THE Hearts fans chanted Rudi Skacel’s name as the man synonymous with their greatest Scottish Cup victory entered the fray at Stark’s Park yesterday. Around 10 minutes later, they must have been cursing him.
There was bedlam around Stark’s Park when a trademark sweep of the Czech’s wicked left boot, which returned a partially-cleared Bobby Barr corner with interest, was turned in from close range by Declan McManus.
After some protests and confusion as to whether the striker had been offside or not, referee John Beaton pointed to the centre circle and the 89th-minute goal was duly given.
It cancelled out Jamie Walker’s 37th-minute opener and means that the Hearts faithful will get to see their former favourite all over again on his old stomping ground of Tynecastle on Wednesday for the replay.
Both Hearts and Skacel are not short of incentive either, with Hibernian awaiting the winner in the next round.
Skacel and the man who had brought him on for the last 10 minutes, Raith Rovers manager Gary Locke, will forever be associated with Hearts but both have learned that there is only limited room for sentiment in sport.
Thus it was his current fans and not the travelling support that Skacel turned to at the final whistle, while Locke – a coach that memorable day in May 2012 when Hearts overcame their city rivals 5-1 in the final – celebrated the late equaliser with as much decorum as Jose Mourinho once showed at Old Trafford. What a shot in the arm it was for a side in the midst of a 10-match winless run.
Ian Cathro, meanwhile, was furious last night when he was informed that his team would have to turn themselves around for the replay with little more than 48 hours’ rest.
The Hearts head coach insists he is not ripping things up and starting again this January but he still found room for all four of his new signings. In came Aaron Hughes, Malaury Martin, Andraz Struna and Lennard Sowah for the Ladbrokes Premiership side.
The BBC cameras were in town but for much of the afternoon they merely recorded a fairly lacklustre occasion, perhaps not helped by the early kick-off and the icy weather.
Walker’s day started with a whack in the face which drew blood but the 23-year-old – a former loan player at Stark’s Park – was exempted from the general nosebleed in front of goal. There seemed little danger when Jordan Thompson picked up possession in his own half but the Raith midfielder made a blind pass across his own defence and into the path of Don Cowie. Walker timed a run well and steered a canny finish into the net.
Hearts had a platform now, and a confident and fully functioning team would have gone on to make the game safe. Instead, Hearts never built on their lead and Raith finally got up a head of steam.
Locke threw all his subs into the fray and Hearts got deeper and deeper. McManus – not universally popular even with his own fans this season – was one of those replacements and, when Barr’s corner was headed out to the edge of the box, McManus deflected Skacel’s strike past goalkeeper Jack Hamilton.
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