BLAZE OF GLORY FOR THE JAMBOS

Hearts get Dhanda up to spark season to life in the Land of Fire

THEY call Azerbaijan the "Land of Fire" given its rich supplies of oil and gas.

And here, by the banks of the Caspian Sea. Hearts may finally have set their season alight as Belarusian champions Dinamo Minsk were burned by a 94thminute winner.

Fittingly it was Yan Dhanda - who has his own Tynecastle terracing chant to the tune of "Can't Start A Fire" - who nabbed his first goal in maroon with just seconds left on the clock.

It's just a shame there were no Jambos in Azerbaijan to revel in it, thanks to UEFA's sanctions on Belarus forcing the tie to be played behind closed doors in neutral territory.

The punters were forced to watch back home on TNT and they will be hoping this night is the big bang their season so badly needs.

Hearts had never travelled further for a competitive game.

It was 3300 miles from Tynecastle to the Sumgayit City Stadium but sub Dhanda's winner, coming after Sergei Politevich's own goal had cancelled out Stephen Alfred's opener for Minsk, means that journey back to Scotland was just that bit brighter.

Caretaker boss Liam Fox had told his players to attack the Conference League with confidence and not waste all of last season's efforts in qualifying for Europe.