Hearts roar back to life to tame Lions’ flying start
Hearts 4 Livingston 2
HEARTS recovered from a sluggish start at home to Livingston to seal a 4-2 victory over David Martindale’s relegation-threatened side and record back-to-back Premiership wins.
Two goals from Stephen Kelly gave the Lions a shock two-goal lead before Hearts roared to life, putting four past their opponents before the break.
Here are five things we learned in a topsy-turvy encounter in Gorgie.
From sloppy start...
The first 30 minutes of the match at Tynecastle was spectacularly bad from a Hearts perspective. A collective failing that saw the team fall 2-0 behind to the side propping up the cinch Premiership table. Make no mistake, Livingston were miles better in the opening stages and fully deserved their lead.
The home side simply didn’t match their intensity. They were sleepy, sloppy and generally stinking. The second goal epitomised that. Nathaniel Atkinson took a throw-in to nearby Frankie Kent – and Livi pounced. Within seconds they had won the ball back and it ended up in the back of the net. The defender had words with Kent clearly expressing that he didn’t want the ball. But it shouldn’t be a case of picking on individuals. The team as a whole were not at it.
... to comeback kings
The solace from the opening half hour was that the team still had another hour to produce a comeback. Hearts had fallen 2-0 down to both Dundee and Ross County earlier this campaign only to come back and win and draw respectively. This team don’t know when they are defeated. A fantastic quality to have. Once they had got a goal it only looked like it was going to end one way: a Hearts win.
Hearts manager Steven Naismith admitted he always expected his team to respond. Hearts fought back in emphatic fashion after scoring through Jorge Grant, Yutaro Oda, Cammy Devlin and Lawrence Shankland before the break.
The win kept Hearts 11 points clear in third place in the cinch Premiership and confirmed European football for next season, with the Jambos now guaranteed at least a top-four finish.
Naismith said: “We didn’t come out the changing room for the first 10-15 minutes. It was a poor start, really poor, really sloppy, and then brilliant.
“We lost two goals but it’s the third time we have come back. When the second goal goes in there’s a frustration from me and the fans.
“I knew when we were 2-0 down we’d come back into the game because we have shown it before. The element of having a ruthless streak and being more clinical is something we have talked about.”
McKay offers reminder
Barrie McKay returned for a first start since a 2-0 win over St Mirren in December and only a fourth start of the season in total lining up on the left wing and injecting some creativity into Hearts’ attack.
There were a few neat reverse balls early on from the playmaker that caught out the Livi defenders, and he linked up nicely with Alex Cochrane down the left-hand side throughout. A clever pass through to Shankland just before the half-hour mark opened up the Livi defence, allowing the striker to square it to Jorge Grant to pull it back to 2-1.
Ten minutes later he played a crucial role as Hearts went 3-2 up, drilling a precise through ball up to Shankland, who clipped it on for Cochrane. A neat pass across goal and a bundled finish from Cammy Devlin later and the turnaround was complete. Supporters don’t need to be told just how important a player McKay can be on his day, but this performance served as a timely reminder.
Gordon returns
The Hearts legend spoke before the match about how returning to play in front of the fans at Tynecastle was one of the milestones of his return from a double leg break.
He had played at Tynie in a bounce game against The Spartans during his recovery while all of his competitive appearances have been away from home in the Scottish Cup. He was given the opportunity, replacing Zander Clark who had performed to a high standard. This afternoon wasn’t the homecoming he would have been hoping for. Goalkeepers are famously their own biggest critic and perhaps there will be some frustration with the two Livingston goals. The first one was incredibly awkward. He read the long ball brilliantly but it bounced at a tricky height so he couldn’t get the purchase on it to clear it or control it. The second one was a great strike by Kelly. The Livi midfielder perhaps gave Gordon the eyes but he was able to fizz in a shot at the goalkeeper’s near post. Aside from those two goals he didn’t have too much to do, saving a shot with his legs but it turned out to be offside.
Captivating Cammy
Watching the diminutive Aussie go about his business is great fun. He runs and runs, cajoles and encourages, presses and goes hunting. His personality is infectious and it feeds into the crowd.
The Hearts support responds to his attitude. Devlin, like many others in maroon, struggled in the first 30 minutes. But he soon grew into a pivotal figure. He set the tempo out of possession just by simply putting pressure on the opposition. He was also positive and progressive with the ball. Some passes in behind didn’t come off but it was encouraging that he was trying it.
He began the move which led to the best goal of the game. Oh, and he finished it as well. It was a great bit of play and something Naismith will likely want to see more of. He wants Devlin to become a box-to-box midfielder. He certainly has the energy and determination to succeed at it. The standing ovation when he was replaced was well deserved.
Perilous times for Livi
Livingston remain nine points adrift at the bottom ahead of the final five post-split matches and manager David Martindale insists the way the match unfolded summed up their season.
He said: “I think what you saw there in the first half was the story of our season played out in 45 minutes.
“We started the game really well and should have scored a third when Tete [Yengi] was clean through against Craig Gordon. That was an unbelievable chance.
“Stephen came up with two good goals. To give Hearts their due, they scored two decent goals but we gifted them the goals.”