Young Hearts star shows no fear in Lions' Den

You only need alight at South Bermondsey station and follow the tunnelled walkway to the New Den to sense the nostalgia of Green Street and the 1980s battles. Danny Dyer would be in his element.

The stadium is a smart 20,000 all-seater but a portion of the natives preserve Millwall's reputation as a working man's - or rather hard man's - football team.

Skinheads roam outside and are easily detectable amongst hordes of ordinary home fans.

The aforementioned paths to and from the train station ensure it is difficult for opposing supporters to clash.

One can only imagine the carnage which once characterised the Old Den, a quarter of a mile away.

You would expect, therefore, any teenager experiencing Millwall for the first time as one of the away team would be more than a little overawed.

If so, you don't know Craig Thomson. Fear isn't in his dictionary. On Saturday, despite being inside one of Britain's most intimidating venues, he wasn't interested in any foreboding. The only thing on his mind was rampaging.

A first-half performance at right midfield was so impressive that the 19-year-old could consider himself unfortunate at being returned to right-back for the second period.

This was due to injuries sustained by Ismael Bouzid and Eggert Jonsson, both decked seconds apart in aerial challenges with Millwall's uncompromising striker Steve Morison. He had a skinhead too. Thomson still wasn't bothered.

With Hearts 2-1 down on 68 minutes, the youngster calmly clipped an equalising free-kick in off the underside of the crossbar from 22 yards after Paul Robinson had tripped David Templeton.

It was a quite stupefying effort, except he wasn't finished. Three minutes from full-time, he repeated the feat, this time from 30 yards and with the aid of a post after Tamika Mkandawire had fouled Ryan McGowan.

The nonchalance with which he arced the ball over the Millwall wall and into the net for a second time belied his tender years.

"I had to tell Craig to take the one at the end," explained Jim Jefferies, the Hearts manager. "It was a better distance than the first one. We were screaming at him to have another go and they were two fantastic free-kicks from him.

"He played wide right in the first half and gave me something to look at and, when he switched to right-back in the second half, he was excellent. I thought he was outstanding overall."

Violence apart, Millwall are famous for being Delboy's team. Peckham is only a short walk from the New Den so it was entirely fitting that someone called Trotter should score both Millwall goals.

Liam Trotter rose powerfully either side of half-time to convert crosses from James Henry and overhaul Jonsson's 12th-minute penalty. At that point, the hosts would have considered everything was cushty, to coin the Only Fools and Horses catchphrase. They dominated early in the second half with Bouzid taken to hospital suffering from what was feared at the time to be a fractured skull and Jonsson kept inside during the interval due to nausea.

The first half, however, had been largely orchestrated by Hearts.

After Thomson's equaliser midway through the second, the visitors resumed control and finished looking commanding, imposing and thoroughly deserving of their win.

They also stole the show from Neil Harris, Millwall's all-time record goalscorer.

This was his testimonial and cries of "supa Neil 'Arris" regularly rang around the ground.

Jefferies reserved his praise for his players after two come-from-behind wins against Gillingham and Millwall inside three days. "These two games have tested the strength of the squad we've got," he said. "I thought they were outstanding on Saturday. The fitness levels are great and we showed character like we did the other night.

"It is always nice to win the games but the performance was excellent. We were by far the better team in the opening 35 minutes until the injuries. That took the wind out of our sails.

"The equaliser was a poor goal from our point of view, a free header in the six-yard box."

Jefferies reserved particular praise for the dominant Ryan Stevenson, deployed as an emergency striker due to injuries. His awareness and industry posed continual problems for defenders and his intelligent use of the ball may prove beneficial if Hearts still require a partner for Kevin Kyle when the SPL season begins.

"I thought on Thursday night Stevenson was great but he was even better on Saturday. He was outstanding. I think he's a real find for us," said Jefferies, who also hinted again that Adrian Mrowiec, the Polish trialist, is likely to remain part of the Tynecastle squad.

"Adrian is doing all right. The decision will be mine. If I did not want him I would not have him in the last couple of games. I am thinking more about him than before that. We think we needed a period to see how we wanted him to play. It is encouraging to see the supporters get behind him."

This was strictly only a pre-season friendly so Jefferies' additional comments suggesting no-one should get carried away with the result were those of a wise, old football manager. But encouragement continues for the Hearts support following the defeat of Gillingham.

A banner reading "Maribor Hearts" hung from the top tier of the away stand on Saturday. In the coming weeks, Tynecastle fans will become totally preoccupied with their own team if current form persists.

Millwall (4-4-2): Forde; Dunne (Mkandawire 85), Robinson, Moore, Frampton (Smith 46); Henry, Abdou, Trotter (Laird 24), Schofield; Harris (Hackett 90), Morison (Lisbie 71). Subs: Mildenhall, Grabban, Hackett, Mkandawire.

Hearts (4-4-2): Kello; Barr, Bouzid (McGowan 35), Zaliukas, Wallace; C Thomson, Jonsson (Suso 46), Mrowiec, Templeton (Novikovas 83); Elliot (Smith 83), Stevenson. Sub: MacDonald.

Referee: Phil Crossley.

Attendance: 8376.