Substance before style suits Jambo Boyce just fine
Liam Boyce says he couldn’t care less if Hearts don’t win with style – all that matters is putting three points on the board.
Boyce kept the Jambos on the title trail by firing home a controversial penalty to see off battling Ayr United in Friday night’s live TV game at blustery Somerset Park.
The spot-kick riled the home camp, the ball hitting United skipper Jack Baird on the thigh before striking his hand.
Referee Steven McLean ruled it a penalty, and Boyce wasted no time in lashing his 11th goal of the season past teenage Finnish keeper, Viljami Sinisalo.
The Northern Irishman knew the importance of the hard-fought win at a ground where Mark Kerr’s men hadn’t lost all season until Hearts pitched up.
He said: “The first half was scrappy, and they made it very difficult for us.
“We didn’t really have any good chances or good play, and there was a bit of a strong wind as well.
“The second half was different, and we got balls in the box and got a penalty from one of them.
“A couple of games ago, we said we wanted to keep more clean sheets as that would put us in a good position to win games.
“We believe we will score goals against anyone, and that was the big factor tonight.
“Even when they started throwing everything at us at the end, we made good blocks and put bodies on the line.
“Going forward, that’s going to stand us in good stead.
“We knew Ayr were unbeaten at home, so it was going to be difficult.
“You could see everyone was battling for every ball.
“When they did have chances, we made good blocks.
“It’s going to be massive for the rest of the season. We just need to keep doing that and treat every game the same.”
Boyce felt he could have won a penalty after only five minutes when on-loan Ipswich defender, Corrie Ndaba, tangled with him inside the box.
He said: “I saw he was behind me, and thought if I took a good touch, then he couldn’t touch me because it was in the box and I was goalside of him.
“He’s run into the back of me.
“I don’t know if it was the angle for the referee, but that’s the way it goes.
“It’s a difficult job, but if it happened again, I would still be shouting for it and thinking I was going to get it.
“The new signings have given us different options. Big Armand (Gnanduillet) can hold the ball up, and I think we’ll be a good partnership any time we play together.
“I thought Gervane Kastaneer was brilliant when he came on, and Aaron (McEneff ) was tidy on the ball as well. So it’s all positive.
“If you come into the team and it’s losing, you don’t really get the confidence going.
“For them to come on at 1-0 up, and see the game out with good performances, can hopefully give them good confidence going into the next game.
“We believe in ourselves. We just need to keep battling when we go to tough places like this.
“It might be 1-0 or 2-1, you don’t know. We just have to keep battling and try for clean sheets.
“Do we want to win with some style if we could?
“I couldn’t care as long as we get three points – and I don’t care who scores.”