biggest blunder of all. After another soft free-kick, Weir went down in the box with no apparent contact having been made. Clyde instantly pointed to the spot, and sent off Christie much to the disbelief of the travelling support and his fellow Motherwell players. Cameron gratefully accepted the gift, and scored to give Hearts a lead they deserved on possession.
HT Hearts 1 Motherwell 0The incidents of the first-half clearly had an effect on the Motherwell players as they must have felt that being within 10 feet of a Hearts player would earn them a booking. Consequently, Hearts had much more freedom in the second half, whereas Motherwell appeared to drift out of the match altogether. Dougie Arnott and Eliphas Shivute, recently recovered from injury and flu respectively, were both introduced in the second period as Alex McLeish attempted to add some bite to the toothless Motherwell attack, but apart from one or two near things, especially when Shivute burst towards the box. However, instead of having a pot at goals, rather disappointingly he chose to go wide and was tackled, the ball being cleared. Hearts didn't do anywhere near as much attacking second-half, though Flogel was unlucky not to score when, after Woods first-touch let him down when attempting a clearence, the Austrian curled in a shot from an acute angle which smacked the cross-bar. Adam was then booked for a tug on a Motherwell player, but Salvatori, who was making a late bid for a place in the Italian diving school, was overlooked by Referee Clyde despite three clear swallows. Hearts thought they had scored when Adam finished off a neat move, but he was rightly flagged off-side. However, Flogel produced a peice of excellent close control on the edge of the box to turn Craigan and finish for the second goal of the afternoon. The game petered out after that with Hearts running out winners thanks in no small part to the terrible antics of Referee Clyde.
Full Time Hearts 2 Motherwell 0