KICK-START FOR HEARTS
Dead-ball specialist Kingsley’s super strike has Jambos all fired up again
IN A league of such intensity and ferocity that games can swing on the finest of factors, it doesn’t take a data geek to recognise one simple mathematical truth.
The more match-winners you can acquire, the better your chances of rising to the interesting end of the Scottish Premiership. Consider Hearts as proof of this theorem.
From Craig Gordon making his usual — and expected — crucial saves, to formerly frustrated dead-ball artist Stephen Kingsley gleefully bending in unstoppable free-kicks, Robbie Neilson has a decent coterie of difference-makers to call upon in tight situations.
They certainly brought their influence in Saturday’s 2-0 home win over St Mirren, leaving the visitors wondering how on earth they’d not managed to secure even a point from a betterthan-decent performance.
Jim Goodwin’s men had been more than just solid and dogged. They’d threatened Hearts. Shaken them up and come close, oh so close, to scoring.
But the guile of maroon-clad marauders like fit-again front man Liam Boyce, arch-schemer Barrie McKay and veteran winger Gary Mackay-Steven proved too much.
Mackay-Steven got the opener just after the hour mark and Kingsley, whose performance as a Kieran Tierney-style overlapping centre-half raised all sorts of interesting international possibilities, added a second with one of his by-now-trademark free-kicks 15 minutes from time.
In a match that saw visiting skipper Joe Shaughnessy sent off for a second booking in injury-time, Saints looked suitably sickened by this one-two sucker punch.
Buddies centre-half Charles Dunne graciously praised the ‘intelligent’ Boyce for winning the free-kick that gave Kingsley the chance to show his talents.
And the scorer himself? He’s just pleased to be getting an opportunity to shine. The former Swansea and Hull defender, at 27, has now scored three dead-ball beauties for Hearts this season. And he revealed: ‘I didn’t score any freekicks before coming to Hearts because I was playing with such talented players in England. I was doing my practice but I just never got the chance to take them.
‘In England, Gylfi Sigurdsson took them at Swansea and he was sensational. Jarrod Bowen at Hull was brilliant and Harry Wilson came on loan, so I never got a look in. Now, to get the opportunity to take them has been brilliant.
‘I tend to practise the day before a game but not too much. You can overthink it and not think about your defensive duties.
‘I’m actually better in games than in training. The boys are probably wondering how I can do it in the game but not training!’
If his goal was the highlight of Kingsley’s performance, the way he went careering forward in the second half — taking the initiative as starting wing-back Andy Halliday struggled with a knock — was absolutely crucial to how Hearts threatened St Mirren.
While no one would expect him to knock Arsenal star Tierney out of the Scotland starting XI, clubmates Gordon and John Souttar surely wouldn’t hesitate to recommend him for a return the international squad. Should Steve Clarke seek their opinion, that is.
Kingsley, whose only cap came as a sub in a 3-0 battering by France back in the summer of 2016, insists he isn’t wasting any energy even contemplating the possibility.
‘Getting forward with the ball is something I always try to do,’ he said. ‘In the second half, Andy had a knock after colliding with the billboards, so I knew he was struggling and he wouldn’t be running forward too much.
‘So when the chance came, at the right times, I could get forward in support.
‘I want to keep that in my game and breaking the lines and getting forward because it eases the pressure on the midfielders.
‘Do I think about Scotland? Not at all, really. It would be great to represent my country again but all I can impact is what I do here.
‘There are some incredible players in the Scotland squad and we are in such a positive place right now. The standard is so high, so I don’t worry about it too much.’
Having fallen apart in the 2-0 away loss to Motherwell seven
days earlier, it was vital Hearts bounced back — and maintained their unbeaten home record for the season — against St Mirren.
‘Last season in the Championship, it was a tough league — but when we had a bad performance or result we always reacted well,’ said Kingsley. ‘After losing to Aberdeen a few weeks ago, we were hurt. We reacted with a 5-2 win over Dundee United with a great performance.
‘The Motherwell game hurt and you could see it in the changing room, it was quite flat. We had to pick ourselves up and look at the bigger picture.
‘We have had a good start to the season. Yes, there have been a few bad performances — but we bounced back against St Mirren again.’
From their ten home games in this first season back in the top flight, Hearts have seven wins and three draws. Tynecastle is one again becoming something of a citadel.
Thursday night’s trip to Celtic Park is, of course, sure to represent a very different — and more daunting — type of examination for the Gorgie boys. It all adds up to an interesting prospect, at the very least.
HEARTS (3-4-2-1): Gordon 7; Souttar 7, Halkett 6, Kingsley 7; Smith 6, Baningime 6 (Haring 86), Devlin 7, Halliday 6; McKay 6, MackaySteven 7 (Ginnelly 69); Boyce 6 (Gnanduillet 80). Subs not used: Stewart, McEneff, Woodburn, Cochrane. Booked: Devlin. ST MIRREN (3-4-2-1): Alnwick 7; Shaughnessy 5, Dunne 6, Fraser 6; Tait 6, Flynn 6 (Kiltie 80), Power 6, Tanser 5 (Mcallister 34); McGrath 7, Ronan 6 (Dennis 72); Brophy 5. Subs not used: Lyness, Main, Erhahon, Millar. Booked: Alnwick, Flynn, Shaughnessy. Sent off: Shaughnessy. Man of the match: Stephen Kingsley. Referee: Alan Muir. Attendance: 17,311.