Hearts stun mighty Celts

CELTIC were sent crashing out of the CIS Insurance Cup last night as Hearts booked their place in the semi-finals.

A late double from substitute Andrius Velicka sealed the win after both teams had produced an uninspiring match at Parkhead.

Just 21,492 fans made the trip to the east end of Glasgow and those Celtic fans who stayed away would have been grateful to be spared the sight of their team passing up any chance of claiming the first silverware of the season.

Velicka turned the game on its head when he grabbed the opener in controversial circumstances with 76 minutes gone, lashing home a superb cut-back from Andrew Driver despite claims the ball had gone out of play.

Hearts confirmed their place in the semi-final draw when Velicka bagged his second of the night with a superb 20-yard shot with five minutes to go.

Hearts assistant boss Stephen Frail said: “It’s a fantastic feeling. For us to come and play the way we did after the last couple of results I couldn’t be any more proud of the team.

“Hopefully it will show them they can come to places like Celtic — we’ve already beaten Rangers at home this season — and it’s important if we want to challenge the top two and Hibs and Dundee United, we have to do it on a consistent basis.”

Motherwell 1 Rangers 2

By Mark McGee

NACHO NOVO and Kris Boyd fired Rangers into the CIS Insurance Cup semi-finals and took manager Walter Smith ever closer to the first trophy of his second spell in charge.

Rangers will learn the identity of their next opponents in the competition today, but with Hearts knocking Celtic out at Parkhead the Ibrox side are now firm favourites for the Scottish season’s first major silverware.

Both teams missed a string of chances which could have altered the course of the game, but the strikes from Novo and Boyd either side of the break proved enough to send the visitors through and make the case, for both players, that they warrant another run in the side.

Paul Quinn’s goal for Mark McGhee’s Motherwell sparked a rally in the closing stages but it was not to be for the home side.

* Barry Nicholson’s hat-trick and a comical goal from Lee Miller saw Aberdeen crush Inverness 4-1 to reach the semi-finals of the competition for the first time in seven years.

There was another hat-trick at Tannadice where Noel Hunt was Dundee United’s treble hero in a 3-1 win over Hamilton.

Barry Robson crossed twice for the Irishman to head United into a two-goal lead but his second in 77 minutes was countered by a Richard Offiong penalty two minutes later.

However five minutes from the end Hunt slotted home from close range to finish off the Irn-Bru First Division leaders, who had knocked out Kilmarnock in the previous round.