28th August 2018 Hearts Reserves v Dundee Reserves 2-3


Hearts first home game in the new Scottish reserve league which replaces the previous U-20 league. Main difference is that there is no limit on the number of players aged over 20 in the sides. Caught a 34 bus out to the Oriam and met Malcolm on the bus as he got on at Longstone. Arrived at Oriam  at around 15.30 for a 16.00 kickoff and walked round to pitch. The game was being played on one of the outside pitches rather than indoors and was on a grass pitch. Hearts fielded a strong side with only two players in starting line-up who had not appeared in the first team while Dundee also had a number of players with first team experience.

Hearts started the game well and an early cutback from Connor Smith lead to a shot from Rory Currie, currently on loan at East Fife, being blocked by the Dundee defence. Hearts took the lead after eight minutes when Arnaud Djoum was fouled on the edge of the penalty box. Oliver Bozanic took the free kick and curled the ball over the wall into the top corner of the net. Hearts continued to dominate and Eliott Parish in the Dundee goal made good double save firstly from a shot by Daniel Baur and then he blocked the followup from Currie. Parish then stopped two shots from distance firstly from Djoum and then from Harry Cochrane. Dundee had a good chance just before the interval when Alex Petkov failed to deal with a long ball. Cedwyn Scott raced onto it and attempted to lob the onrushing Keilby Mason from the edge of the box, however his attempt bounced past the post.

Dundee equalised two minutes after halftime when Cammy Kerr was fouled in the penalty area by Aaron Hickey. Scott's penalty hit Mason's diving body and bounced into the net. The turning point in the game came just after the hour mark when Petrov was sent off for denying a clear goalscoring opportunity when he brought down Dundee centre forward Matty Henvy just outside the penalty box. The resultant free kick was cleared but shortly afterwards Scott put Dundee ahead with a good near post header from a Henvy cross. Henvey put Dundee 3-1 near the end when he chased down a passback and Mason's clearance rebounded off him into the net. I don't think the Dundee forward knew much about the goal but he still claimed it, the sign of a good goalscorer. Hearts pulled one back in injury time when substitute Lewis Moore curved a shot into the net from the edge of the penalty box following a pass from Anthony McDonald. Shortly thereafter the referee blew the final whistle. It was not a bad game and from a Hearts point of view it was good to see Djoum and  Cochrane both get a full ninety minutes following recent injuries.

After the game Malcolm and I walked down to the main Avenue at Heriot-Watt and caught a 35 bus back into town. hearts reserve games are now going to be played regularly at Riccarton during the week and I think Malcolm and I will be going to a few of them. 

Teams

Hearts: Mason, Logan, Hickey, Bozanic, Baur, Petrov, Djoum, Cochrane, Currie, C.Smith, McDonald.
Substitutes: Henderson, Moore.
Dundee: Parish, Kerr, Moore, Bradbury, O'Dea, Jeffries, Lambert, Trialist, Henvey, Spence, Scott.
Substitutes: Rodger, Anderson, Johnston.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

27th April 2024 The Spartans 2 Peterhead 2

23rd March 2024 Musselburgh Athletic 1 Jeanfield Swifts 0

27th January. 2024. Hearts 2 Aberdeen 0