2nd December 2017 Hearts v Hamilton 1-1

I thought really hard about this one before publishing. I had a good morning taking Harper to see Paddington 2 and then after lunch headed to Tynecastle. I walked there and arrived about 14.20 to find everyone standing outside and turnstiles locked. It turned out there had been a fire alarm about 14.00 and ground had been evacuated. Turnstiles were opened about 2.30 and kickoff delayed till 15.15.

Hearts made two changes from last week. John Souttar returned after concussion to replace Aaron Hughes and Prince Bauben replaced the injured Harry Cochrane in midfield. The match started well and David Milinkovic had an early run down the wing beating three defenders and putting a good low cross into the penalty box. No Hearts striker came to the near post and the ball was cleared by thee Hamilton defence. After that the game went downhill from a Hearts viewpoint as while they had a lot of possession they were unable to create any clear chances with attempts on goal being limited to shots from outside the box which never troubled the keeper. There also seemed to be a reluctance on Hearts players part to shoot when presented with an opportunity. Hamilton also appeared to be getting into the game and Christophe Berra was booked for a foul on Hamilton’s David Templeton on the edge of the Hearts penalty box. Templeton fired the free kick over the bar into the Gorgie stand but I felt sorry for him as Hearts fans were booing him. 'Temps' had played for Hearts previously but was forced out by the previous owners on 2012 as the club was running out of cash. As one of the few saleable assets Templeton was transferred to Rangers and the cash received helped to keep Hearts going. There is a view that he moved to Rangers for more money and while that was the case without the income from his transfer the club may have folded.

Things got worse for Hearts when Jamie Brandon was booked for bringing down Hamilton’s Dougie Imrie. Yes it may have been a clear foul but did Imrie have to wave to the referee gesturing for a card to be issued. The referee was Bobby Madden and he allowed Imrie to influence his decision. This was part of what I thought was a terrible refereeing performance. A good referee will aim to go through the match unnoticed but Mr Madden appears to think he is the star of the game and always wants to want to hog the headlines. He is also consistent in his inconsistency, let play flow after claims for a foul and then giving a free kick minutes afterwards for a similar offence. Shortly afterwards Brandon caught Hamilton forward Antonio Rojano with an elbow after a throw-in. The Argentinian forward went down clutching his face and rolling about the pitch. I will be honest and at the match I thought it was accidental and am still not convinced it was deliberate after seeing it again on Sportscene. Mr Madden thought otherwise and flourished a yellow card and a subsequent red to Brandon. If it was deliberate surely it would have been violent conduct and a straight red and if it was not then why was a second yellow issued ? Hearts moved Bauben to right-back for the remainder of the first half.

For this second Half Hearts took of Isma and brought on Lewis Moore. Bauben moved to a central defensive role with Moore moving into a left wingback role and Michael Smith moving to right wingback. I remain unconvinced about Isma as when he is good he is very good but today he just did not seem to be interested. His first touch was awful and he just could not beat a player when he managed to control the ball. The subsitution however paid dividends as Moore was brought down about twenty-five yards from goal and Jamie Walker fired a beautiful free kick over the wall and into the corner of the Hamilton net. The celebration was almost worth the admission money alone as Walker ran almost the length of the field after scoring.

Hamilton continued to press for an equaliser and while on the field Hearts were holding them off the field things were different. Craig Levein lost the plot after Souttar was booked for a foul on Templeton. The refeee walked across to the touchline to talk to him and beckoned him forward. Craig refused to move and was sent to the stand clapping sarcastically as he went. It was really like kids in a school playground. The real flashpoint arrived about seven minutes later when Austin McPhee threw the ball away to prevent Hamilton taking a quick throw-in. Darrian MacKinnon of Hamilton rushed of the field to grab the ball and knocked McPhee to the ground. A melee developed with players and management staff involved along with police intervention. After things had calmed down  McPhee was sent to the stand but MacKinnon, who had already been booked, escaped further punishment and was then substituted for his own protection. A few years ago Jamie Hamill of Hearts was sent off for knocking over Ross County manager Derek Adams after his goal celebrations and I fail to see how Mr Madden saw this one differently.

Hearts were defended desperately and could only thank Jon McLaughlin in goal for keeping them in the game. One save in particular from Rojano after a Templeton shot rebounded from the post was almost world class. The equaliser when it came was disappointing as a corner was allowed to travel into the box and centre-half Thomas headed home without needing to jump. McLaughlin made another fantastic save in injury time and the game ended in a draw.

Mr Madden received a  police escort from the field and I walked home muttering about incompetent referees. 

Teams

Hearts: McLaughlin, M.Smith, Souttar, Berra, Brandon, Walker, Buaben, Djoum, Milinkovic, Stockton,  Isma. 

Subs: Moore, Hughes, Lafferty

Hamilton Accies: Woods, Skondrass, McMann, Tomas, Imrie, Docherty, Templeton, MacKinnon, Rojano, Lyon, Sarris. 

Subs: Bingham, Redmond