Hearts were defeated 3-2 by East Kilbride in the KDM Evolution Trophy at K-Park on Saturday.
The Wee Jambos were level at the break through Connor Dow after John Robertson’s opener for the hosts.
Robertson made it a brace for himself in the second half after he converted his penalty, before Owen Muirhead equalised for Hearts. But Young’s 94th minute free kick secured the victory for East Kilbride.
Angus Beith made X changes from the 2-1 defeat against Bonnyrigg Rose last Friday.
Bobby McLuckie, Gus Stevenson, Gregor Crookston, Josh Radcliffe and Owen Muirhead returned to the starting XI.
It was a back and forth affair in the first half with plenty of chances at both ends.
The Wee Jambos were on the attack in the opening minute. Bobby McLuckie sprinted down the left wing and swung in a cross looking for Connor Dow, but Freddie Owens was quick off his line to claim it in goal for East Kilbride.
On 14 minutes, The Kestrels thought they found their opener through James Lyon after he scored with a fine finish in the box, but the goal was disallowed for a handball in the build-up.
The hosts then broke the deadlock in the 21st minute. John Robertson opened the scoring as his strike from just outside the box nestled into the bottom right corner for 1-0.
The Jam Tarts hit back in the 27th minute. Gus Stevenson glided through midfield and broke down the right wing before he played a low cross into the box and Connor Dow slotted home into the bottom left corner for 1-1.
Bobby McLuckie had a chance of his own in the 32nd minute. The winger dribbled into the box and hit a strike on his left foot, but his effort was smothered by Owens.
In the 38th minute Hearts had another good chance to go ahead as Gus Stevenson’s low cross from the right narrowly missed the boot of Dow.
Half-time: East Kilbride 1-1 Hearts
Hearts looked to make up for their missed chances in the second half.
On 46 minutes, Owen Muirhead drove to the edge of the box and struck one on his right foot which stung the gloves of Owens.
In the 51st minute, East Kilbride were awarded a penalty. Robertson stepped up and dispatched his spot kick into the bottom left corner for 2-1 to score his second of the afternoon.
The men in maroon got themselves level again 13 minutes from full time. Dow dribbled to the edge of the box and slipped Muirhead in behind the defence who hit a powerful strike on his right foot into the bottom left corner for 2-2.
In the 90th minute, the hosts nicked the victory. Connor Young’s left-footed free kick at the edge of the Hearts box curled around the wall and into the bottom left corner for 3-2.
It was disappointment in the end for the Wee Jambos who gave everything for 90 minutes, but ultimately were unable to get themselves over the line.,
Speaking to the Official Hearts Website at full-time, Angus Beith said:
“I’m absolutely gutted, I feel sick to be honest with you. What makes it worse is that you're getting the handshakes at the end, you're the better team and you played really well in the game, which we did. We put so much into the game.
“Our levels of effort, application, and intensity were excellent. But at the end of the day, if you want to be an elite player, in the crucial moments you can't make mistakes and at the top end of the pitch you've got to take your chances and we didn't do that unfortunately.
“I think the way that East Kilbride pressed us, they went man for man across the pitch, probably wasn't the day to try and play through the midfield. It was about exploiting the 1v1s that we had in the last line and I thought we did that really well and the chances we created off the back of that were excellent and it's just a shame and really disappointing that we couldn't be ruthless in those moments.
“It's hard because you've got two sides of the coin. For their development it's brilliant, we're playing against very good players, experienced players at this level, but part of their development is still learning how to win and minimising mistakes and being ruthless at the top end of the pitch.
“I'm delighted with how much we put into the game. The level of application was first class. Our intensity was so good, but when you don't take your chances and then make mistakes at the other end, that's the disappointment.”
East Kilbride: Owens, MacKenzie, Fagan, Leitch, Robertson, Young, Dobbie, Mimnaugh, Breen, McGregor, Lyon
Subs: Morrison, Flanagan, Balde, Elliott, Healy, Foster, McLean, Sula, Spence
Hearts: Tas, Crookston, Smutek, Smith, Dow, Haddow (Walker, 68’), Radcliffe (James, 68’), Muirhead, Stevenson, Wilson, McLuckie
Subs: Lyon, James, Plank, Ross, Banks, Kelly, Walker, Robb, Mulholland
