30 WWW.HEARTSFC.CO.UK
KITTED
OUT Ask any Hearts fan their favourite home game during season 1989/90 and I am pretty sure they would immediately reply the 4-0 win against Motherwell in the Scottish Cup on the 24th of February 1990. It was the day it felt like the Terrible Trio from the Fifties of Conn, Bauld and Wardhaugh were back gracing the turf of Tynecastle only this time it was the more modern version comprising of Crabbe, Colquhoun and Robertson.
This was a typical February Scottish Cup tie, torrential rain, a pitch like porridge and two committed teams. In their three previous meetings four players were ordered off and there were 17 bookings so this game was always likely to be played at a blood and thunder pace. On this occasion the game was light on bookings but heavy on goals, the tackles may have been tempered with the persistent heavy downpours from above. The sticky pitch didn’t prevent Hearts from going all out in attack. Season 1989/90 saw manager Alex MacDonald make the bold decision to buck a trend in the Premier Division and play with three forwards. This meant at times the midfield of MacKay, McCreery and Bannon could be overrun but when you had the goal hungry trio of Crabbe, Colquhoun
and Robertson working in harmony, when it clicked it produced glorious football and some wonderful goals. This was going to be one of those occasions. A buoyant John Robertson was keen to catch the eye of the Scotland manager and gain selection for the Italia 90 squad. Before the Motherwell game his goal tally sat at an impressive 15 for the season. He would quickly add to that total in the Cup tie bagging a goal in the 9th minute. Starting from a clever back heel from Scott Crabbe, Robertson drilled a low right-hand shot past the Motherwell keeper Maxwell. The second goal in the 32nd minute was a contender for goal of the season. A superb individual effort from fans favourite John Colquhoun. Craig Levein sprayed a pass to the winger who took the ball just on the halfway line, out-paced his good friend John Philliben then side stepped the keeper before casually rolling the ball into the net. Hearts would go three up before half time as Colquhoun then turned provider as he passed to Robertson who rammed home his second goal of the game and moved onto 16 for the season. The fourth and final goal of the game came in the 67th minute of the 2nd half with Scott Crabbe
