Top-six battlers fail to sparkle Argentinian's parting shots fall well short of fans' expectations

FRUSTRATION was the name of the game for Dundee's Claudio Caniggia, prior to his trip home to Argentina, after the final whistle of what turned out to be an East coast stalemate between two of the SPL's 'likely lads' for top six finishes.

Caniggia is scheduled for an appearance in a Buenos Aries courtroom tomorrow, as he continues his civil case against former employers Boca Juniors.

It was clear by his performance in yesterday's clash that he was determined to leave the Dens Park fans counting the minutes until his return.

Sadly, despite his at-times brilliance, Caniggia proved to be one of the main culprits responsible for the goal-less affair, his shooting boots failed to match his individual skills on the ball.

The home-side, desperate to boost their hopes of a place in the top-six in the table when the League splits in a few weeks time, saw themselves create - but miss - some of the best scoring opportunities they have had all season.

However, Hearts too had chances, and sinners in Andy Kirk and Thomas Flogel, as they tried to leapfrog Kilmarnock into fourth spot in the table.

But it was Ivano Bonetti, the Dundee manager, who was the more disappointed coach at the close. He said: ''I was of course happy to see entertaining football played by my side, but was frustrated to see them fail to put their chances away.

''However disappointed I am at this outcome, I can honestly say that I feel that we are still on course to complete what is really our first season in the Scottish game.''

Kevin McKenna, Heart's new central defender, found himself on cloud nine in what was his debut in the starting line up.

He explained: ''Playing against the likes of Claudio Caniggia is the kind of stuff you dream about as a kid. He is a real star of the game.''

Regardless of his admiration for the home staff, Canadian McKenna came through his first game with flying colours as Hearts succeeded in stemming the efforts of the home-side to capture all three points and register a first League win over the Edinburgh side this season.

An injury had kept Steven Tweed out of Ivano Bonetti's starting thoughts, forcing the home manager into a defensive reshuffle with Barry Smith switching into a central role, and South American Walter Del Rio getting a fourth top team start of the campaign. McKenna's first chance for the visitors came via the injury absence of regular Robert Tomaschek.

The men from the capital offered the brighter start of the pair and ought to have broken the deadlock as early as the ninth minute, when Kirk fired just wide of his target from 15 yards with only goalkeeper Marco Roccati to beat.

Dundee's response to that was a Caniggia-inspired opening for fellow striker Juan Sara, whose powerfully struck shot from eight yards ought not to have given Antti Niemi the opportunity to block the ball to safety. To be blunt, it was a bad miss from so near.

That escape served to spur the visitors into greater efforts and Roccati had to look lively to block a couple of Colin Cameron efforts, prior to foiling Flogel with a tackle many of his defenders would have been proud of.

But it was still Dundee who continued to create the better chances and Georgi Nemsadze should have supplied a deserved lead nine minutes from the interval when presented with a gift of an opening by Caniggia.

The Argentinian's surged down the wing, left a couple of Hearts defenders in his wake, and his cut back was perfection. Disappointingly, Nemsadze hit his shot into the second back row of the Bobby Cox Stand.

While Caniggia excelled on that occasion, he blotted his copybook five minutes into the second-half when trying to be too fancy when racing on to a pass from fellow countryman Beto Carranza, who had entered the fray just a couple of minutes earlier.

The play continued to switch from end to end and Spaniard Javier Artero fired wide of the mark with an angled strike from another Caniggia assist. Dundee were thankful for the handling skills of Roccati for keeping the score sheet blank when Cameron burst onto the scene.

His near-post saw his finish seem destined for the roof of the net until the home keeper rose to tip the effort over the bar.

Hearts keeper Niemi was not denied his moment of glory at the other end, he produced a couple of marvellous stops to deny Sara from creating a home lead.