Alemannia Aachen 4-2 Hearts
From Hearts News at Baesweiler Sportpark

The Jambos were felled in this final tour match here in Germany this afternoon after taking the lead, and even briefly equalising.

Hearts entered the Sportpark in Basweiler for today's final tour match against Bundesliga 2 side Alemannia Aachen in front of a healthy crowd of about 2,000. Aachen, who narrowly missed promotion to Bendesliga2 last season are currently awaiting entry into a new 31,900 stadium and the Basweiler public park suited the pre-seaon contest.

The lush turf made silky football difficult but Hearts opened brightly with Suso crossing for Stewart to test the Aachen keeper early on.

Hearts were one-nil up after five minutes when Elliot chipped a lovely cross to the head of the unmarked Palazuelos who headed home at the back post.

Suso was then in the thick of it again when he went up against the towering Fiel and the referee had a word with both players after the clash of heads.

Hearts pressed and won a corner from a long throw from Goncalves but Suso's in-swinger was fisted away. It reached Stewart, whose cross was well met by Witteveen and expertly tipped over the bar by Stuckmann.

Hearts were in the ascendancy and another precise Suso corner was met by Bouzid who just  headed over the bar after 12 minutes.

Aachen then carved out a good chance but Auer's drive was held low by Balogh.

And the Germans were level after 25 minutes when Ozgen glanced a header into the net after a long cross from Casper. That gave the Germans confidence and they tried to push Hearts but an injury to Polenz upset the flow of the yellow and black clad Aachen.

Elliot then cleared up at the back as Aachen pressed and credit must go to the youngster who tracked back 70 yards to assist his defence.

Then another cross from the right was well swept up by Balogh.

Suso worked his way down the right and held is cross long enough for support to arrive in the box. Obua however caught caught in the deep grass and the chance passed.

Auer then came close again as his header from an Achenbach cross drifted just past Balogh's right hand post.

Casper then sprung the offside trap and with Auer waiting for the square ball to give Aachen the lead, McGowan remained composed to slide in with a well times tackle. The young Australian then covered on the right as Aachen saw weakness in the Hearts reargaurd.

Michael Stewart was then booked for a challenge on the tricky Casper.

Again Aachen pressed down the left and there hard work almost led to a goal until Goncalves cut out the threat. The resultant corner however did lead to the Germans second with Auer blasting an uncleared ball into the back of the net after 43 minutes.

Stewart, now wearing a new No19 shirt,  then launched Hearts into the second half with a great pass to Suso on the right. The Spaniard then passed back neatly to Stewart but his shot hit the side netting.  Elliot then found space on the right but his cross was just too long for Witteveen and the keeper gathered.

Eggert Jonsson was then provider and scorer. The Icelander played an excellent pass to Witteveen who unselfishly squared the ball in the box back to Jonsson who blasted the ball into the net after 56 minutes. 

The lead didn't last long though after another Aachen cross was not dealt with by the Hearts defence at the back post. Burkhardt nodding home after a Demai cross on 57 minutes. Daun should really have made it 4-2 minutes later but Daun shot weakly at Balogh.

A tranche of substitutions then took place with a fresh Ian Black working well on the left with Obua. His cross was just too long for Suso to exploit in the box. Black then showed assertiveness to press the Aachen defence in an attempt to hem the Germans deep in their own half.

Novikovas was then crowded out on the 18 yeard box and then again a deflected shot lead to a corner after good work by Jonsson, Suso and the U19 regular.

Oussale was immmediately in the action and was blocked in the area to prevent the Germans extending their lead. The Oussale did damage Hearts after 75 minutes picking up a ball on the left, he ran unchallenged from just inside Hearts half to blast the ball low past MacDonald.

Goncalves kept cool at the back on two more occasions to break up a lively Aachen who were clearly benefiting from an earlier pre-season start.  And Craig Thomson helped keep the scoreline respectable with a goal saving tackle in the final minute.  

Aachen: Stuckmann; Polenz (Milchraum, 30), Auer( Kratz, 72), Burkhardt (Oussale, 72), Demai (Junglas, 60), Muller (Korte, 78), Olajengbesi (Szukala, 46), Fiel (Lasnik, 78), Casper, Achenbach (Schattner, 78), Ozgen (Daun, 46). Subs not used: Unger.

Hearts: Balogh (MacDonald, 61); Jonsson, McGowan (J Thomson, 46), Bouzid (C Thomson), 76), Goncalves, Suso, Stewart, Palazuelos (Black, 60), Obua, Elliot (Novikovas, 65), Witteveen (Glen, 61) . Booked: Stewart. Subs not used:  Mrowiec.

Referee: Marcus Schuller