Football: Falconer breaks Hearts

HEARTS' INCREASINGLY miserable season took a turn for the worse last night as Dundee snatched a 2-1 win at Tynecastle Park to move level on points in the Premier League with the Edinburgh side.

The Scottish Cup holders were forced to play most of the match with 10 men, after their international defender David Weir was sent off in the 18th minute for bringing down James Grady inside the box.

The visitors' full-back, Lee Sharp, converted the penalty, and the Dundee striker Willie Falconer headed what proved to be the winner three minutes before the interval after Derek Lilley had marked his Hearts debut with an equalising goal.

Lilley, the former Morton striker, had joined Hearts earlier in the day on loan from Leeds United. Hearts' goalkeeper, Gilles Rousset, was reportedly shown a red card in the tunnel after the game for abusing the referee, Hugh Dallas.