Hearts B fell to a narrow 1-0 home defeat against Caledonian Braves at The Vanloq Community Stadium at Ainslie Park on Friday night.
Lennon Walker’s early second half strike was enough to give the visitors the three points.
Angus Beith made one change from the 3-2 home defeat against East Kilbride on Tuesday evening, with Jamie MacDonald coming in to replace Lyndon Tas in goals for the Wee Jambos.
It was a cagey affair throughout with few clear cut chances for either side.
The Braves had the first opportunity of the evening after 20 minutes played. Cameron Breadner dispossessed Hearts skipper Kenzi Nair just outside the box and hit a strike on his right foot, but it was a comfortable one for Hearts goalkeeper Jamie MacDonald.
The Wee Jambos came close to opening the scoring on 37 minutes. Taylor Hogarth whipped it across the face of goal from the left, it came to Mackenzie Ross who couldn’t get a shot off and instead played it to Dom Plank who hit a first time shot but it was blocked off the line by a Braves defender.
Just before the break, Ryan Duncan lofted it forward from deep in midfield to find Taylor Hogarth on the left wing who drove down to the byline and played a cut-back to Aiden Haddow at the edge of the box, but his effort deflected out for a corner.
Half-time: Hearts B 0-0 Caledonian Braves
The Braves took the lead straight after the break.
Lennon Walker was played in behind the Hearts defence at the left side of the box, and slotted past Jamie MacDonald with a strike on his left foot for 1-0.
The visitors nearly doubled their advantage shortly after. The cross was whipped in from the right which found Martins who headed it, forcing a great reaction save from Jamie MacDonald to tip it over the bar from close range.
Hearts looked to conjure up an equaliser. With twenty minutes to go, Mackenzie Ross fired the ball out to Dominic Plank on the left wing. He dribbled well into the box and chopped on to his right foot before getting a strike away, but it went wide.
Matty Gillies drove from midfield and hit a strike just outside the box, although his effort curled away from the target in the end.
Despite a spirited showing from Hearts, they couldn’t unlock The Braves defence and the away side took all three points.
Hearts: MacDonald, Nair ©, Smutek, Duncan (Osborne 56’), Plank, Gillies, Ross (Plesiewicz 84’), Crookston, James, Hogarth, Haddow
Subs: Wilkie, Smith, Osborne, Selfridge, Plesiewicz
Caledonian Braves: White, Brown, Stewart, Stewart, Guthrie ©, Martins, McNeil, McLaren, Breadner, Murray, Walker
Subs: Gkegka, McDowall, Clocherty, Speirs, Mcarthur, King
Speaking to the Official Hearts Website at full-time, manager Angus Beith said:
“I was much happier after tonight than I was the previous two games. I asked them to be competitive and stand up when it when it got tough today and by and large, they did that for the whole game. So I'm really pleased with that.
“We had good moments on the ball, but probably just didn't do enough to hurt them and we didn't really have that cutting edge. I’m disappointed with the result, but obviously much happier with the performance and the attitude of the boys.”
