Heart of Midlothian 2 Hamilton Academical 0
Ladbrokes SPFL Premiership, Saturday 7 November 2015 – Tynecastle
Hearts recorded their fourth league victory in a row with a hard-fought win over Hamilton Academical at Tynecastle on Saturday. Prince Buaben and Arnaud Djoum scored in the first half and this was enough to ensure Robbie Neilson’s side remained in second place in the Ladbrokes SPFL Premiership and close the gap on leaders Celtic to three points – at least until Sunday when the champions visit Ross County.
Neilson made a couple of changes to the team which romped to victory at Partick Thistle last week – Blazej Augustyn returned from suspension at the expense of Juwon Oshaniwa while Morgaro Gomis replaced Danny Swanson and wore the captain’s armband.
It was an unusually quiet start to a game at Tynecastle but Hearts finally burst into action in the seventh minute when Callum Paterson crossed for Arnaud Djoum who headed wide.
The last time these two sides met it was a somewhat controversial affair with the aforementioned Paterson sent off (wrongly as it transpired) and the Accies ending Hearts unbeaten run. There seemed to be some unfinished business from that game with tousy challenges and bookings for the visitors. Tagliapietra came close to scoring for the Accies when he was left unmarked at a corner but, thankfully for the home support, his header went wide.
After 26 minutes Hearts went ahead. There seemed minimal danger when Prince Buaben collected the ball thirty yards from goal but the midfielder fired in a low effort which visiting keeper McGovern appeared slow to react to and another packed house at Tynecastle celebrated.
The dangerous Tagliapietra nearly drew parity when he connected with a free-kick inside the Hearts penalty box but home keeper Neil Alexander saved splendidly.
Accies were to rue that chance as Hearts doubled their lead seven minutes before half-time. The pacey Sam Nicholson broke forward and crossed towards Osman Sow. The Swedish striker was given time to chest the ball down before taking it round keeper McGovern before unselfishly passing for the impressive Arnaud Djoum to poke home.
Half-time Hearts 2 Hamilton Accies 0
Djoum almost made it 3-0 early in the second half when he just missed getting on the end of a brilliant cross from Nicholson before Callum Paterson forced a fine save from McGovern with a free-kick.
Djoum limped off with a hamstring injury to be replaced by Miguel Pallardo. The substitute broke free to set up Osman Sow whose effort on goal produced another fine save from McGovern.
With 15 minutes left, it looked again like goal number three when Buaben and Sow linked well in the Accies penalty box before the Swede pushed the ball goalwards only to see it go wide.
Gavin Reilly then had a chance for the home side in injury time but his shot on goal up was pushed over the bar by McGovern.
Robbie Neilson was a satisfied man after the game
“I thought we played really well in the first half and obviously we got a couple of goals on the back of that.
“The second half was a bit scrappy but overall we competed well and played some good football at times.
We’d like to try to sustain it for as long as possible but there’s going to come a dip. We’re not going to go through the season winning every game. To be where we are is fantastic, but we have to continue to work hard and try to stay as high up the league as we can,” the Head Coach told BBC Scotland.
“The players are confident that every game they go in to they can win, but we have to prove it and at the moment we’re doing it. I’ve got a good squad. The aim is to get top six. If we get that it’s another progression from getting promoted, being stable in the top flight, and if we get higher than that it’ll be a fantastic season.
“We’re ahead of where we want to be as a club. The plans were to get out the Championship at the second time of asking. To get out at the first time of asking was great. To be where we are just now is great.”
Although the impressive Arnaud Djoum limped off injured he is expected to be fit for Hearts next game against Dundee in a fortnight.
“Arnaud is fine, it’s just a tight hamstring” said Neilson. “He’s played a fair bit recently so he’ll get a break now and he’ll be fine once we return to league action.”
Another impressive win for Hearts and another clean sheet. This was Robbie Neilson’s 50th league game in charge with a remarkable record of 38 wins, 6 draws and 6 defeats. That’s a mighty fine record.
Hearts: Alexander, Paterson, Augustyn, Rossi, McGhee, Gomis, Buaben, Djoum (Pallardo, 68′), Nicholson (Swanson, 79′), Sow, Juanma (Reilly, 67′).
Hamilton: McGovern, Gordon, Kurakins, Imrie (Nade, 75′), Turner (Longridge, 46′), Kurtaj, Morris, MacKinnon, Docherty, Tena (Sendles-White, 37′), Tagliapietra.
Referee: Bobby Madden
Att: 16,121
Top man: Sam Nicholson
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
