18th January 2022. Hearts 2 St Johnstone 0
Hearts have lost a few players in the transfer window with the big loss being John Souttar signing a pre-contract with Rangers. While he will not be able to play for Rangers until next season it may be that Rangers will make an offer to a Hearts to allow Souttar to move during the current transfer window. Manager Robbie Neilson showed his confidence in the defender by retaining him in the starting line-up tonight. Also leaving are Jamie Walker who has signed on loan with Bradford City while Armand Gnanduillet has been linked for a move back to English football. Euan Henderson has returned from a successful loan spell with Alloa and was named in the bench along with Liam Boyce, who is still carrying an injury, and Fraser Pollock who has recovered from a broken foot. St Johnstone had a great season last year winning both the League and Scottish Cups. However during the last transfer window they lost centre-half Jason Kerr and midfielder Ali McCann. With the moves taking place late in the window they were restricted in their choice of replacement and have struggled this season with only Dundee below them in the SPL table. Tonight they field two new signings with Daniel McCleary and Nadir Ciftci, both making their first starts for their new side.'
Hearts started well and Barrie McKay created the first goal scoring opportunity. His cross from the right was headed back across goal by Alex Cochrane. Unfortunately Michael Smith’s shot flew high wide and not very handsome. Josh Ginnelly then went down in the penalty area after a challenge from Liam Gordon but referee Nick Walsh waved away claims for a penalty. Ciftci then forced two saves from Craig Gordon. Firstly a run through on goal ended with his shot being pushed away by the Hearts keeper before a long range shot it was blocked by Gordon's chest. The first half ended with a scoreless scoreboard although Hearts had most of the ball. The disappointing thing for me was Souttar being booed by a number of Hearts fans every time he touched the ball. Like them I am disappointed he decided to sign for Rangers but until, for now, the summer he is still a Hearts player and the players need encouragement to perform well rather than being booed.
At half-time I was having a chat with the guys sitting near me. We all agreed that Hearts needed to make changes and general consensus was that Henderson should come on to provide a striker up front. Neilson did not make any changes and was proved right when Hearts scored twenty seconds into the second half. McKay gathered the ball in midfield and sent a pass down the right for Ginnelly. He gathered the ball and continued his run into the penalty area before shooting across Zander Clark into the far corner of the net from just inside the box. The game then continued as before with Hearts on top but not creating any real chances until the seventy-fifth minute. McKay gathered the ball in his own half and set of on a run down the left. St Johnstone's Ciftci and McPherson were chasing him but ran into each other giving McKay a clear run. He sent a low ball across the penalty box to Ginnelly coming in from the right. Ginnelly shot high into the far corner of the net from about eight yards to put Hearts two up. Ckark then made a good block from a shot from Gary Mackay-Steven although Hearts had a decent penalty claim as Ginnelly appeared to be fouled as he went for the rebound. Referee Walsh again waved away the claims. As the game moved towards a close McKay sent Devlin through on goal with another excellent pass.Devlin looked likely to score his first goal for the club before Clark got down to save.
After the final whistle I walked home feeling quite happy. With Motherwell get beat tonight Hearts were now eight points clear in third place and a European place for next season is beckoning. I will admit that I was not enthusiastic when Hearts signed McKay but he has proved to be an excellent signing and has set up several goals since he broke into the first team. His first touch is exceptional and having the ball under control quickly allows him so many opportunities to create for others in the team. I just wish he would get a goal himself as I am sure it would be a first of many. I met Craig with Harper and his pal Jayden walking home and they came into he flat as the boys wanted to see our dog Carlos given Craig and Claire bred him with their dog Lila. All in all a good evening out at Tynecastle.
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