THE TOP BOYCE
Liam lifts the Jambos to table summit and vows to keep them flying high
Unbeaten and top of the league in October.
Tynecastle packed and a team playing with steel and swagger in equal measure.
Whisper it, but Hearts might actually be the real deal this season. You won’t hear gaffer Robbie Neilson or any of the players shouting about it from the rooftops.
Maybe even the Jambos fans don’t fully believe it yet.
But if they can keep their big players fit and gain momentum, who knows where they might end up come next May?
It’s reminiscent of those glorious few months under George Burley back in 2005.
Remember, when Hearts were flying high at the summit after 10 games? His reward from owner Vladimir Romanov was the SACK – almost 16 years ago to the day.
Thankfully, Neilson doesn’t have to worry about that.
Yesterday’s 2- 0 victory over Motherwell put them top for 24 hours at least – and they could even afford to miss a penalty.
The big question is, can they stay there and put up a genuine fight to the Old Firm? And of course, city rivals Hibs?
Liam Boyce’s spot-kick and a stunning free-kick from Stephen
Kingsley secured three points.
And Northern Irish striker Boyce said: “We believe we can stay up there, 100 per cent.
“We’ve played eight games and haven’t lost.
“We have done brilliantly with the players we have signed.
“The stamina of Beni Baningime and Cammy Devlin is ridiculous. They seem to be everywhere.
“If anyone drops out of the team we know someone with quality is coming in.
“And different games need different types of players. So we have all the bases covered.
“It comes down to belief. We believe we’re a good team and can go into every game and be competitive.
“We have full belief in the way we’re playing and we can adapt in games.
“We have a template to play from and the players are smart enough to spot weaknesses in teams and capitalise on them.”
Even without the injured John Souttar, a quick scan of Hearts’ team-sheet nowadays tells you they’ve got proper strength in depth.
Led by skipper Craig Gordon in goal, their spine is impressive through Baningime and Devlin in midfield to top scorer Boyce up front. And it was Boyce who broke the deadlock from the spot after just three minutes.
Barrie McKay’s pass looked over- hit to everyone in the ground but Motherwell keeper Liam Kelly was too slow off his line as Boyce chased it down.
He made a token challenge, slightly clipping the frontman who went down and ref David Munro gave the penalty. It was soft but there was contact and even VAR might have struggled to make the right call.
Boyce buried the spot-kick for his 10th goal in 13 games this term so it’s no wonder the Jambos are up there challenging.
They were the dominant side here, posing a constant threat through wide players McKay and
Ben Woodburn. And Kingsley put them 2- 0 ahead with a peach of a free-kick from the edge of the box.
After Juhani Ojala had tripped Baningime, the defender curled a magnificent effort past Kelly into the top corner.
Motherwell weren’t happy about the penalty decision but could have little complaints about Kingsley’s finish.
And Graham Alexander’s side now had a mountain to climb in their own quest for top- of-thetable status.
They rallied at the end of the first half – Tony Watt saw a volley tipped over by Gordon then Bevis Mugabi’s header was saved.
But just after the break Kelly redeemed himself to prevent the score going to three. Aussie midfielder Devlin drove into the box and was barged over by Callum Slattery.
Again, ref Munro pointed to the spot and, again, Alexander and Well fans felt miffed.
This time, Boyce wasn’t as deadly and Scotland squad keeper Kelly kept him out with a fine stop.
It was now going a bit end-toend with Well trying to get back into the match and Hearts hoping to kill the game off.
The home side lost Craig Halkett through injury and were almost caught in behind by Kaiyne Woolery’s pace.
Kevin Van Veen’s handball was missed by Munro and the Dutchman set the winger flying into Hearts’ box. But Gordon got down brilliantly to deny him with a fine one-handed save.
At the other end, the excellent Baningime thought he’d put the game to bed with a strike that looked net-bound before Kelly somehow clawed it wide.
Motherwell huffed and puffed towards the end with Juhani Ojala forcing another good save from Gordon.
But Hearts dug in and were resolute in collecting their fourth clean sheet in five games.
Dare you say it, that’s titlewinning form.
But with an acid test against champions Rangers up next at Ibrox, after the international break, maybe it’s still a bit too early for that kind of talk around Gorgie just yet.