Fans drunk on drama as intoxicating title race takes another twist

By

BBC Scotland's chief sports writer at Fir Park

Much more of this and there's going to be a run on heart-rate monitors among the maroon-clad folk from Edinburgh.

Every Hearts game is a pulse-quickening drama now. Every tackle, every header, every kick a palpitation-inducing moment.

And every contentious call an invitation to erupt. And erupt Hearts did in this frantic contest at Motherwell.

When Alexandros Kyziridis went down in an incident with Tawanda Maswanhise in the 68th minute, it looked like Hearts were getting an opportunity to make it 2-1 from the spot.

Referee Steven McLean said no. VAR Greg Aitken said 'hold your horses'. Aitken got McLean over to the screen but McLean was unmoved.

"He [Kyziridis] was impeded," Hearts manager said Derek McInnes later. "It's such a poor decision. The main talking point. I don't understand why that's not a penalty."

Wonder of wonders, Jens Berthel Askou disagreed: "Not enough in it," said the Motherwell manager. "Some sort of contact, but minimal. Kyziridis makes it look like there's more contact than there is."

People see what they want to see, but this season will have an endgame to conjure with. A historically-brilliant campaign will surely go to the wire now.

Hearts were unbeaten and unbowed, but damaged. Two points dropped and two players down. Marc Leonard and the wonderful lynchpin at the back, Craig Halkett, were invalided out of the action. And out of the last two games of the season.

At the end, the players went to their fans to thank them for their support, which was unceasingly loud and passionate even on full-time, when the draw was confirmed.

Their throats would have been in need of a soothing nectar last night. Their minds? Scrambled. They will try to convince themselves that a point at Fir Park is not a bad thing, especially since Celtic have to come here on Wednesday.

Good point or bad - we won't know the truth of that until next week.

Those injuries, though... more obstacles in Hearts' way. McInnes has other centre-backs, but there isn't another Halkett. He can put Cammy Devlin in instead of Leonard, but Devlin is only just back from injury himself.

Nobody said this was going to be easy. Nearly everybody said that Hearts could not go the distance, but they're still there, still believing.

In a season of such wondrous unpredictability, there's been a certain sameness about what Hearts have been doing. A goal down three games ago against Motherwell - they won. A goal down two games ago against Hibs - they won. A goal down a game ago against Rangers - they won.

And a goal down against Motherwell again on Saturday, a Motherwell that knows all about what Hearts are, knows all about their resilience and their never-say-die.

They learned it the hard way, for the first time, way, way back in the third game of the campaign when people were still chortling at Tony Bloom's claims about splitting the Old Firm this season and winning the Premiership inside a decade.

Motherwell were 3-0 up, remember? They ended up hanging on for a draw.

This is what Hearts do. They stay calm even when being out-played, as they were here for much of the first half, or out-fought, as they were in the opening half at Tynecastle against Rangers on Monday.

And so when Motherwell went a goal ahead here it was familiar territory. Not where they wanted to be, but where they have been so often.

They were second-best but when you have Lawrence Shankland in your ranks, you have hope. Hearts have lost five league games and he has only played in one of them - and he scored in that one.

A left-foot finish that saw off Rangers on Monday and a right-foot finish that ended up winning this point at Motherwell, an emphatic close-range thump, the importance of which is yet to be determined.

If Hearts do win this title, they'll have to erect a statue to the captain - not that he would need a landmark for people to remember his leadership and his goals.

His influence would be carved into the heart and soul of every Hearts supporter. If. Always if.

This was another contest that would have fried the brain of every visitor.

How these folk are still standing up straight is a miraculous thing. The heartstopping drama has been going on for an age, the feeling of panic and dread and then joy unconfined. It's the stuff of smelling salts and stretchers.

Motherwell, so good for so long this season, have fallen away of late, but even still, there was danger written all over this for McInnes' team.

Early in the second half, Stephen O'Donnell scored to make it 2-1. Fir Park roared. The away end gasped and VAR piped up. Offside. Just. Inches. Milimetres. Tight as a drum, but off.

Hearts were getting buffeted. They'd lost Leonard at the end of the first half, now the medics were rushing on to tend to the totemic Halkett. They carried him away.

If you were a supporter who believed in omens and superstitions then the sight of the unbreakable centre-back getting broken was not good for your karma.

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Hearts pushed on in search of the goal that would take them to touching distance of the title. Kyziridis took that tumble in front of where the Hearts fans were having kittens, while pointing at Maswanhise as if guilty of the crime of the millennium.

Enter VAR. When McLean made his way to the monitor, the cheering among Hearts fans was akin to a goal being scored. They'd already transported themselves a minute into the future - a penalty, Shankland stepping and Shankland scoring.

Only McLean did what few referees do these days. He looked at the screen and stuck by his original call - no penalty.

Hearts went berserk. You wouldn't see such gesticulation from a posse of policemen directing traffic at a busy crossroads. There was fury from McInnes and his coaches. Paul Sheerin, the assistant manager, got booked for his thunder.

All the while you wondered what madness was left to come, what late twist the football Gods, drunk on drama these past months, were planning.

McInnes sprang his bench. Pierre-Landry Kabore had a shot saved; Kyziridis had a header over; Maswanhise screamed lamely for a penalty that was never given.

They went at each other like cats fighting in an alley. Aggression at breakneck speed. Tension off the charts.

A nervy thriller, not for the first time and not for the last time either, you suspect. Such a short distance to go and yet so much can yet happen.

Up next: Celtic's battle with Rangers on Sunday. Stand by your beds.