Recalling the day Roman Bednar defeated Rangers and Hearts fans felt on top of the world

Hearts 1, Rangers 0. Saturday, September 24, 2005

Hearts players pile on top of goalscorer Roman Bednar in front of jubilant fans at Tynecastle. Picture: SNS

Hearts fans have rarely felt excitement such as the buzz generated by the early days of the Vladimir Romanov years when George Burley’s side were flying high at the top of the SPL, laying waste to everyone in their path and stretching out a mouth-watering lead over the Old Firm. And for many, the peak of that time came at Tynecastle on a pleasantly sunny day 15 years ago in late September: Hearts 1, Rangers 0; Roman Bednar getting the only goal of the game, a header from close range which nearly lifted the roof off the place when it found the back of the net.

It was confirmation that Hearts were serious contenders. Though they hadn’t started the campaign in vintage form, Rangers were still the reigning champions and the victory, along with the performance, silenced any logical doubts there may have been about the credentials of Burley’s men.

It was a closer contest than many inside the ground would have preferred, with the hosts surviving a late penalty shout against Robbie Neilson for blocking a Francis Jeffers shot with his arm, but Hearts were undoubtedly the superior team as their first-half domination forced Ibrox boss Alex McLeish into a number of formation changes and a substitution in the 36th minute.

You could even say that things started to go wrong immediately after Bednar’s goal. Buoyed by his 14th-minute finish from a Paul Hartley corner, the Czech forward tore down the left wing when he was suddenly halted by a crunching tackle from Marvin Andrews. Something went pop in Bednar’s knee and, though he tried to hobble on and complete the game, it was clear his race had been run. He would barely feature again until the following spring.

Though it would undeniably be the ridiculous decision to part ways with Burley and replace him with Graham Rix that would be the catalyst for Hearts’ eventual slide from the top of the table, the attack didn’t look quite as cohesive as it had in the next two games, which saw Hearts come from behind but still lose their 100 per cent league record at Falkirk before Burley’s last match away to Celtic.

The blow of losing Bednar for so long might have been too much of a burden even for Burley and assistant Simon Hunt to bear, seeing as they were working with a tremendously talented yet small group of players, but the biggest regret of the last 34 years is the fact they didn’t get the chance to find out. Romanov couldn’t get out of the way of his own ego and Burley went, shortly followed by chief executive Phil Anderton and chairman George Foulkes.

That season ended on a high with victory in the Scottish Cup final and a place in the Champions League qualifiers the following campaign. But the Romanov era never lived up to the promise of those early days and a win over Rangers in Edinburgh which Hearts supporters feeling on top of the world.