Angus Beith was ‘delighted’ with the performance of his Hearts B side as they beat Linlithgow Rose 3-0 at the Vanloq Community Stadium- Ainslie Park on Friday night.
The Wee Jambos were 2-0 up at the break against strong league opposition, and you could see what it meant to the players at full-time as they secured their first home win of the current league campaign.
Speaking to the Official Hearts Website at full-time, Beith said:
“I thought we were brilliant from start to finish tonight. I’m so delighted for them. I thought they put so much into the game, they managed to sustain that competitiveness for the full 90 minutes and that mental focus that would have been challenging them to bring for the full game and they produced that tonight so I’m absolutely delighted with the performance and the result and against a good team.
Beith admitted one of the big turning points in the first half was Blair Henderson’s 15th minute own goal which undoubtedly buoyed the Jambos.
“They probably edged it in the first 10 minutes and then once we got the goal we took control of the game and looked the more likely team to go on and score again, which we managed to do, which I think was key going into the second-half. It's probably something we've not done well enough, at times we've gone ahead in games and we've not made that momentum count.
“We did that today, which was brilliant. It was a great feeling to go in at 2-0, and we knew that there was going to be a reaction. I think we managed that 10-minute reaction really well and then obviously the red card changed things.
“But even after that again, we never really looked in danger, didn't really give up any clear-cut chances, defended our box brilliantly, which has been things that we've maybe struggled to do consistently through our whole game. So, yeah, absolutely delighted with that perspective.”
The manager was delighted to secure the first home victory of the season after a tough run of results for the young Jambos.
“It's been a long time coming. It's something that we mentioned at the start of the season and then we stopped mentioning it because we didn't want it to become like a mental block for them. I’m happy with so many aspects of the game, and particularly the clean sheet.
Beith was pleased with his attackers Connor Dow and Tommy North who set the tone for the match with their effort and performance against The Rose.
“They worked so hard. Their intensity off the ball has been improving steadily over the course of the season, and Connor looks like a man now running. Tommy had more of a hunger about him tonight, and his work off the ball, those are the behaviours that we want and expect from them.
“The quality as well at times at the top end of the pitch. Tommy could have had a penalty as well, potentially. But they looked like they had some nice moments working together. With Tommy's finish, there was a hunger and anticipation for him to get there and get across the defender.”
The defensive performance of his side didn’t go unnoticed, as Beith praised captain Kai Smutek and Alfie Osborne and discussed their development this season.
“Kai's been first class all season, he’s really developing well. He minimised the errors, which are obviously critical for a centre-half. Last season he had a few errors that were leading to goals, hopefully he continues to eradicate that from his game. You can see the power that he has in the pace and how aggressive he is now in duals. So he's developing really well.
“But I'm really impressed with the rest of the back five tonight.. Alfie's starting to be more aggressive and really stand up to the physical challenge in this league. I could go through all five of them, they were really excellent tonight.”
Mackenzie Ross came on to win and scored a penalty in the second half, and Beith was pleased about his impact off the bench.
“It’s an important message that we always relay to the boys, always be ready to come on and take your opportunity and Mac has had a frustrating period where he's had to come on late in games and try and impact from the bench, but every single time he's been called upon he's been ready and focused and that was the case tonight and he was ready to go and impact the game and put the game to bed for us.
“He played a really important role for the team, that can't be underestimated. What that does now is it puts a bit of doubt in my mind for the next starting 11, so that's what he would have wanted to do coming on.”
The manager looked ahead to next Friday’s home league clash against Celtic B.
“It’s strange because we always play Celtic B in quick succession every season. So they'll be desperate to beat us, particularly after how the first game went. So we expect a really tough game, and we're looking forward to that challenge again.”
