Hearts B got back to winning ways on Saturday afternoon courtesy of a 3-2 victory over Broomhill.
Liam Fox made four changes to the side that drew with Berwick Rangers during the week. Bailey Dall, Macaulay Tait, James Wilson and Kenzi Nair replaced Bobby McLuckie, Ethan Drysdale, Kai Smutek and Harry Gordon.
It was the visitors who started the brighter of the two sides without seriously testing Liam McFarlane in the Hearts goal and against the run of play, it was the Wee Jambos who opened the scoring after 17 minutes and what a goal it was.
Macaulay Tait sent a perfect defence-splitting pass through the middle for Wilson, who himself had made a clever run and he composed himself before slotting the ball past Luke Scullion to open the scoring.
The visitors would’ve felt hard done by to be behind and things went from bad to worse for the visitors on the half hour mark as the men in maroon doubled their lead.
Adam Forrester is always looking to get forward from right back and when Mackenzie Ross made it to the byline, his pull back found Forrester, who was completely unmarked at the back post to tap home and extend Hearts’ lead.
Despite the two early goals, it hadn’t been a game with many clear-cut opportunities and due to the heat, it was never going to be a fast-paced game for the full 90 minutes.
The visitors halved the deficit nine minutes before the interval as Ciaran McPhie found space on the edge of the box and drilled the ball past McFarlane.
Half-time: Hearts B 2-1 Broomhill
McFarlane is enjoying a good season in the Hearts goal and he was again on hand to keep the ball out the Jambos net, four minutes into the second half. Cameron Chalmers found space in the box and from a tight angle, forced a good stop down low from McFarlane.
There was nothing the Hearts stopper could do four minutes later however, as the visitors did restore parity. Some hesitation in the Hearts backline allowed in Corey O’Donnell and the Broomhill striker, who had had a good game leading the line, was rewarded for his efforts with a goal, as he kept his cool to slot past McFarlane.
A draw was probably a fair result at that point in the game, however the men in maroon restored their lead on 66 minutes. Mackenzie Ross was having a good game on the right wing and after cutting inside, he slipped a wonderful ball through for Wilson who poked the ball past Scullion to bag his second of the afternoon.
Despite the goals, the game continued to flow without many openings, but McFarlane was again called into action to deny O’Donnell from a tight angle, 15 minutes from time.
The visitors came even closer five minutes from the end when substitute Rabin Omar cut inside Forrester and with McFarlane beaten, the crossbar came to the Wee Jambos' rescue.
In the final few moments, both sides were starting to feel the pace in what had been very challenging conditions but the Wee Jambos kept it tight at the back to hold on for three precious points.
Hearts: McFarlane, Dall, Tait ©, Wilson (McLuckie, 72), Sandilands, Kirk, Nair, Forrester, Duncan, Rathie, Ross (Thomas, 85)
Subs: McConnell, McLuckie, Thomas, Gordon, Drysdale, Smutek, Chisholm
