Hearts B played out an entertaining 2-2 draw with Civil Service Strollers at Christie Gillies Park on Tuesday night.
It was the first game in ten days for the Wee Jambos and Angus Beith freshened up his squad with seven changes from their last outing against Edinburgh City in the KDM Evolution Trophy.
There wasn’t a lot to write home about in the opening 15 minutes, but an early pattern to the first 45 was established, with Hearts dominating possession and midfield duo Matty Gillies and Stanley Wilson looking to dictate in the middle of the park.
It was Strollers who had the first opening, when Mark Laird’s dangerous free kick saw Kai Smutek produce a couple of brave interventions to prevent Lyndon Tas from being called into action.
The Wee Jambos stayed patient, and their possession began to bring opportunities as we passed the 20-minute mark. After Owen Muirhead forced Adam Meek into a routine stop, the Hearts number 14’s next effort, just minutes later, required a far better save, before the Strollers stopper reacted well to beat away Gillies’ effort on the rebound.
The deserved opener arrived on the half hour mark. Muirhead broke down the right and pulled the ball back for Gus Stevenson on the edge of the box. With everyone expecting the shot, he produced a magnificent flick to slide in Connor Dow, who lifted the ball over Meek to open the scoring.
It was almost 0-2, just a minute later. Muirhead was again involved and as the Strollers backline backed off, he tried his luck from distance and forced Meek into an excellent fingertip stop to divert the ball over for a corner.
The Hearts front four were all playing with a bit of swagger following the opener and Gus Stevenson won a penalty after a mazy run on 36 minutes. Dow stepped up and sent Meek the wrong way to double his and his sides tally for the evening.
Half-time: Civil Service Strollers 0-2 Hearts B
Strollers had a bit more about them at the start of the second half and despite a couple of corners, Lyndon Tas wasn’t really called into action initially, due to some smart blocks from the bodies in front of him.
With both Wilson and Gillies on yellow cards, the former was removed early in the second period for Mackenzie Ross, and the substitute almost made an instant impact with his first touch, but he sliced his effort wide at the back post.
Strollers spurned a big chance through a substitute of their own on the hour mark as Jay Mill struck the post after a bit of a scramble in the Hearts box.
The game was becoming stretched as Strollers pushed for a goal and the Wee Jambos almost caught them on the break. As Dow looked to burst through on goal, he went down under pressure and with nothing given, the ball rebounded into the path of Dom Plank, he saw his effort blocked before Ross forced a good stop from Meek.
Strollers continued to launch balls into the box towards giant striker Alieu Faye, the second half substitute was causing problems, and the home side got their reward on 71 minutes as Callum Yeats slotted home.
Five minutes later, parity was restored as Yeats this time drove forward from right back and picked out the top corner with a brilliant left-foot strike to set up a frantic final 15 minutes.
The Wee Jambos should really have gone back in front straight away; Dom Plank was slipped in down the left wing but curled his right-foot shot just wide of the far post.
The final chance of the night fell to Strollers’ skipper Mark Laird, but his header from close-range was brilliantly saved by Tas as both sides had to settle for a point.
Civil Service Strollers: Meek, Yeats, Valentine, Shaw, Clarke, Pollock, Smith, Laird ©, Penker, Duncan, Findlay
Subs: Mill, McGinn, Currie, Proudfoot, Faye, dos Santos, Scoon
Hearts B: Tas, James, Smutek ©, Osborne, Gillies, Dow, Plank (Robb, 77), Glasgow, Muirhead, Stevenson, S. Wilson (Ross, 53)
Subs: Lyon, Crookston, Smith, Ross, Hogarth, Robb
