Queen of the South 1-1 Hearts
An uninspiring Hearts side notched up their first league draw of the season as they grabbed a last minute Liam Boyce penalty to nick a point away at second-bottom Queen of the South.
Despite starting the game relatively well, Hearts really struggled to find any quality in the final third and, perhaps most gallingly, failed to show much guts and gusto after falling behind just before the break thanks to a cleverly won penalty by Isiah Jones against Stephen Kingsley. Ayo Obileye duly dispatched past a frustrated Craig Gordon.
Whilst expecting a Jambo reaction after the interval, assuming a Robbie Neilson rollicking in the away dressing room, Hearts continued with slack passing and poor industry. Liam Boyce was the only Hearts player who looked to be showing much positive attitude and bite in battle.
It took until the 90th minute for Hearts to pull proceedings level when Rhys Breen – the on-loan Rangers youngster – tripped Boyce, allowing the Northern Irishman to notch his tenth league goal of the campaign from the spot to spare the league leaders’ blushes.
The manner of the 90 minutes will be much to the chagrin of the JT faithful who, despite their side topping the table by 13 points, are not seeing the committed and full-blooded performances from their charges in games they expect. Lack of crowds? Sensible game management? The debate will continue.
Next up for Hearts are Greenock Morton a week on Saturday in Gorgie. After three consecutive wins, the clash at Tynecaslte should be the perfect opportunity to get back to winning ways in style. Can the Championship pacesetters show their mettle?
Queen of the South: Ferguson, Gibson, Buchanan, Breen, Maxwell, Nortey, Obileye, Jones (Joseph, 90+3’mins), Pybus (McGrory, 18 mins), East, Awokoya-Mebude (Goss, 90+5 mins) Subs not used: Dobbie, McKechnie, McMahon, Rae
Hearts: Gordon, Smith, Popescu, Halkett, Kingsley, Halliday (Naismith, 81 mins), Irving (Henderson, 65 mins), Mackay-Steven, Kastaneer (McEneff, 57 mins), Walker, Boyce Subs not used: Haring, Berra, Stewart, Frear, Henderson
Referee: Colin Steven
