BRAVE HEARTS; Laszlo's kids give it their all as Croats are made to sweat for glory.

Byline: Gary Ralston

HEARTS 2

DINAMO ZAGREB 0

Dinamo Zagreb win 4-2 on aggregate

THE floodlights may have failed but Hearts beamed brightly before their Europa League hopes eventually descended into darkness.

Skipper Michael Stewart and deputy Marius Zaliukas helped the Jambos restore some pride in part two of their qualifier but the damage, as everyone feared, had been done in Zagreb a week ago.

Scottish football fans have been forced to read more post-mortems than Quincy this summer but this was not one of them, even if the Jambos' European adventure is over for another season.

The match almost didn't start when a back-up generator at the junction of the Wheatfield and Gorgie Road Stands blew the lights from that corner of the stadium completely. German referee Knut Kircher finally gave the game the go-ahead with three-quarters of the usual wattage on the pitch and Hearts dazzled as Dinamo almost suffered one almighty shock.

Csaba Laszlo may be skint when it comes to funding a new striker but his squad proved they can still mine a rich seam of character as they made amends of sorts for their humiliation in Croatia.

It was the first victory of the season for the Jambos and they threw everything but their electrician's tool kit at the Croatian champions.

Dinamo were reduced to a bunch of nervous wrecks as Laszlo's lot narrowly failed to find the third goal that would have made this oh so interesting.

Hearts fans in the crowd of 11,759 roared their approval and that included strong vocal support for their boss, while Dinamo coach Krunoslav Jurcic paced anxiously inside his technical area like a condemned man awaiting his executioner's fate.

Stewart and Co walked off the sodden pitch at the final whistle with rain pouring down on them but more performances like this and storm clouds that have gathered over the team in recent weeks will soon be a thing of the past.

The big match build-up may have been dominated by discussions about power but the atmosphere was far from electric.

Tynecastle, hosting its first European game in six years, usually crackles on these occasions but Kerry Katona's pow-wow with her accountant would have created more noise than the Jambos.

Understandably, the Gorgie boys were deflated after their side's first-leg mauling but the 250 visiting fans made enough racket for 10 times their number. A fierce looking crew, these Dinamo supporters are not the type you'd rush to take home to your mum - unless her name is Mrs Kray.

Hearts desperately needed an early goal and they almost secured it within three minutes when Jose Goncalves burrowed into the box down the left. But his cutback was squandered by David Obua who took a fresh-air swipe from 16 yards.

That seemed to irk the Croatians and within two minutes they had responded when Dejan Lovren seized on a loose pass from Ruben Palazuelos and sent Dimitrios Papadopolous racing into the box from the right.

The Greek's low shot whizzed along the greasy surface but thankfully for Janos Balogh it flew inches wide of the keeper's right-hand post.

Naturally, Hearts were set out in a much more expansive style so Dinamo keeper Tomislav Butina was busy.

He fumbled a low cross from Suso Santana before Gary Glen took a heavy first touch on the six-yard line after a pass from Obua had put him in the clear.

Still, we had seen more of Hearts as a forward force in the first 15 minutes than in the entire first leg and this adventurous spirit was soon rewarded.

Stewart played the skipper's role to perfection in 17 minutes, bursting forward from midfield past Milan Badelj before slotting a low shot into the net from 16 yards.

Suddenly the Hearts fans came alive and if the foundations of Tynecastle didn't exactly creak they at least swayed slightly as the punters tried to play their part in an unlikely remake of the Great Escape.

However, if the opener had rattled the Croatians they refused to let it show as first Sammir then Pedro Morales brought out saves from Balogh that would have left the Jambos needing to score five again.

But Hearts refused to be compromised by fear and indecision as they slowly began to dominate midfield, with Palazuelos and Stewart running the show aided on either side by Obua and Santana.

Full-back Craig Thomson was enjoying a smashing debut down the right and it was his cross after half-an-hour that almost created the second. Obua nodded the ball to Glen who set it up for Stewart to rattle the bar with a volley from 14 yards.

It was high octane stuff although Dinamo posted a reminder of their danger as half-time approached when Badelj shrugged off a couple of half-hearted tackles but thankfully fired his shot from 25 yards over the top. Dinamo seemed to have weathered the worst but Hearts spurned a gilt-edged chance when Christian Nade was played in down the left by Obua. The striker dithered and the opportunity was gone.

Honestly, this is one Christian in whom Jesus, the Pope and Billy Graham would struggle to find a redeeming feature.

The second half was only a minute old when attention switched to events off the field after the visiting fans set off three flares in the Roseburn Stand, an act that is almost certain to lead to a UEFA rap for their club.

The pitch was engulfed in smoke but the Jambos refused to take their sights off the ball as they searched for the second goal that might give the Croatians some cause for discomfort.

It duly arrived in 55 minutes after a Thomson free-kick had caused mayhem in defence before being frantically cleared for a corner. Thomson swung over a set-piece Zagreb again failed to deal with and the ball broke to the edge of the box where Zaliukas swivelled and sent a low shot through a ruck of players and beyond flat-footed keeper Butina.

This time, old Tyney was swinging in the rain as fans dared dream about the biggest comeback since Gary Barlow lifted the phone to his three pals from Manchester.

Time for patience? No chance. Laszlo went for broke and sent on fit-again winger Andy Driver and debut striker Gordon Smith, a summer capture from the youth ranks of Livingston.

Ex-Hearts favourite Sandy Clark was up in the media gantry commentating for the BBC and you got the impression that if he'd brought his boots he would also have been called down and ordered into the fray.

Dinamo still looked dangerous but not devastating on the counter-attack. They twice scorned decent chances to hit the target from the edge of the area.

Papadopolous also strode forward in 72 minutes but his effort again flew inches past the target.

Zagreb slowly adapted to their situation and began to frustrate the Jambos with a clever game of keep-ball.

Mind you, another devastating delivery from Thomson six minutes later - what a sweet right peg this kid boasts - almost led to the third goal as Ismael Bouzid rose unchallenged at the back post. But Butina made amends for earlier errors as he kept the ball from squeezing into the net.

CAPTION(S):

LUK WHO'S SCORING: Marius Zaliukas makes it 2-0, main pic, but this goal and the opener, above, by the celebrating Michael Stewart, below, couldn't save Hearts