27th October2022 Hearts 2 FK Rigas Futbology Skoda 1

 

First time I have been at a Hearts European match this season due to illness. I was at the qualifying match v FC Zurich but qualifiers are not really European competition. . I did investigate the cost of going to Turkey next week but the cost put me off. £500 for a return ticket and after seeing Midnight Express years ago do not fancy going to Turkey. With an 8.00pm kickoff I had plenty time to get to Tynecastle. I left home at 19.00 and wandered slowly down the road to  Tynecastle arriving around 19.20. As this was a European game I had to buy a ticket and had loaded the electronic ticket onto my phone. I scanned the ticket at the turnstiles and entered the stand. As a season ticket holder I had priority for my usual seat in the stand and headed up to my seat in Section Q. The programme for the match was a ‘retro’ edition with the cover being based on the 1970s issues. 

Hearts made three changes to the side defeated by  Celtic on Sunday. Steve Humphrys  and Cammy Devlin are out due to injury and Robert Snodgrass is ineligible having been signed after the deadline for naming squads for European matches. Into the side came Lawrence Shankland, Jorge Grant and Andy Halliday. As for RFKS I learned from the match programme that they only reached the Latvian top division in 2016 when Skonto FC hit financial difficulties and were unable to continue before being liquided. Again from the proamme their top players are Kevin Friesenbichier, a striker who previously player for Austria Vienna and Srum Graz, and centre-half Vitalijs Maksimenko, who had spells at both Brighton and Kilmarnock. 

Hearts took the lead after three minutes when Ginnelly broke down the right. He hit a low cross into the middle of the goal where Shankland slid in to kick the ball into the net. Hearts second came after twelve minutes when McKay broke down the left and sent a law ball into the box for Grant. The midfielder knocked the ball back to Halliday just inside the box who shot low past Steinbors with the help of a slight deflection to put Hearts two up. Hearts almost went three up after thirty minutes when a free-kick from twenty yards was tipped over the bar by Steinbors. Ginnelly then had a shot from the edge of the box straight at the keeper before RFS pulled a goal back in thirty-nine minutes. Friesenbichier collected  a loose ball around 30-yards out and struck an fantastic first-time effort beyond Craig Gordon and into the top corner. At halftime I saw my son Craig and we had a chat and I agreed to watch Harpers game at Saughton Park on Sunday. Given Harper is having four friends staying over to celebrate his 10th birthday I am not sure how he will manage to cope with a 9.15 kick-off on Sunday morning.

Hearts almost increased their lad early in he second half when Ginnely shot over the cross bar after a McKay pass although the offside flag was eventually raised. RFS went close to an equaliser around the hour mark when Friesenbichier hit a powerful shot from distance, beating Gordon but the ball cane down of the underside of the crossbar. Shankland hit the post with a header after seventy minutes following a McKay cross but the game seems to lack the intensity of th first half. After a number of substitutions the match wound a close. However RFS lost Vitalijs Jagodiniskis saw straight red for a crunching challenge  from behind on Hearts substitute Euan Henderson in stoppage time before the referee blew the final whistle.

As I walked home I was happy with the result with Hearts having gained more coefficient points with two victories than Rangersr and Celtic put together. Given most of the side had not played European football previously the overall performance will provide good experience going forward.

Teams

Hearts: Gordon, M. Smith, Kingsley, Grant, Kiomortzoglou, Shankland, Halliday, McKay,, Cochrane, Sibbick, Ginnelly. 

Subs: C. Smith, Neilson, Forrest, Henderson

FK RFS: Steinbors, Sorokins, Jatta, Emerson, Ilic, Mares, Panic, Frissenbichier, Lipuscek,Simkovic Jagodinskis. 
Subs: Vlaliku , Zjuzins, Saric, Rakels.