Craig Levein livid on a day Curtis Main ends long run

It made for beautiful viewing. Come the second half there was no let-up in Levein’s frustrations and, to compound it all, Motherwell went and equalised David Milinkovic’s opener for Hearts after 90+5 minutes and with precisely — I counted them — three seconds left on the clock. “The ref actually allowed play to go beyond the five minutes of added time,” one Tynecastle diehard muttered as Collum’s final whistle blew and Hearts and Levein went off into the night in a highly disgruntled mood.

The truth is, as much as Hearts created chances and struck woodwork in this match, Steve Robinson and Motherwell were robust and determined and a match for anyone. Time and again this Motherwell head coach has shown his worth, working on his minuscule budget but moulding a team which any ’Well fan can be proud of. Curtis Main’s late, scrambled equaliser amid a ruck of bodies was just about merited, though the visitors at times rode their luck.

First Motherwell produced Louis Moult. Now they have come up with Main, a quick, brawny, fearless centre forward from the old school who was three years with Middlesbrough and who absolutely puts himself about. Christophe Berra and co knew they had been in a battle with this 25-year-old and had the bruises to prove it. On this evidence, Motherwell have another Fir Park cult hero in the making.

But let’s get back to the beloved Mr Collum, First, there was a Tom Aldred lunge on Ross Callachan in the Motherwell box which was surely a penalty. Then there was Callachan being hauled back as he was about to shoot. Then there was a Cedric Kipre handball. To all of these, like the inscrutable RE teacher that he is, Collum shook his head and ran on, a veiled disgust on his face at the temerity of Levein and Hearts to make the appeals. When Levein approached the beleaguered ref at half time Collum stood his ground and marched off.

“For the life of me I do not know how we didn’t get two penalties in the first half — and I’ve seen them both back on video,” said Levein. “So I’m disappointed in Willie’s performance. It’s the most blatant penalty you’ll ever see. And then the other one, the handball, was blatant as well. It’s a day of disappointment.”

Disappointment for Hearts, yes, but not for Motherwell. They also had chances in and around Jon McLaughlin’s goal, and by the end were throwing the kitchen sink at Hearts.

Milinkovic had arrived on Andy Irving’s free kick and put Hearts ahead ten minutes from time but you could see the home team’s capitulation coming, as swarms of yellow and claret shirts invaded McLaughlin’s area for these final assaults. As Motherwell began shelling the Hearts box, Craig Tanner’s deep free kick was headed back across goal by Aldred and, amid the scuffed shots and the melee, Main was there to thrust the ball over the line.

Aldred helped change this game for Motherwell by taking it upon himself in the closing moments to leave his Motherwell trench in defence and volunteer to go over the top up front.

“This is massive for us — it feels like a win,” said Aldred later. “We kept digging and kept going and to nick an equaliser in the last minute is a massive boost. I thought I would change the game so I went up front in the last minute. I waved over to the gaffer but he didn’t have much say in the matter. I fancy myself as a bit of a target man who can cause some carnage.”

Aldred certainly proved his worth at it, craning to reach Tanner’s deep delivery and set up his team’s equaliser.

So it’s over. Hearts’ Maginot Line has at last been breached.