Hearts get back to winning ways
Heart of Midlothian 2 Hamilton Academical 0
Ladbrokes Premiership, Wednesday 26th December
2018 – Tynecastle Park
Hearts got back to winning
ways at Tynecastle Park on Boxing Day as they comfortably saw off a struggling
Hamilton Academical side to secure an important three points in the Ladbrokes
Premiership. Two goals in the opening half from Steven Naismith and Arnaud
Djoum were enough for victory on a lacklustre afternoon in Gorgie.
Hearts manager Craig Levein
made three changes from the team that went down in Aberdeen at the weekend.
There was a welcome return for Arnaud Djoum from suspension while Ben Garrucio
and Callumn Morrison also returned, the suspended Demetri Mitchell missing out
along with Sean Clare and Oliver Bozanic who dropped to the substitutes’ bench.
There was a muted atmosphere around
Tynecastle as the game kicked off – it certainly didn’t have a Boxing Day feel
to it. That said, the crowd were almost on their feet in the opening minute
when Olly Lee let fly from 25 yards, but his shot was too direct at Accies
keeper Woods to threaten a goal.
There was an even better chance
for Hearts a couple of minutes later when fine play down the right from Callumn
Morrison saw the winger deliver a dangerous cross which found Steven Naismith,
but the striker inexplicably headed wide when it seemed easier to score.
Hearts were dominating the
game and it was no surprise when they went ahead in the 18th minute.
Fine play from Ben Garrucio found Naismith inside the Accies penalty box. The
on-loan Norwich striker turned and placed his shot beyond keeper Woods into the
net.
Hearts almost doubled their
lead just after the half-hour mark when a quick free-kick from Naismith set
Steven MacLean clean through on the Accies goal but his shot was too high, and the
ball sailed into the Roseburn Stand.
On the stroke of half-time
Hearts did double their lead. Again, it was Steven Naismith who was the
instigator refusing to give up on a loose pass. He fed Morrison whose cross
found Arnaud Djoum who took a touch inside the penalty box before driving the
ball home.
Half-time: Hearts 2 Hamilton Accies 0
Hearts continued to create
chances in the second half but couldn’t add to their lead. The main culprit was
Michael Smith. The Northern Irish international fired a great chance from 10
yards high into the Gorgie Stand while he spurned an even greater opportunity
13 minutes from the end when Hearts were awarded a penalty kick after Gordon
handled the ball inside the visitor’s penalty box. It looked a harsh decision
and perhaps justice was done when Smith crashed his penalty kick against the
bar and the ball was cleared.
By this time Accies were
reduced to ten men when Want received his second yellow card after he tugged
Naismith’s shirt with 20 minutes left.
Hearts may also have seen a
reduction in numbers when Ben Garuccio lunged in on an Accies player, but
referee Don Robertson deemed only a yellow card was necessary – a decision
which left the Hearts man mightily relieved.
The final action of the
afternoon came when Olly Lee unleashed a ferocious shot from 30 yards which
produced a fine save from Woods who pushed the effort over the crossbar.
Hearts will be happy with the
win, but their team are clearly shorn of the confidence that typified their
early season play.
Craig Levein could also sense
the lack of confidence in his side. He told the official Hearts website after
the game:
“I thought it was a decent
performance. We didn’t get the icing on the cake, but the cake was pretty good.
“I
thought we played good stuff last week without an end product. Today we had end
product and loads of chances, but you could still see the nerves in the team.
“We
missed chances early on and squandered some situations with poor decision
making.
“It’s
nice to go into the derby with a win. This has been a tough slog through this
period, and we haven’t always played poorly, but it’s about character and
determination and grit and resilience and all these things people talk about.
“I’m
hoping today’s efforts make the players and supporters feel good about the game
on Saturday.”
Hearts: Doyle, Smith, Haring
(Bozanic, 80′), Berra, Lee, Djoum (Mulraney, 73′), Naismith, Garuccio, MacLean
(Clare, 59′), Godinho, Morrison.
Hamilton: Woods, McGowan, McMann,
Gordon, Tshiembe (Sowah, 10′), Imrie, Miller (Bingham, 52′), Taiwo, Want,
Martin, Brustad (Boyd, 73′).
Referee: Don Robertson
Attendance: 16,475
Top man: It has to be Steven Naismith.
Hearing the wee man bawl to his teammates
‘f****ng get there first’ was one of the highlights of my afternoon