THE Hearts fans chanted Rudi Skacel's name as the man synonymous with their greatest Scottish Cup victory entered the fray. Ten minutes later, though, they must have been cursing him.

There was bedlam around Stark's Park when a trademark sweep of the Czech's wicked left boot, which returned a partially-cleared Bobby Barr corner with interest, was turned in from close range by Declan McManus.

After some protests and confusion as to whether the striker had been offside or not, referee John Beaton pointed to the centre circle and the 89th minute goal was duly given.

It cancelled out Jamie Walker's first half opener and means that the Hearts faithful will get to see their former favourite all over again on his old stomping ground of Tynecastle this Wednesday for the replay.

Read more: Ian Cathro: It's crazy that we have to play Raith Rovers replay this Wednesday

Skacel and the man who had brought him on for the last ten minutes, manager Gary Locke, will forever be associated with Hearts but both have learned that there is only limited room for sentiment in sport.

Thus it was to his current fans and not the travelling to whom Skacel turned on the final whistle, while Locke - a coach that fateful day in May 2012 when Hearts overcame their city rivals 5-1 only for his services to be dispense with by Ann Budge when she assumed control of the Tynecastle club - celebrated the late equaliser with as much decorum as Jose Mourinho once showed at Old Trafford. What a shot in the arm it was for a side in the midst of a ten-match winless run.

Ian Cathro, meanwhile, was flat affronted last night when he was informed that his team, who have still to win in the yellow and pink colours of Lord Roseberry, would have to turn themselves around for the replay with little more than 48 hours' rest.

He insists he isn't ripping things up and starting again this January but he still found room for all four of his new signings. This was mainly because - with Arnaoud Djoum and Feycal Rherras at the Africa Cup of Nations and Callum Paterson out for two months with a knee problem - he didn't have too many other options.

In came the vastly experienced Aaron Hughes, and fellow new boys Malaury Martin, Andraz Struna and Lennard Sowah. Skacel staerted on the bench against his former team, and Ryan Stevenson was cup-tied, although Kevin McHattie was one former Hearts man who did make Gary Locke's starting line-up.

The BBC cameras were in town but for much of the afternoon they merely witnessed was a fairly lacklustre occasion, perhaps not helped by the early kick-off and the icy weather.

Read more: Ian Cathro: It's crazy that we have to play Raith Rovers replay this Wednesday

Jamie Walker's day started with a whack in the face which drew blood but in fact then23-year-old, a former loan player here, who was exempted from the general nosebleed in front of goal. While Hearts had this match in control for most of the opening calf, and Perry Kitchen had headed wide when presented with a free header from a Martin corner, they weren't exactly carving out a barrowload of chances.

Fortunately for them, Raith gave them a helping hand. There seemed little danger when Jordan Thompson - on-loan from Rangers - picked up possession in his own half but he made a blind pass across his own defence and into the path of Don Cowie. Walker timed a run well and steered a canny finish into the bottom corner for his 11th of the season.

Hearts had the platform now, and a confident and fully functioning team would have gone on make the game safe. Instead, Hearts never built on their lead and Raith finally got up a head of steam. Mark Stewart deserves credit for his hold-up play and nuisance value even if he spurned two of the more simple chances you could ever see. First he fluffed his lines with a free header from a corner some six yards out, then McHattie's run and cross presented him with a tap-in. Rather than sidefoot the ball calmly into the bottom corner, he got the contact all wrong and succeeded only in striking the face of the bar.

Read more: Ian Cathro: It's crazy that we have to play Raith Rovers replay this Wednesday

Locke threw all his subs into the fray and Hearts got deeper and deeper. McManus - not universally popular even with his own fans this season - had wriggled into the box once and fired into the sidenetting once before he got the goal which kept Raith in the draw for the fifth round. Bobby Barr's corner was headed out to the edge of the box, and Skacel's strike may or may not have beaten Jack Hamilton had McManus not changed its direction from close range.

Hearts' complaints about offside fell on deaf ears and their only consolation was that things didn't get even worse for them. Goalkeeper Hamilton had to look lively to prevent the hulking figure of Jean-Yves Mvoto from knocking them out of the cup there and then.

Instead this tie lives on to Tynecastle on Wednesday night, with a potential Edinburgh derby up for grabs. Hearts should beware though: Skacel is thinking about retiring this summer to run a youth coaching school in Los Angeles and the 37-year-old clearly knows a thing or two about Hollywood endings.

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Raith Rovers 1 (McManus 89) Hearts 1 (Walker 35)

Hearts (4-2-3-1): Hamilton; Struna, Souttar, Hughes, Sowah; Nowak, Kitchen; Cowie, Martin, Walker (Zanatta 85); Johnsen.

Subs not used: Noring, Sammon, Beith, Smith, Godinho, Currie

Raith Rovers: Cuthbert; Davidson, M'Voto, Benedictus, McHattie; Barr, Matthews, Callachan, Thompson (Skacel 79), Johnston (Hardie 68); Stewart (McManus 79).

Subs not used: Brennan, Thomson, Roberts, C Barr

Attendance: 5,036

Bookings: Raith Rovers: Barr, Davidson. Hearts: Struna