You Bast*rds. Once again Celtic decide to have a laugh at the expense of the faint-hearted amongst us and go two behind to their closest challengers.

Bleary-eyed and feeling none too clever I heaved my alcohol-sweating carcass from the comfort of my cozy bed, crawled down the stairs and levered myself into a sprawling position on the sofa 5 minutes before kick off. God knows how the guys at the game felt.

By 8 minutes past the kick off time I felt like crying, crawling back into bed or settling for hiding behind a pillow at the horror show that was unfolding before my blood-shot eyes.

Celtic had lined up with the usual suspects of recent time bar one surprise out on the left. Thompson started ahead of McGeady. Given Strachan's post-match admission that Celtic had been out-muscled by Hearts we can assume this was a tactical decision. Thompson does carry more of a physical presence but unfortunately this did little to hinder Hearts in the opening minutes of the first half.

Ironically the first serious chance fell to Celtic via a Thompson cross after nut-megging a Hearts defender on the left. The cross found Petrov who simply had to simply keep the ball down to score but instead managed to send it over. "A promising start at least" thought the suffering hero on the couch.

5 minutes later the suffering hero could no longer even stomach the Lucozade he was trying to force down his throat as Hearts and taken a two goal lead. The first from a quick break by Hartley who put a lovely cross in front of the face of goal. An on-rushing Wallace who was tracking back could do little as the ball came off him and into the back of the net.

A few minutes later and ex-hun Pressley completely out-jumped the Celtic defence to send the Hearts support into fits of ecstasy. The first day of 2006 was not looking good.

The rest of the first half saw Celtic dominate possession but not really threaten. Hearts made better use of the ball and it fell to Boruc to keep us in the game. Celtic did have attempts at goal with  Petrov shooting from distance while Hartson and Maloney had a comedy moment in the box when they left the ball to each other and the chance was gone. However Hearts continued to be the most threatening, especially with young Callum Elliot playing out of his skin.

By the end of the half I had resigned myself to the fact that we'd only be top of the league by one point come the end of the game. In fact, at 2-0 I thought we were lucky not be dead and buried completely.

The second half and things looked to be going from bad to worse as Petrov was taken off with what looked like a hamstring injury. On came Pearson who settled into the middle of the park as a direct replacement. Little did I know this was to be the catalyst for a Celtic comeback.

6 minutes later and Pearson had buried the ball into the back of the net after a Petrov-esque run and he got on to a beautiful cross from Maloney. The long suffering bundle on the sofa suddenly discovered a spark of life and a taste for Lucozade again.

Celtic suddenly looked like they were interested and were chasing everything now. They should have been level when Nakamura unleashed a shot from outside the box that Gordon failed to hold on to. Pearson again had to simply knock it into the net but managed to hit it off the post. Maloney stuck the rebound away but was deemed to be active from an off-side position. A decision that the whimpering heap unfortunately had to agree with.

The ref had also turned down a stone-waller of a penalty when Pressley brought down Maloney in the box. It was Maloney who did get the referee to make a decision when he was brought down by Fyssas just outside the box. Straight red and now Celtic had to break down a 10-man defence in order to get a share of the points.

With time running out Celtic did get that precious second goal from a corner kick. McManus bulleting home a header. Pandemonium ensued on the sofa and for the first time I managed to jump around like a loon (something of a record - 86 minutes into a Celtic match).

Just as Tims everywhere were ready to settle for a point it dawned that there might be a fair whack of injury time left and maybe a winner.

Another set piece and another McManus goal. He managed to steer it past Gordon into the far corner. All of a sudden life held endless possibilities and the heap was now a blur running round and round the room. 7 points clear and the Huns who must have been dreaming about getting their desired result were back in the doldrums as well.

Celtic had come back AGAIN but this time from a two goal deficit. The sooner we get back to winning games from the off rather than being generous and giving goals away the happier all those sullen, hungover heaps shall be.

Ratings:-

Boruc  8
Kept us in the game in the first half.

Wallace 6
No luck with the own goal but played well coming forward. Still a doubt remains over his defensive capabilities.

Bobo  5
A real liability at the moment. Time for someone else to have a chance and he may find himself out of the team when he comes back from international duty.

McManus  7
For the goals alone he gets a 7. Looked a little uncertain at times.

Telfer  6
Like the rest of the defence, not been playing at his best but had a good enough game.

Thompson  5
Great cross for the Petrov chance but didn't get a chance to shine given the rest of the team's first half performance.

Lennon   7
Dragged the team through this game. Still gets involved in to many needless situations and as for his kick at Pressley - lucky to have stayed on.

Petrov  5
Hopefully the break will give him a chance to recharge. Has not been at the races recently.

Nakamura  7
Two great set pieces gave us the win.

Hartson  7
Stood tall and gave as good as he got from the Hearts defence.

Maloney 7
Came into the game in the second half and caused all sorts of problems for Hearts.

Subs:-

Pearson 7

McGeady  6  

MAN OF THE MATCH:- Boruc. For giving us the chance to get back into this game.