Halkett late rescue act as Hearts toil in front of goal

There was a collective sigh of relief inside Tynecastle last night. Having huffed and puffed with no reward, they had Craig Halkett to thank for two late goals and all three points in the ongoing quest for Betfred Cup progress.

For so much of this match, it was one-way traffic and as Hearts pummelled their guests there was a sense that should they breach the Stenhousemuir defence, a deluge could follow, such was the dominance and the swell of goalscoring opportunities being created by the home side.

People pondered when it would come. Then, as the League 2 side defied them time and time again, the question switched to “if ”.

What few in the stadium had considered was that somehow the team who had proved so defensively resolute would somehow conjure up a way to break out of their own half and convert one of the few chances they managed to muster all night.

But fortune favours the brave and the dogged Stenhousemuir could lay claim to both labels as their players literally put their bodies on the line to foil Hearts and provoke frustration and consternation within Tynecastle.

For all but the last eight minutes or so they weathered the onslaught, which started in the first few minutes and continued unabated.

The only momentary respite came in the 77th minute when the visitors counterattacked and Mark Mcguiganslammedhomeanangled effort to beat Bobby Zlamal and stun the home crowd.

The stunned silence was quickly followed by louding booing. It served as a boot up the bum for the Hearts players who couldn’t believe they were behind and within five minutes summer signing Craig Halkett, given a starting berth in place of club captain Christophe Berra, levelled the scores and then four minutes later he weighed in with the winner to spare the Gorgie side’s blushes.

It still seems bizarre to think that these games could lead to the lifting of one of Scottish football’s main trophies.

So early in the season, when clubs have hardly had time to reintroduce players to the ball after some gruelling fitness work, the sparsely-filled stadium and rotation of team personnel as managers use the games to build match fitness and work on team understandings, is a million miles away from the glamour of major silverware.

But from humble origins… In true cup tradition, when the medals are handed out at the end of the competition, no-one will care how they arrived there, simply that the teams somehow overcame the determined underdogs who yapped at their heels in these competitive friendlies. If Hearts do manage to get through the group stage and progress deep into the tournament, it is unlikely they will forget this test, though.

A frustrating night of total domination, it seemed that fate had decided none of their numerous efforts was to find its way past the League 2 side.

There was some slick passing in the early stages, pinning the lower league team back almost immediately. Balls over the top, overlapping runs down the flanks and some neat interplay through the middle, the home side had plenty of attacking options, but while creating scoring opportunities was not a problem, finding a way to beat the away keeper Graeme Smith, pictured, and his defence was more tricky and required more patience than most of the home support could muster.

From goalline clearances, body blocks, last-ditch tackles and double saves, Stenny were a team on a mission and while Hearts were profligate, credit must go to the Larbert side.

Michael Smith was one of the first to come up against the defensive brick wall but he 2 Craig Halkett, third from left, celebrates after scoring the equaliser as Hearts’ bombardment of Stenhousemuir finally brings its reward. wasn’t the last. Conor Washington, Jamie Walker and Steven Maclean were also foiled as Stenny stood firm.

The best example of their defiance came in the second half when Smith pulled off a cracking close-range double save from Smith and then Ollie Bozanic, and when he was done Scott Mclaughlin was on the line to halt Washington’s effort.

But finally there was a breakthrough, at one end and then, at the other. It was a hard one for Stenhousemuir to stomach but for Hearts, who move top of their group, it had been only a matter of time.