Dread card for Dan in drop battle Stendel fears grow despite comeback against Accies
Hearts boss Daniel Stendel admits his side are feeling the pressure after barely rescuing a point against relegation rivals Hamilton.
Marios Ogkmpoe’s double in the opening 16 minutes had the Jambos staring down the barrel of disaster and facing the prospect of being left four points adrift at the bottom.
But a red card for Accies defender Jamie Hamilton and second-half goals from Jamie Walker and Craig Halkett late on made the best of a bad situation.
The draw only papers over the cracks because on this viewing it’s hard to see where Hearts are going to pick up the points they so desperately need.
Stendel admits it’s not going to get any easier from here on in as he paid tribute to the Gorgie faithful for their backing in this time of crisis.
The German said: “Our supporters are unbelievable despite the situation. I told the players at half-time that I can’t always understand the fans being like this because they should be expecting our players to give so much more.
“I asked the players to show better body language, to try to play in front and to f ight. This is what everyone should expect and we should do. We had to try to change the result. Against 10 men it’s normal that we had more pressure and chances. We could have won the game but only took a point.
“The problem is that every mistake leads to a goal. Our decision-making at the penalty for their second too.
“We had an overload, the Hamilton player couldn’t shoot and we could have won the ball. And then we make the wrong decision and give away a penalty.
“We’ve seen this in different games. The team needs to help each other more in the right moments. The main thing is not the training on the pitch but to have the mentality. We must concentrate from the first moment in the game.
“We started 2020 with a positive result against Airdrie in the cup and then had Ross County and Rangers and think we are on our way. Then two weeks later we are in a bad situation again.
“We showed in the Rangers game we can come back from a bad situation. I believe in this team but we don’t have as many games left.”
Finding yourself one down after five minutes at home against your closest rivals for the drop is as bad as it gets.
Scott Martin rolled John Souttar and squared for Ogkmpoe, who steered past Zdenek Zlamal from close range.
That invoked a sense of panic that only intensif ied when Hearts were caught by Hamilton’s high press trying to play out from the back, and Kevin Clancy had to point to the spot when Sean Clare wi ldly hacked down Ogkmpoe.
The big No.99 sent Zlamal the wrong way to double Accies’ lead and leave Hearts in deep, deep trouble.
But the y were handed a lifeline with a man advantage for 70 minutes.
Hamilton handled a long ball over the top that Liam Boyce looked like he might get on the end of – but it was far from clear cut. Clancy though felt it was and showed the defender his third red card in 12 appearances.
That gave the home fans and players a lift but there was still the small matter of actually scoring a goal.
Uche Ikpeazu was unlucky when his strike looked destined for the far corner, only for Luke Southwood to throw himself to his right and palm it away.
An early second half goal was vital for Hearts – and Walker obliged when he prodded past Southwood after being played in by Steven Naismith. Naismith then saw a back post attempt saved and Walker shot for the same corner when he had plenty of time.
It was last ditch stu f f from Accies who looked l i ke they’d survived until Halkett headed in from a fierce Conor Washington delivery in 87 minutes.