No slip-ups as Halliday leads Jambos goal rush
HEARTS 5
Halliday (14), Boyce (39, pen 51), Haring (80), Cochrane (83)
Robbie Neilson hailed his players for avoiding a repeat of last season’s Scottish Cup catastrophe – then insisted they are focused on lifting the trophy in May.
The Hearts boss watched his on-form side secure their place in the last 16 thanks to a double from star striker Liam Boyce as well as Andy Halliday’s opening goal and further strikes from Peter Haring and Harry Cochrane.
Their five-goal rout of Ayrshire minnows Auchinleck Talbot was a far cry from being sent spinning out by Highland League outfit Brora Rangers at the second round.
And Neilson, whose hopefuls now welcome Celtic to the capital for Wednesday night’s Premiership clash, said: “Last season was a tough one to take and we knew coming here there was a bit of making up to do.
“Hopefully we have done a wee bit but we want to go all the way.
“When you play these games, the first goal is really important.
“We managed to get it and it settled us down a bit.
“We’ve got a strong team here and we want to try and get as far as we can.
“I spoke before the game about having to get over these challenges and we’ve managed to do that.”
Boyce also had two other first-half efforts ruled out for offside, but the truth is the Jambos were never in any danger of being on the receiving end of a fourth-round shock.
Talbot had been dreaming of causing an upset pre-match and their past exploits included claiming the scalps of Ayr United, Hamilton, Kelty Hearts Cove Rangers and drawing with Arbroath in the last three seasons.
And there was a noisy capacity crowd of 3,100 inside Beechwood Park come kick-off time.
John Souttar was a notable absentee for Hearts amid ongoing talks with Rangers having already signed a pre-contract agreement to join the Ibrox club in the summer.
It was a brisk start from both sides and Auchinleck’s Bryan Boylan saw his shot on the turn rise high over Craig Gordon’s cross-bar.
Then, in 10 minutes, Boyce had an effort ruled out for offside after a flowing move involving new signing Nathaniel Atkinson.
Barrie Mckay played a neat pass through to the Australian who teed up Boyce inside 10 yards to slide home past Talbot keeper Andy Leishman.
However, the offside flag was raised to deny the Edinburgh club an early breakthrough.
But Hearts weren’t to be denied as Halliday struck the opener in 14 minutes.
Mckay delivered an inch-perfect cross for former Rangers ace Halliday who rose to power home a header, leaving Leishman helpless and easing any lingering nerves.
Boyce killed off any hopes Talbot still harboured of a shock with an expertly-taken penalty kick just minutes before the interval.
The home side’s Christopher Stafford handled inside the box as Boyce prepared to jink past him.
Boyce stepped up and calmly sent Leishman the wrong way to hand Hearts the perfect cushion going into half-time.
And the Northern Ireland striker grabbed his brace within minutes of the restart.
Again Halliday was in thick of things as he surged down the left and crossed for Boyce to nod past Leishman.
With 10 minutes left, Haring struck with a sweet finish from substitute Aaron Mceneff’s assist before young midfielder Cochrane completed the rout with a fine finish in 83 minutes.