Hearts B bowed out of the KDM Evolution trophy with a 1-0 defeat against St Johnstone at the Vanloq Community Stadium- Ainslie Park on Tuesday night.
Despite a valiant effort from the Wee Jambos, Jamie Gullan’s 76th minute strike was enough to secure the victory for The Saints.
Angus Beith rang the changes as Henry James, Kai Smutek, Matty Gillies, Dom Plank, Gus Stevenson, Tommy North, Keir McMeekin and Bobby McLuckie all returned to the starting eleven.
St Johnstone went on the front foot early on. The ball was whipped in from the left and Stanton blazed his shot over the bar just inside the box.
In the ninth minute, the free kick from the right was whipped in and Reghan Tumilty let fly, but his strike went wide of the target.
The Saints continued to pile on the pressure as Franciszek Franczak hit a low strike which forced Lyndon Tas into action. He made a solid stop to put it out for a corner which was then cleared away from danger by Hearts.
The Wee Jambos didn’t register a shot on goal in the first half, but competed well against the Scottish Championship league leaders and stayed compact defensively to thwart the visitors.
Before the break, Henry James played Bobby McLuckie in behind who drives into the box and fires wide of the target, but the referee blows for offside in any case.
Half-time: Hearts 0-0 St Johnstone
The Saints continued where they left off in the first 45 as they kept asking questions of the Hearts defence.
On 51 minutes, Franczak played the cut-back to Stanton at the edge of the box who hit one first time, but his effort went over the bar.
With nearly an hour gone, Franczak's shot was saved by Tas, it reached Lloyd who skied his shot over the bar from a few yards out.
On 68 minutes, Bobby McLuckie hit a low strike from just outside the box, but it was an easy take in the end for Steward.
The visitors finally broke the deadlock in the 76th minute. Lyndon Tas made a good stop to deny Franczak, but on the follow-up substitute Jamie Gullan took a touch before firing home into the bottom left corner for 1-0.
Ultimately, the slender one goal advantage was enough for the Perthshire side as they went on to seal the victory in Pilton.
Speaking to the Official Hearts Website at full-time, Angus Beith said:
“I was disappointed to go out because obviously we're in a cup competition and we wanted to progress. So the immediate feelings after the game were disappointment, but I haven’t had much time to reflect on the game, but my immediate thoughts are immense pride at how we played.
“I thought we more than matched them. I think we needed a little bit more quality in the final third. Potentially there was a bit of contention with the decision for the goal, potentially Kai's fouled. So yeah, there were opportunities for us to score, but I think overall there’s good feelings coming away from the game of how we competed.
Beith praised the returning Kai Smutek who captained Hearts B after missing several games through injury.
“I thought Kai was magnificent and he's not played in a number of weeks now. So to come straight back into a game where he's playing against players that are performing at a very high level, I thought all things considered, he performed magnificently.
“I thought Alfie (Osborne) was really good alongside him as well. There were a number of good performances. Keir (McMeekin) showed some brilliant little wee glimpses in the first half as well. We just lacked a little bit of quality and a little bit of luck in the final third. It didn't quite come our way, but some brilliant individual performances and Kai was right up there.”
The manager reflected on his side’s run in the cup, and discussed how it has benefitted the overall development of the young Hearts players.
“It's been brilliant for us, we've loved it. Amazing for the boys to feel that challenge and that next level. Doing it together as a team and being in a competition adds a little edge to it. You could feel that before the game, the boys were a little bit nervous, there were a fair few St Johnstone fans here as well.
So having that feeling before the game and playing for something, playing for the opportunity to go and play Ross County in the next round. I think the games have been class for us. I know that the boys have taken loads from it.
Beith looked ahead to Saturday’s Lowland League match against Albion Rovers.
“A lot of the boys who played tonight won't play on Saturday, and Kai's feeling his groin a little bit as well. So it'll be a changed side, probably a team that's similar to the one that played against Caledonian Braves.
“So, looking for a reaction from that result, we actually played pretty well in the game there, but we made too many individual errors, so yeah, an opportunity for us to go and put that to practice on Saturday and hopefully get a good performance and result there.”
Hearts: Tas, James, Smutek ©, Osborne, Gillies, Plank, Stevenson (Muirhead, 66’), Wilson (Robb, 90’), North (Dow, 90’), McMeekin (Walker, 80’), McLuckie
Subs: MacDonald, Crookston, Smith, Dow, Haddow, Muirhead, Donkor, Robb, Walker
St Johnstone: Steward, Tumilty, Boyes, Mullins, Svedberg, Stanton, Foulds, Baird, Sprangler ©, Wanner, Franczak
Subs: Sinclair, Diabate, Holt, Sidibeh, Gullan, Lloyd, Malian, McPake, Smith
