Hearts B came from behind to defeat Broomhill 2-1 in horrible conditions at The Rock on Tuesday night.
Liam Fox made two changes to the side that defeated Albion Rovers last time out. Luke Rathie returned in the heart of the defence, in place of Lennon Thompson, meanwhile, Ryan Duncan replaced Gus Stevenson in midfield.
On a difficult surface, it was perhaps unsurprising to see little in the way of goalmouth action in the early stages.
The home side took the lead with the first real chance of the match. The Jambos backline claimed for offside, when a neat ball over the top found Corey O’Donnell, he kept his cool to finish past Liam McFarlane and open the scoring.
To their credit, the men in maroon responded well and created a flurry of chances in the ten minutes that followed.
Against Albion Rovers on Friday night, much of Hearts’ joy came from wide areas and it was proving similar in the first half at The Rock. Bobby McLuckie and Murray Thomas were both involved down the left-hand side.
McLuckie delivered two dangerous deliveries which were well defended by the home side, either side of a Thomas shot that stung the palms of Luke Scullion.
A deserved equaliser arrived for Hearts nine minutes from the break, and it was one of the simpler goals they have scored this season. An out-swinging corner from McLuckie was met by the head of Rathie, who powered the ball past Scullion to level the scores heading into the break.
O’Donnell continued to be a nuisance for the Jambos backline after the interval and he had an early sight of goal when letting fly from the edge of the box, however, it ws straight down the throat of McFarlane.
Both sides were huffing and puffing but, on the surface, it was difficult to keep the ball and pass between the lines. Callum Sandilands drove forward before sliding the ball right to James Wilson. He played a teasing cross into the box, which evaded everyone in a maroon jersey in the box as the ball trickled harmlessly behind for a goal kick.
It wasn’t pretty, but the men in maroon completed their comeback bang on 70 minutes. It again came from a corner, McLuckie’s delivery wasn’t dealt with by the Broomhill backline and the second ball dropped for Wilson to slam home from close range.
The home side almost responded immediately. Again, O’Donnell found himself in on goal, but McFarlane made himself big to deny the striker.
The men in maroon controlled the final 15 minutes and looked the likelier to grab the next goal, but it wasn’t to be as the Wee Jambos saw out the final minutes to secure their fourth win on the spin and return to second in the Lowland League table.
Broomhill: Scullion, Smith, M. Miller ©, Kennedy, O’Donnell, Roberts, Jack, Chalmers, Murphy, B. Wright, Ellis
Subs: Barr, Hunter, D. Miller, M. Wright
Hearts: McFarlane, Dall, McLuckie (Crookston, 87), Wilson the (Ross, 71), Sandilands, Thomas, Gordon, Forrester ©, Duncan (Stevenson, 81), Rathie, Smutek
Subs: McConnell, Stevenson, Ross, Crookston, Thompson, Smith
