Heart of Midlothian 1 Ross County 1
Ladbrokes SPFL Premiership, Saturday 7 May 2016 – Tynecastle
The irony won’t have been lost on the Maroon Army who, yet again, turned up in large numbers at Tynecastle on Saturday for the visit of League Cup winners Ross County. Last Tuesday marked the 30th anniversary of that day at Dens Park, Dundee when Hearts contrived to lose the Premier Division title in the last eight minutes of the 1985/86 league campaign. At least that day the silver-shirted Hearts players had something to play for. Three decades later, the Hearts team of season 2015/16 – having already secured a third place finish in the Ladbrokes Premiership – had little to play for as they hosted the team from Dingwall. And, boy, did it show…
Hearts Head Coach Robbie Neilson rang the changes from the team that handed Celtic victory in Gorgie seven days earlier. Youngster Jack Hamilton replaced Neil Alexander in goal while Callum Paterson, Sam Nicholson, Gavin Reilly and Abiola Dauda were given starting places.
The month of May is but a few days old but there was a chill in the air in Gorgie and the mood of the fans wasn’t helped by what can only be described by this reporter as 90 minutes of tedium.
The highlights of the first half, if you can call them that, were a fine run out of defence by John Souttar who fed Abiola Dauda. His pass found Don Cowie whose cross was diverted away from the waiting Sam Nicholson.
Then Dauda had a chance following determined work from Gavin Reilly but the striker fired the ball high into the Roseburn Stand.
Ross County weren’t being seen much as an attacking force but Hearts young keeper Jack Hamilton was the hero in the 22nd minute when he raced out to meet the on-rushing Schalk and made a fine block to deny the County man opening the scoring.
After half an hour, more determined play from Gavin Reilly saw the former Queen of the South player find Nicholson who quickly fed Dauda. The Nigerian rounded the keeper but the angle was too tight for a shot on goal. He passed to Prince Buaben whose effort on goal trundled along like a miss-hit putt on the golf course…
Half-time Hearts 0 Ross County 0
As the teams trudged out for the second half the Tynecastle floodlights were switched on in an attempt to lift the gloom, even in mid-afternoon at the end of the first week in May. The ineffective Don Cowie was replaced at half-time by Arnaud Djoum which was understandable; not quite as understandable was the non-appearance of Gavin Reilly who was replaced by Juanma. Reilly had at least looked interested in the first half.
Djoum didn’t waste any time in making his presence felt and after winning possession, his shot on goal was deflected to Prince Buaben whose effort was wide.
Djoum then raced forward again and his cross into the County penalty box just eluded Dauda and the danger was averted.
With six minutes left and the game having goalless draw written all over it, Hearts unexpectedly took the lead. Buaben’s cross from the right was stabbed into the net by Juanma and, at last, there was something to cheer for a less than satisfied home support. But, being Hearts, the lead didn’t last long.
Just three minutes later a cross into the Hearts penalty box wasn’t dealt with by the home defence and substitute Goodwillie directed his header into the net for a share of the spoils.
The boos at the end of the game told their own story. Many of the Hearts players gave the impression they wanted to start their holidays now – all that was needed was for someone to bring on a game of Ker-Plunk and the end of term atmosphere would have been complete. True, the game wasn’t helped by an over-fussy referee who didn’t want to let the game flow and made some curious – I’m being generous here – decisions. But the paying public deserved more than what was on offer at Tynecastle on Saturday.
All I can say is roll on the end of the season…
Hearts: Hamilton, Paterson, Ozturk, Souttar, Oshaniwa, Nicholson (Zanatta, 71′), Kitchen, Cowie (Djoum, 46′), Buaben, Reilly (Juanma, 46′), Dauda.
Ross County: Fox, Robertson, Gardyne (Goodwillie, 82′), Foster, Davies, Franks (De Vita, 72′), Murdoch, Schalk (Boyce, 69′), Woods, Irvine, Quinn.
Referee: Nick Walsh
Att: 15,438
Top man: Callum Paterson
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
