A late Rogers Mato goal saw Hearts defeat Raith Rovers 1-0 in Kirkcaldy on Friday night.
A pre-season friendly that head coach Wouter Vrancken used to get extra minutes into those that needed them, ahead of Tuesday’s UEFA Champions League qualifier second leg against Sturm Graz.
A strong starting XI was named for the Jambos, who enjoyed plenty of possession in the early stages, but it was the home side who had the first two openings of the match, inside the opening ten minutes.
Firstly, Lewis Gibson cut in off the left wing, but could only fire high over the bar, under pressure from the recovering MJ Kamson-Kamara, before Kai Montagu found space in a more central area, but again, the finish was over Zander Clark’s goal.
After 15 minutes, Hearts began to find their feet, enjoying a similar amount of possession, but creating more openings.
Josh McPake, looking to follow up a positive performance against Rayo Vallecano was first to go close, curling an effort straight at Josh Rae, before Tómas Magnusson forced the stopper into making a more impressive save, the rebound falling to Sabri Gyendouz, who could only volley wide.
McPake came close again just before the half hour mark, latching onto an eye of the needle pass from Ten Renaud, who was again trying to dictate matters in the middle of the park, but his effort was sliced into the side netting.
On the other flank, Sabah Kerjota and Jordi Altena were looking to link up, with the former delivering a dangerous in-swinging cross which just evaded the head of Amadou Ba-Sy to round out a scoreless and relatively uneventful first 45.
Half-time: Raith Rovers 0-0 Heart of Midlothian
There was a triple Hearts change at the break and a debut for goalkeeper Beau Reus, with Mato and James Wilson also introduced.
Reus was called into action on a few occasions and on a windy night in Kirkcaldy, he did well to adjust his feet to take a corner that had been caught in a swirl, before clutching a Ross Millen header at the back post.
It hadn’t been a classic in truth, but Hearts almost took the lead on the hour mark and after Tómas Magnusson’s back post header had been deflected behind for a corner, MJ Kamson-Kamara forced Raith substitute goalie Luke Armstrong into a smart stop, tipping over the defender’s header from a Stephen Kingsley delivery.
There were debuts for academy starlets Allan Clark and Peter Kellock, with Euan Glasgow also introduced for what would turn out to be an open final 15 minutes.
Magnusson again went close for Hearts, his right foot volley from the edge of the area flashing just wide of the far post, Wilson also went close for Hearts, he lost his balance just at the vital moment however and his effort flew high over the bar.
Up the other end, Rovers’ sub Dylan Easton squandered two chances for his side to snatch the win, firstly a back post header was well kept out by Reus, before shifting the ball inside onto his right foot and with the goal gaping, he curled wide of the far post.
The game had seemed destined for a stalemate for much of the 90, but a slack pass back from Jai Rowe in the 87th minute was pounced on by Rogers Mato and the Ugandan finished past Armstrong to win the game for Hearts.
Raith Rovers: Rae, Rowe, Delaney, Lyall, Stevenson, Gibson, McMullan, Dowds, Telfer, Millen, Montagu
Subs: Armstrong, Fordyce, Robertson, Easton
Hearts: Clark (Reus, 46), Altena (Forrester, 77), Kingsley (Glasgow, 77), Kamson-Kamara, Findlay (A.Clark, 60), Magnusson, Kerjota (J. Wilson, 46), Renaud (Kartum, 60), Ba-Sy (Dhanda, 60), Guendouz (Mato, 46), McPake (Kellock, 77)
Subs: Reus, Kartum, Mato, Dhanda, J.Wilson, Forrester, Glasgow, S.Wilson, Clark, Kellock
