Hearts cruised to a third straight victory in Group E of the Premier Sports Cup, sweeping aside Stirling Albion 4-0 at Forthbank Stadium.
A first half blitz from Craig Halkett, Claudio Braga, and Alexandros Kyziridis on his Hearts debut, had the men in maroon on their way to another win.
Halkett netted again right before the end, to make it 4-0 and send the Jambos back down the M9 with all three points.
Derek McInnes rang the changes for matchday three in the Premier Sports Cup; Oisin McEntee assumed his natural position in the middle of the park, Lawrence Shankland back up front, and Greek winger Alexandros Kyziridis handed his maiden maroon start since joining in the summer.
Hearts had their first chance after two minutes – a good ball forward from Christian Borchgrevink sent Claudio Braga scarpering away down the right side, with his side footed effort at goal pushed away by Derek Gaston.
The Jambos went again right before the ten-minute mark as Lawrence Shankland did well to keep the ball alive on the right side of goal before sending a looping cross crashing down – Kyziridis nodded goalwards but Gaston spread himself to parry.
Kyziridis was at the heart of events again after 13 minutes as Hearts raced into the lead. It was his spectacular cross from deep that landed with pinpoint accuracy on the head of Craig Halkett, with the defender thumping a powerful downwards header beyond Gaston.
The men in maroon had their second after 23 minutes, and it was another well worked team move. Borchgrevink’s ball forward was flicked across goal by the head of Craig Halkett, with Claudio Braga gleefully stooping with a diving header to make it 2-0.
Hearts were in fine fettle and could have registered their third on the half hour mark, with Stuart Findlay peeling away from his marker in the box before seeing his header crash wide of the post.
Derek McInnes’ boys rolled on, with the third arriving after 38 minutes. Fantastic running from Alan Forrest on the right saw the ball whipped across goal, with a red shirt blocking and spilling the ball into open play.
Showing killer instinct, Alexandros Kyziridis pounced and applied a simple finish to make it three and easy for the Jambos on his full debut in maroon and white – topped off with a superb Spider-Man celebration.
HT: Stirling Albion 0-3 Heart of Midlothian
Hearts almost got a fourth right out the gates as the second 45 begun, with Claudio Braga hammering a good looking ball across goal that expertly found Lawrence Shankland – his flicked effort parried by Derek Gaston once again.
In truth, it was an uneventful second 45 compared to it’s blistering predecessor, and Derek McInnes made the opportunity to make changes – Yan Dhanda, James Wilson, and Calem Nieuwenhof all getting minutes from the bench.
Ten minutes from time, substitute Dhanda would make an impact as he set up Hearts’ fourth of the evening – whipping a swirling cross into the box that was met by Halkett. The bullet header was blocked by Derek Gaston, but trickled over the line to make it 4-0.
A fifth almost came with four minutes to go as substitute Sander Kartum threaded in James Wilson with a glorious through-ball. The youngster sped away through the middle, with his angled strike being tipped around the post by Gaston.
It finished with four, and Hearts now look to sign off their Premier Sports Cup campaign with a 100% record when they host Dumbarton at Tynecastle Park next Wednesday.
Stirling: Gaston, McGeachie, Hamilton, McNab, Banner, Carse, Cunningham (Trialist B 74’), Brown (Wright 87’), Knox (Trialist A 54’), McLean (Carrick 74’), Crane
Subs: Smith, Carrick, Weir, Wright, Howe, Trialist A, Trialist B, Scott, Shanley
Hearts: Clark, Halkett, Shankland (Kabangu 79’), Braga (Wilson 61’), Borchgrevink (Nieuwenhof 45’), Devlin, Forrest (Kartum, Milne, Findlay, McEntee, Kyziridis (Dhanda 61’)
Subs: Fulton, Kent, Kingsley, Kabangu, Nieuwenhof, Spittal, Dhanda, Wilson, Kartum
