HEARTS...3 VfB STUTTGART2

A makeshift Hearts side went out of Europe last night with their heads held high after an incident-packed evening at Tynecastle.

Captain Colin Cameron set up a grandstand finish with a penalty after 83 minutes, but despite a valiant last seven minutes, they just failed to snatch the fourth goal against VfB Stuttgart which would have taken them through to the second round of the UEFA Cup.

Gordan Petric had a gilt-edge chance to win the game with four minutes left but blasted the ball over the bar with only the goalkeeper to beat, while Cameron also came close as they lay seige to the Stuttgart goal.

In the last minute of injury-time, Grant Murray also had a great chance to score but the ball was scrambled away by the German side's defence.

Stuttgart were living on their nerves by the end of the evening and had two men sent-off in that last hectic seven minutes, Silvio Meissner for a foul on McSwegan which led to the penalty and Thomas Schneider for a reckless challenge on Gary Naysmith.

In the end, the German side went through on the away goals rule following their 1-0 home win, but such was the level of their celebrations at the end it was clear they realised they had been lucky to progress.

Hearts manager Jim Jefferies had been lamenting all week the injuries which had hit his side, and when you cast an eye over his team and formation, you could understand just why.

Such was his lack of options he was forced to give defender Kevin James his first start in just over a year, play centre-back Gordan Petric in midfield, and draft in striker Andy Kirk to the left side of midfield.

To add to his problems in a game where he knew his side had to score, striker Gary McSwegan, who has been struggling all week with an ankle injury, was deemed only fit enough to make the bench, while Frenchman Stephane Adam, who has not played all season, made the bench.

The game had been given a 9.0pm kick-off to accommodate German television, and such was the interest that the gantry erected for the broadcasters was built over a few hundred seats of the main stand in front of the 400 Stuttgart supporters, who had made the trip to Scotland.

In the crowd was Martin Ferguson, chief scout of Manchester United, who had come to the game in place of his brother, Sir Alex, with their target believed to be Stuttgart goalkeeper Timo Hildebrand, the current German under-21 keeper.

Stuttgart manager Ralph Rangnick had said before the game that he wanted his side to try and kill the match with an early goal, and he nearly had his wish when Brazilian defender Marcelo Bordon, who missed the first leg through injury, was given a free header from a Krassimir Balakov corner, a chance he squandered badly.

That was the only early glimmer the Germans showed as Hearts took the game to them, with lone striker Thomas Flogel hooking the ball over the bar in nine minutes when he should have really hit the target.

The tempo set by Hearts early on was always going to be difficult to keep up, and such was the commitment that the tackles were flying in and Gary Locke was lucky to only receive a yellow card for a dreadfully mistimed challenge on Bradley Carnell inside the Stuttgart half.

Locke, in particular, was given the difficult job of trying to shut down the creative Stuttgart midfield, where Pablo Thiam and Krassimir Balakov were trying to run the show.

However, in 16 minutes, Hearts made the breakthrough they had been searching for with a simple, set-piece goal.

It came from an inswinging corner from Gary Naysmith which was flicked over his head by the 6ft 5in defender Kevin James into the Stuttgart six-yard box.

Steven Pressley and German defender Thomas Schneider went for the ball in the box and Pressley claimed it was his momentum which sent it into the net, although the German defender may have helped it on its way.

Whoever got the final touch did not matter as the goal was what Hearts had deserved for all their early endeavour.

However, their case was not helped minutes after they took the lead when Gary Locke went off injured to be replaced by young Robbie Nielson, who nearly scored with a low left foot shot only minutes after coming on.

The changes told on Hearts, who gradually drifted out of the game for a while, during which time Stuttgart equalised and killed the tie stone-dead.

It came about through a Jochen Seitz pass from the right to Ahmed Hosny, whose shot was blocked, but South African-born Sean Dundee was on hand to stab home the loose ball with his left foot.

After getting back on level terms, the Germans took control of the game, and although Hearts kept trying their best to contain them, particularly in the middle of the park, it was clear the goal from Sean Dundee had knocked them for six.

Not surprisingly, the second half saw Hearts chasing the game and the Germans trying to take the sting out of things with crisp, short passing moves.

Jochen Seitz, whose pace was causing the home side all sorts of problems down the right-hand side, was coming more and more into the game, and it was an indication of his influence that Cameron was booked for a despairing tackle on him as he bore down on goal.

Lingering hopes that Hearts had of clawing their way back into the game were dented when the German side went even further ahead after 57 minutes.

A corner from Dundee was flicked on by Hosny to defender Marcelo Bordon, who rose in the Hearts box to head over goalkeeper Antti Niemi and into the net.

Once again Hearts showed great resolve to try and snatch the equaliser, and it was their big men which put them back on level terms. A corner from Naysmith in 61 minutes was met by James, and his flick on was met in the air by Petric, whose header just managed to cross the line.

Not surprisingly, Stuttgart tried to take the sting out of the game after that, and for a while the Germans looked impressive as they strung together a series of passes.

n CASH-STRAPPED Raith Rovers last night sold three top-team players to Livingston.

Trinidad and Tobago internationalist Marvin Andrews, striker Stevie Tosh, and midfielder Alex Burns were all snapped up in a #100,000 deal by Livvy manager Jim Leishman.

The first-division leaders had been looking for a clutch of new players for months after early- season injuries and now Leishman has beefed up his title-hunting squad with a bumper spending spree.