Steven Anderson Testimonial
Sunday 3 August 2014 – McDiarmid Park
Hearts may no longer be in the top flight of Scottish football but they remain one of the biggest clubs in the country with a huge travelling support that swells the coffers of most other clubs. So when SPFL Premiership side St. Johnstone were considering opponents for a testimonial match for long-serving Saintee Steven Anderson, the name of Heart of Midlothian was near the top of the list.
And so it was that more 700 Hearts supporters made the trip to Perth on a typical Scottish summer’s afternoon – sun, wind and rain interchanged as often as the players on the pitch.
Hearts played some fine football and cantered to a 4-0 win through first half goals from Osman Sow – the big striker looks like being a big hit in Gorgie this season – and Jason Holt while young striker Gary Oliver scored a second half double. Head Coach Robbie Neilson made ten changes at half-time as he fine-tuned his team ahead of next weekend’s official kick-off
True, it was far from a full-strength St. Johnstone side who clearly had an eye on Thursday’s Uefa Cup tie but it was, nonetheless, a comprehensive drubbing for the home team. Steven Anderson himself admitted after the game that ‘Hearts gave us a hiding today’
A week today Hearts open their SPFL Championship season at Ibrox against newly-promoted Rangers. On the basis of this showing, Robbie Neilson’s team have nothing to fear.
St Johnstone: Banks, Miller, Scobbie, Trialist, Gilchrist, Anderson, O’Halloran, McDonald, May,Trialist, Caddis
Hearts: First half – Alexander, L. Smith, McHattie, Wilson, Ozturk, Gomis, King, Holt, Sow, D. Smith, Walker. Second half – Gallacher, McKay, Buaben, Robinson, Nicholson, Oliver, Carrick, McGhee, Gordon, Henderson, D. Smith.
Referee: Don Robertson
Top Man: Gary Oliver
Author of The Team for Me - 50 Years of Following Hearts. Runs Mind Generating Success, a successful therapy practice in Edinburgh. Contact me if you want rid of any unwanted habits. Twitter @Mike1874
