Hearts: Recalling the night Paul Hartley's penalty split the Old Firm and secured Champions League spot

It’s coming up for four months since Hearts fans have been able to experience the soundtrack of football.

The groans and the cheers. The flow of a match through the oohs and aahs. The pained shout of one fan, a brazed quip of another or the eruption of joy brought on by a goal.

The score of a football match is an experience in itself. In the same way it brings to life a film, the accompanying soundtrack adds to the storyline, the drama, the tension.

That was the case at Tynecastle Park on the evening of Wednesday, 3 May, 2006 as Hearts played host to Aberdeen.

From the moment fans began to descend on the ground, turning on to Gorgie Road from Dalry Road, Robertson Avenue or Wardlaw Street, there was a tension in the air which reminded fans this night could be a special evening.

Hearts knew their fate lay in their own hands. After Rangers’ win at Easter Road on the Tuesday, Valdas Ivanauskas’ men knew three points would make their final league fixture at Ibrox meaningless.

More importantly it would ensure a second-place finish behind Celtic, becoming the first team to split the Old Firm since 1994-95, and the first outside the Old Firm to compete for a place in the Champions League group stage.

90 minutes of agonising joy

Tynecastle was unsurprisingly packed, even before the players had taken to the field. The Old Section N filled right up to the end beside the travelling support, far more bodies than you suspect seats.

The noise which greeted the players was deafening, but it would soon subside as the fans suffered 90 exacting minutes.

Any time Aberdeen entered Hearts’ final third, a silence would envelop EH11, until the ball was cleared or knocked to safety.

When Hearts attacked, the noise was hopeful but agitated. Fans urging the team to score. Even in the first-half it was easy to hear the turmoil of the home support.

A goalmouth scramble after the interval didn’t bring about the goal. The disbelief was palpable.

But then the moment arrived. A long throw from Neilson, an Edgaras Jankauskas flick-on, a Russell Anderson handball. A Paul Hartley penalty. An enviable Hearts penalty record, but this was by far his biggest.

The travelling support whistled, the home support worried. Then, as the net bulged, that eruption. The type not normally reserved for a penalty, but for an unexpected last-minute winner.

Yet with still over half an hour remaining there was still plenty to agonise over, even if Hearts were the better and more threatening side.

Fans had to survive painstaking pinball in their box, then Hartley pleaded with Dougal to blow the full-time whistle.

The atmosphere had already changed. Supporters were singing and celebrating before one last roar. The whistle brought the players together in a mass of bodies in the middle before Vladimir Romanov enjoyed them. Fans enjoyed every last second.

The Champions League anthem played over the tannoy. It signalled the end credits of a special night in Gorgie. Only, there was one final scene remaining. For Takis Fyssas to take the microphone and remind fans, in song, the club had reached the Champions League (qualifiers).