Hearts’ boss Levein returns to centre stage but Naismith fluffs his chance in the spotlight
HEARTS 0 LIVINGSTON 0 Their manager returned to the dugout after his health scare.
But table-topping Hearts couldn’t find a way to dig out a win over stubborn Livingston. Recuperating Jam Tarts boss Craig Levein ditched the directors’ box midway through the first half as Livi threatened to derail his side’s 100% start to the season. He did it in time to see Steven Naismith fluff his lines from the spot, right on the stroke of half-time. Only Levein’s side really looked like winning it. But Livi’s organisation, fight and determination saw them claim a hard-earned point. Despite watching his side open up a sixpoint lead over Celtic at the top of the table, Levein cut a disappinted figure at full-time. But Livi possess traits he admires – and he was happy to give the newly promoted side credit. “There’s a big sense of frustration,” he said. “But I thought Livingston’s game plan was executed really well. “They sat deep, waited for us to overcommit and then tried to hit us on the counter-attack and had a couple of opportunities when they did that. “We frustrated me more than Livingston did. The things we’ve been doing really well are moving the ball quickly from side to side, delivering good quality into the box and finishing the chances when they came our way. “Those things have been evident in all of our matches this season, so it was frustrating today that we didn’t get it, although we still should have won.” Despite – or perhaps because of – a near full house at Tynecastle, the opening was strangely tentative. Under the withering heat of 17,798 pairs of eyes, both teams seemed content to feel each other out rather than going for the jugular. The Livi fans took more encouragement from early goings on than their Gorgie counterparts. “This is a library,” was the travelling punters sarcastic assessment of their surroundings. They weren’t far wrong. Put it down to nerves, put it down to an understandable fear of allowing their hopes to be raised too high, too soon, but whatever you put it down to, there was tension amongst the home fans. Livewire Livi striker Dolly Menga seemed to feed off it. The Angolan saw a goalbound effort from the edge of the box deflected just wide of the post on 15 minutes. He fired another effort across the face as well-drilled Livi showed their mettle. But inbetween, Hearts finally threatened when Jimmy Dunne cracked a header off the crossbar from Olly Lee’s free-kick.
It was far from vintage stuff from the home side. And with tension turning to frustration in the stands, Levein strode down the stairs of the main stand, whipped off his suit jacket, and took his customary place on the edge of the technical area. With their manager suddenly casting his shadow over them, Hearts rallied. The magnificent Steven MacLean played in Michael Smith with a lovely back-heel only for Livi to clear for a corner. Then, from the set-piece, Demetri Mitchell saw a rasping volley, destined for the top corner, headed to safety by the well-placed Scott Pittman. It was better from the home side – as Levein’s presence demanded it must be. Then they were handed a golden opportunity to take the lead in added time before the break when Livi keeper Liam Kennedy shoved MacLean to the ground after Dunne’s perfect through ball. Up stepped Steven Naismith, but Kelly dived low to his right to make the save. More was expected from the home side in the second half, but hearts were in mouths 10 minutes in when Livi broke through Menga, who released Pittman, only for Bobby Zlamal to pull off a crucial, one-on-one save. At the other end, Craig Wighton, on his first start for the Jam Tarts, went close with a glancing header. Yet it was hard to shake the feeling it was destined to be an underwhelming afternoon. Olly Lee slipped in MacLean with 20 minutes to go, but the assistant referee’s flag extinguished home hopes. In the end, despite Hearts’ late dominance of possession – and a lastgasp effort off the bar by MacLean – Livi proved impossible to break down. For their manager, Gary Holt, it was a satisfying afternoon’s work: “That, out there today, that was us. “If we turn up and play football we won’t win games or get a result like this. We have to stick to what we’re good at. “If we do that every week, we’ll get results that’ll keep us high up the league.”