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Steve Lovell grabbed the points for Aberdeen at Tynecastle with a late goal against Hearts to go second in the SPL in an otherwise turgid encounter.

Lovell, unmarked in the 87th minute, stabbed the ball home after Craig Gordon parried Scott Severin's shot.

Clear opportunities were scarce throughout, although Russell Anderson and Lee Miller went close for the Dons in the first half.

Substitute Paul Hartley sparked better play from Hearts but to no avail.

Interview: Aberdeen manager Jimmy Calderwood
Interview: Hearts head coach Valdas Ivanauskas

The Edinburgh club sprung a surprising personnel change when Hartley - the subject of a disciplinary meeting in midweek - was left on the bench.

Head Coach Valdas Ivanauskas preferred Jose Goncalves to Hartley, while Julien Brellier missed out through injury.

Hearts had new skipper Gordon in goal for the first time after his appointment in the wake of Steven Pressley's shock departure.

For Aberdeen, defender Andrew Considine replaced midfielder Gary Dempsey who dropped to the bench, in an all-Scottish line-up.

Nonetheless, despite an attractive pre-match billing, the game refused to burst into life, and it was 27 minutes before the first clear opportunity presented itself.

Craig Gordon was installed as the new Hearts captain
Craig Gordon was installed as the new Hearts captain

Barry Nicholson swung in a corner from the right for the Dons, and with the home defence failing to clear, Russell Anderson turned and hammered a shot towards goal from only 10 yards out.

Bruno Aguiar was handily placed at the post to clear, but the ball struck Velicka and only good fortune prevented it rebounding back into the net instead of over the bar.

Aguiar responded by firing in the home side's first effort on goal from a 30-yard free-kick, but found Pittodrie keeper Jamie Langfield equal to the task.

In the 41st minute, an Aguiar corner was knocked towards goal by Edgaras Jankauskas but cleared off the line by a combination of Langfield and Chris Clark.

Lee Miller went agonisingly close to breaking the deadlock against his old club when he pounced on a mix-up between Nerijus Barasa and Tall, but his lob came off the post.

Hartley finally came off the bench in the 65th minute to a rapturous reception, replacing Marius Zaliukas.

He clearly had a point to prove, instigating most of most Hearts moves.

But the Reds effectively killed the contest through substitute Lovell, who had replaced Miller eight minutes earlier.

Severin's 20-yard drive was only parried by Gordon, and the Englishman had the easy task to stroke the ball into an empty net.

It was simply too late for the Jam Tarts to recover.

Hearts: Gordon, Barasa, Zaliukas (Hartley 64), Tall, Fyssas, Goncalves (Berra 90), Aguiar, Mikoliunas, McCann, Velicka, Jankauskas (Pospisil 75). Subs Not Used: Banks, Driver, Wallace, Jonsson.

Booked: Aguiar.

Aberdeen: Langfield, Hart, Anderson, Considine, Clark, Foster, Nicholson, Severin, Jamie Smith, Miller (Lovell 79), Mackie. Subs Not Used: Soutar, Diamond, Dempsey, Touzani, Daniel Smith, Maguire.

Booked: Considine, Nicholson.

Goal: Lovell 87.

Att: 17,274

Ref: S Dougal


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