A depleted Hearts B side were beaten 3-1 by Cumbernauld Colts at Ainslie Park on Friday night.
With the Hearts under-18’s in Youth Cup action earlier in the day, manager Liam Fox had limited players available for the visit of third place Colts.
There were debuts in defence for Lennon Thompson and Louis Selfridge, whereas Callum Sandilands led the line.
It was always going to be a tough shift for the men in maroon and Liam McFarlane was called into action after just two minutes, when beating away Cole McIntyre’s volley from the edge of the area.
The visitors were happy to sit off the Wee Jambos in the early stages and concede possession, however they did strike first after 26 minutes, thanks to a fine strike from Luke McCarvel.
A Colts corner from the right was only cleared as far as the winger, whose sweet strike left McFarlane with no chance as the ball flew into the corner, via the inside of the post.
It was a first 45 of few opportunities, but Callum Sandilands almost levelled for Hearts on the half hour mark, but his strike from distance was beaten away by Ryan Adamson in the Colts’ goal.
The Wee Jambos were dealt a harsh blow eight minutes after the restart. After Ryan Duncan had hit the post just seconds earlier, the visitors broke up field with purpose as Reg McLaren doubled Colts’ with a smart right-foot finish.
The men in maroon didn’t feel sorry for themselves however and they hit back on the hour mark, through Rocco Friel. It was a smart play down the right flank and when the ball was laid back into the path of Friel, he smartly side-footed the ball into the top corner from 20-yards.
The second half was certainly producing more in the way of opportunities and after McFarlane was called into action to deny McLaren’s header from point-blank range, Sandilands was inches away from pulling Hearts level, but he opened his body up too much and side-footed just wide of the far post.
There was plenty of effort and determination from the men in maroon, who continued to push for the equaliser, however they were hit on the counter as the visitors sealed the points, seven minutes from the end.
Billy Mortimer was given too much down the left wing and he unselfishly crossed for McLaren to tap home from a matter of inches and round off the scoring.
Hearts: McFarlane, Dall, Sandilands, Gordon, Forrester, Duncan, Rathie ©, Friel, Thompson, Chisholm, Selfridge
Subs: McConnell, Plesiewicz, Anderson
Cumbernauld Colts: Adamson, Adams, Dickson, Home, Mortimer, McIntyre, Holmes Webster, Kirkpatrick, McCarvel, McLaren
Subs: McCloy, Ballam, McLaren, Hatfield, Ewen
