COOL WALKER PUTS HEARTS ON TO SUMMIT
JAMIE WALKER grabbed his first double in nearly four years to send Hearts back to the top of the Championship table.
The talented attacker scored either side of half-time in what should have been a more comfortable victory, although goalkeeper Aidan McAdams had his best game in a Morton shirt with three superb saves.
Hearts’ return to form is timely, with the Scottish Cup final against Celtic in a fortnight’s time and manager Robbie Neilson said hitting the summit again — after Dunfermline were held by Raith — is important.
Neilson said: ‘We’ve had a really good start to the season, we’ve won five out of six and we’re sitting on 15 points at the top of the league, so we’re looking to stay there.
‘Jamie’s a top player. He started the season in the Betfred very well then he had a niggle, came out of the team and he’s been getting his fitness back.
‘It was great to have Steven Naismith and Jamie in there as they gave us that bit of quality.
‘Andy Irving made a big difference. He’s got great passing ability and I was really pleased with him.
‘Coming down here, you know what the pitch and the physicality is going to be like but Andy handled it really well.’
Hearts were slow starters and Morton should have taken the lead in 20 minutes when the Gorgie men failed to properly deal with Muirhead’s corner from the right.
The ball was worked to Sean McGinty on the right side of the six-yard box but he fired a left-foot shot wide of the left post.
It was a major escape for Hearts, who lacked fluency early on, but they began to control the game.
Walker forced a terrific pointblank save out of McAdams in 22 minutes and Naismith just could not react quick enough to take advantage of the rebound.
On 31 minutes, Andy Halliday was unfortunate when he skilfully created space for himself on the edge of the box, getting away from Jim McAlister, and his left-foot shot was just a foot too high.
McAdams made an even better save in 36 minutes as Hearts constructed a fine piece of play.
Michael Smith’s 50-yard pass was accurate as Craig Wighton raced into the right side of the box and hit the ball perfectly on the volley.
Somehow McAdams managed to get one hand on it to save.
However, the heroic keeper was beaten just 60 seconds later. Olly Lee’s shot was blocked and when it came back to him, he rolled the ball to his left for Walker, whose volley went into the ground and flew into the right corner.
Hearts deserved their lead and they were dumbfounded that they did not extend it on the stroke of half-time.
Smith cut the ball back for Lee, whose stabbed shot seemed destined for the top-left corner, but McAdams incredibly pushed it on to the bar.
Barely four minutes into the second half, Walker struck again to ensure there would be no way back for Morton.
Smith was the architect with another perfect ball forward, this time to the left side, and Walker ran in to calmly slot home.
Hearts could have been more emphatic winners but passed up good opportunities.
Lee’s shot was deflected on to the right post in 51 minutes and Andy Irving’s corner seemed perfect for Craig Halkett but he headed over the top.
Then, in 61 minutes, Lee was culpable when he failed to finish off a terrific move involving Halliday and Walker, and shot weakly at McAdams.
Morton boss David Hopkin said: ‘I thought we were comfortable in the first half because we defended well, although Aidan’s made some very good saves.
‘The second goal was poor — a schoolboy error, really. We put a lot into the game and I can’t fault the players’ endeavour but we just couldn’t stand up to Hearts’ quality at times.
‘It was probably Aidan’s best game for us. He’s getting better every week. He made some superb saves but unfortunately we’ve lost the game.’