Halkett so sorry after hellish week for Hearts
CRAIG HALKETT offered apologies to Hearts’ supporters after the club’s tumultuous week. They endured potentially their worst result in midweek, a 2-1 cup defeat to Highland League outfit Brora Rangers, before Queen of the South left Edinburgh with all three points on Saturday.
The visitors raced into a two-goal lead, but Hearts got back on level terms with 18 minutes remaining only for an Andy Irvine own goal to seal their fate.
Robbie Neilson said postmatch that the week was a “blip”, but after two cup exits to part-time teams this season, anger has turned to apathy for elements of the Hearts support, some of whom congregated outside Tynecastle to voice their displeasure before the match.
“I think that they’ve got every right to be angry,” admitted Halkett. “From our point of view, we’re embarrassed, and I think we owe [Hearts supporters] an apology because the last two games haven’t been good enough, anywhere near good enough.
“When everyone comes to play against you, they lift their game that wee bit more because they know we’re the biggest club in the league.
For teams to come and take points off us is a massive achievement for them, but at the moment it’s far too easy for teams to do that.
“I think you’ve got to give us a tiny bit of credit to get back into the game. We got the two goals and I think we’re on the front foot at that point and the boys are confident we’re going to score another goal. Then we give away the own goal and it feels like everything is against us at the moment.”
To concede within the opening two minutes demonstrated Hearts’ fragility. Mihai Popescu’s slack pass was pounced upon by Stephen Dobbie who in turn found Connor Shields, who was composed to finish when one on one with Ross Stewart to give his side the lead.
Shields, who took full advantage of Hearts’ ambitiously high back line, would score again soon after.
This time it was Niyah Joseph who played the ball through and from all of 25 yards, Shields lobbed the ball over Stewart who in contemplation of racing out to close the angle, was just off his line.
Popescu scored his first goal for the Gorgie side from a corner before half time to cut the deficit and force the visitors, who had much success from pressing their opponents early, fall deeper into their own half. And when Euan Henderson picked out Armand
Gnanduillet in the box for his fifth goal of the campaign, a winner for the hosts seemed likely.
But Shields, who had run selflessly for his team all day, fortuitously saw his deep cross turned into the Hearts goal by the unfortunate Irvine with eight minutes left.
Queens were well worth their win. They were ambitious and looked intent on leaving with three points and not just one when they were pegged back to 2-2.
“Coming here you’re massive underdogs, but I thought right from the start we were at it,” Shields said. “There is no point in sitting back, you may as well go for it. I thought we were brilliant from the start, we went out and pressed them and got the reward for it.”
On the race for a Championship play-off spot, he concluded: “I think there is three or four of us on the same points now so today pushes us right back up with a chance of the play-offs.”