Hearts suffer spot of bother
THIS was not the warm-up for the Premiership season that Hearts had in mind as they left Fife with supporters’ boos ringing in their ears.
The Tynecastle side did progress to the knockout stages of the Betfred Cup but in ignominious fashion after being held to a draw before losing the penalty decider to miss out on the bonus point.
They began strongly enough and took an early lead courtesy of Jamie Walker’s 15th-minute opener.
However, their first-half dominance was not matched after the break and the Fifers deserved their equaliser from Chris Duggan in 54 minutes before they pushed hard for the winner.
In the end, the Methil men, who beat Dundee United in midweek, had to make do with the draw that ensured Hearts stayed top of Group A and left the part-timers awaiting the outcome of today’s game between Dundee and Inverness Caley Thistle.
A win for either of those teams will put East Fife through as one of the best runners-up and they will have former Hibs youngster Aaron Dunsmore, who began his youth career at Hearts, to thank for earning them the vital bonus point.
Craig Levein sent out a strong starting line-up in search of a morale-boosting lift ahead of next weekend’s league kick-off against Aberdeen.
And, despite the angry reaction of the sell-out away support, the Hearts manager is confident this setback will have no bearing on the campaign ahead.
‘You can probably guess my thoughts,’ he said as he looked forward to the imminent arrival of Steven Naismith on a permanent deal.
‘We’re through and we’ve topped the group but it’s not how I wanted to do it.
‘We suffered again today with the same thing that has been a problem in the past three matches — not putting the ball in the net.
‘I’m disappointed. There are reasons and when we get some of our players back — especially Naismith — that should help. But we shouldn’t be relying on Steven for a game at East Fife.
‘I don’t want to be too critical as our aim was to get out of the group and we’ve done that. The other games have been okay but today I thought we were poor.
‘Our supporters expect us to win and I expect us to win. So there is nobody more disappointed than me.
‘It was the same last season when we struggled to get through against Raith Rovers and the fans were unhappy.
‘But then we started the league season particularly well. The cup didn’t have any bearing on the start of the league last year.’
There seemed little threat to Hearts during a first half they bossed right from the start and Walker’s breakthrough goal, his first since his return to the club this summer, was no surprise.
Defender Craig Halkett, the unlikely two-goal hero in last Wednesday’s win against Stenhousemuir, continued his impressive form.
On this occasion, he provided the assist for Walker. Winning a full-blooded challenge with Liam Watt on the touchline, the recruit from Livingston swung over a superb cross that the striker tucked away.
East Fife had rarely threatened before the interval but equalised in 54 minutes.
On the break, Dunsmore fed Ryan Wallace and the former Hearts striker’s brilliant ball was dummied by Scott Agnew for Duggan to fire beyond keeper Zdenek Zlamal.
The Fifers were buoyed by the goal and, although Hearts finished the stronger without finding a winner, manager Darren Young insists his team can take huge belief from their display.
‘The results this week are up there for me as a manager,’ he said. ‘We had a really good season last year. We got to the Irn-Bru Cup semi-finals and the last 16 of the Scottish Cup.
‘Today, we got another big result and, hopefully, we’re through to the last 16 of the League Cup.’