Hearts (U18s) 2-1 Inverness CT (U18s)

Hearts (U18s) 2-1 Inverness CT (U18s)

Scottish Youth Cup Semi-Final

Thursday 24th February 2022

Hearts booked their place at Hampden Park for the Scottish Youth Cup Final with a battling 2-1 win over Inverness Caledonian Thistle.

On the biggest night in the careers of those on the pitch to date, it wasn’t always pretty at times for the Jambos, who having seen Murray Thomas’ opener quickly cancelled out by an Ethan Cairns equaliser, rode their luck in bitterly baltic conditions before Makenzie Kirk came off the bench and bagged the winner late on.

Hearts will now play either Hibernian or Rangers in the Final; that game takes place next week, but for the next few days the lads will have massive smiles after their accomplishment. This was a big night, a huge occasion, and the lads did enough to ensure it ended the way they wanted it to and I’ve no doubt the changing room will have been buzzing with excitement, enthusiasm and jubilation whilst the tunes were banging out afterwards, because the result will mean everything right now!

Contrast those emotions with Inverness’ players and they’ll be ‘gutted’ - particularly considering they created some very good openings over the course of the 90 minutes!

On a different occasion or in different circumstances, things might have panned out in their favour but when the dust settles and the initial disappointment fades, they can still be proud with what they’ve achieved in this competition and can take comfort in the fact they genuinely gave it everything in this game.

Match Report

Having seen Hearts play a few times in recent months, it was their team which I was by far the more familiar with and most of the expected names were in their starting xi. They lined up in a 3-4-3 formation with Callum Flatman skippering the side.

With a place at Hampden Park awaiting the winners - and with this game taking place under the floodlights in the glitzy and glamorous surroundings of Tynecastle, it’s probably no surprise that a few nerves were evident during the early minutes.

The Jambos looked comfortable in possession and enjoyed four corners inside the opening six minutes (which were all cleared), though it was ICT who had the first chance of the night when Calum Mackay nicked the ball off a defender and fired over from 20 yards.

The Highlanders soon went close again in the driving rain as a half-hearted clearance at the back found its way to Robbie Thompson whose curling drive had to be palmed away by a full-stretch Liam McFarlane in goal for Hearts.

McFarlane continued to be the busier of the two ‘keepers and endured a nervy moment on the quarter-hour mark when, having come out his area, his sliced clearance under pressure landed straight at the feet of an Inverness player just inside Hearts’ half. Although the option for a shot wasn’t available straight away, the Caley Thistle man was allowed to drift dangerously forward with the ball, and when the angle opened up he eventually sent an effort just a whisker wide of McFarlane’s left-hand post from the edge of the area.

Nerves, especially at the back for Hearts, almost seemed palpable at this early stage and although Flatman headed wide from the Jambos fifth corner on 18 minutes, McFarlane was called into action again when he smothered the ball inside his box after some decent build-up play by the visitors.

Hearts had been unfortunate with some of their ideas up to this point, as many if their intended through balls either carried just a bit too much weight or lacked accuracy altogether, but on 26 minutes they got things absolutely spot on to fire themselves into a 1-0 lead.

Callum Sandilands was at the heart of matters as he burst away down the right channel in anticipation of a pass which came following a quick turnover in possession, and he squared an inch-perfect ball through to Murray Thomas who slotted home from eight yards. The move was as swift and sweeping as it was simple and clinical and with Hearts now ahead, Inverness knew they had work to do in order to get back into things.

The visitors made light work of the task, however, because they dominated during the 5-10 minute period leading up to their eventual equaliser.

They’d already gone close when a looping attempt from just inside the box caught a fortuitous deflection off Flatman which forced a back-peddling McFarlane to scoop the ball out from under his crossbar,  before things wouldn’t quite drop for either Matt Strachan or Kenneth MacInnes after a set-piece into the box.

The equaliser then came on 36 minutes when a corner wasn’t effectively dealt with by the Hearts backline. It was partially cleared as far as the edge of the box and quickly recycled with Mackay demonstrating some clever trickery to get past his man and bring the ball onto his right-foot. He then floated a ball in towards Ethan Cairns at the back-post who, similarly, showed good movement to swivel, open up his body and create an angle for a shot which he buried past McFarlane.

Although replays will prove that the initial corner should have been re-taken because the ball was blown about half-a-yard outside the quadrant; something which the linesman would have noticed straight away had he been on that side, it didn’t excuse Hearts’ inability to properly get the ball downfield and clear the danger thereafter, even though there were some quality contributions from Mackay and Cairns for Inverness in the second passage of play directly leading up to the equaliser.

When I watched Hearts lose to Hibernian in the Youth League just before Christmas, they conceded at a very similar time in the game and then immediately shipped another goal - and history very nearly repeated itself here as Caley Thistle came within a whisker of completing a quick turnaround.

Luke Rathie was yellow carded for a full-throttle tackle out on the left flank and the resulting right-footed inswinger saw the ball bounce up dangerously inside the area and into McFarlane’s grasp; narrowly evading two ICT attackers who were lurking with intent and stretching to try and get a touch. Had they done so, the net might have been rippling again!

Hearts knew by this point they were sailing precariously close to the wind and a few harsh words were probably needed - even more so two minutes later when McFarlane rushed off his line and saved with his chest after Ben Barron threaded a neat release pass through to Cairns, though the offside flag was up anyway!

It remained 1-1 by half-time and as the players emerged for the second half to a downpour that quickly meant everyone was absolutely soaking wet, Hearts made a tactical change which saw Ewan Simpson replace Adam Forrester - a consequence of which meant Rathie moved from centre-midfield to left-back.

The substitution didn’t initially stem Inverness’ pressure because they went close in two or three instances during the early part of the second period.

McFarlane endured a nervy moment when Cairns’ low effort from distance initially squirmed beneath him but he was able to recover in the nick of time to prevent the ball from crossing the goal-line. Then, two minutes later, the big ‘keeper proved his value in a more orthodox fashion by saving a low drive from Alasdair Riddle after a clever switch caused Hearts some issues.

Inverness remained in the ascendancy as the rain saturated the players, and Flatman did well to apply pressure on Barron during the next opening which culminated with the ICT player driving his shot wide of the target.

Hearts steadily began to establish a foothold once more and although three corners from the same side (taken by Sandilands and Bobby McLuckie) were all cleared, they did go close to scoring when another corner; this time by Sandilands but from the opposite side, reached Michael Aitken who was off-target with his header.

With the hour mark having now passed, my feeling at this stage was that the outcome might be decided by virtue of either a slip (given the conditions) or a defensive mistake. Although there’d been some nice passages of play and a few decent individual contributions, no player on either team had really fully-dominated matters or bossed things.

It was the introduction of Makenzie Kirk for Sandilands on 66 minutes, coupled with some visibly tiring ICT players, which tipped the dynamic in Hearts favour and they dominated what remained of proceedings.

Kirk’s arrival on the pitch got the best out of Finlay Pollock and it was after the latter’s work on the right and cut-back from the byline, that McLuckie went close - flashing a shot narrowly over when he probably should have hit the target.

Pollock continued to pose a menacing threat and he was heavily involved again as Hearts got the blood pumping and went 2-1 up with 11 minutes remaining.

Having done well to win possession initially, the creative playmaker embarked on a tricky run down the right flank which resulted in him reaching the byline and producing an inviting cut-back for Kirk. Thereafter, it was all about the substitute as his immaculate touch and pirouette movement enabled him to bring the ball onto his favoured foot and slot his effort past the ‘keeper. It was a classy and composed finish worthy of some blood-pumping, drum banging goal music; simple and ruthless in equal measure - not vastly different to the first goal, and those in maroon shirts were jubilant! Shining as brightly as the Tynecastle lights, they knew they were now just 10 minutes away from a Cup Final at Hampden!

The second goal meant the closing stages were inevitably tense and Hearts could have wrapped things up when Pollock and Kirk combined once more (again after good work on the right channel) but Kirk’s flicked effort from inside the box this time went the wrong side of the post.

Inverness’ players, tired but working courageously to get back into things, gave it a damn good go and when MacInnes let fly with a long-range effort on 83 minutes, the ball cleared the upright and ended up in the stands - allowing Hearts to waste away a few more precious seconds!

The Jambos then squandered a couple more opportunities to wrap things up with Thomas firing wide after some deft one-touch interplay on the left flank involving Kirk (who did brilliantly to spin past his man) and fellow sub Ethan Drysdale who hadn’t long since replaced McLuckie.

Another chance went begging two minutes later when Macaulay Tait’s driving run down the middle saw things open up, and with Rocco Friel advancing to his right on the overlap, Tait played the ball to his team-mate who shot narrowly over from the edge of the area.

Whenever you’re trailing late in a game, you always believe that you’ll create one more chance to put things right and that’s precisely what Inverness did in injury-time when a long right-footed delivery into the box was flicked on by Aaron Nicolson. The idea was good but the header didn’t trouble McFarlane as the ball drifted wide; the Hearts players simultaneously breathing a huge sigh of relief and knowing the final whistle was imminent.

When it was blown by the referee moments later, the fist-pumps and embraces across the entire Hearts team told it’s own story. By no means had things been straightforward and the lads certainly rode their luck at times, but their task was to win the game and they’d achieved it - and now a trip to Hampden Park is a reality!

Match Analysis

The substitutes certainly had a positive impact and credit for that needs to go to Steven Naismith and the rest of the Hearts coaching team for recognising precisely what was needed, and when, in order to get the best outcome.

Makenzie Kirk’s impact was fantastic - from his touch and movement to the way he linked up with others and as I’ve touched on already, his arrival brought the best out of Finlay Pollock who is a tremendous player with bags of potential and was on fire during the last 20 minutes!

The change at half-time, although it didn’t shift the dynamic straight away considering ICT went close three times in the early part of the second half, also went a long way to allowing Hearts to implement their ideas better. Ewan Simpson can be proud of doing exactly what was required of him in the midfield role he took up, whilst Luke Rathie put in an admirable in the second half having switched to left-back from midfield. His strength and aggression are very likeable traits and having watched him play a few times now, left-back is the position where I believe he’s at his best. There’s a lot of development to continue (and I was surprised to learn afterwards that he’s only 16 still), but he’s got good characteristics to do well on a football pitch! The pass-back not long before half-time was a scary moment but, given the result, that can be forgiven!

A well-deserved mention needs to go to Liam McFarlane simply due to the number of saves he made. That’s arguably the biggest way a ‘keeper’s value will be judged and he more than proved his worth and passed this test with flying colours - even allowing for the ‘soapy gloves’ moment just after half-time which probably looked worse than it actually was in reality!

McFarlane’s saves prove that Hearts didn’t have everything their own way and shows there is room for improvement. Nerves can be attributed to some extent given the occasion, but bits such as the lackadaisical defending from the set-piece immediately after the equaliser need to be cut-out. In this game it wasn’t punished; in the Hibernian clash just before Christmas it was, and those small things are sometimes the ones which can be the difference between success and failure! Staying in the game and everyone remaining switched on at these type of critical moments is paramount!

Even though some lads will be more pleased than others with their own individual contributions, the collective effort produced a brilliant night - the joy, the jubilation and memories which will now last a lifetime (regardless of what any individuals go on to achieve in football). The surreal excitement about a game at some big stadium in Glasgow, just south of the River Clyde, wouldn’t be happening now if it wasn’t for everyone’s collective effort!

With even more at stake in the Cup Final, it might be an idea for the club to book the lads on a tour of Hampden a few days beforehand so they can familiarise themselves with their surroundings ahead of the big day - and in a bid to try and combat any potential stage-fright. Nerves will still happen; that’s normal, but always remember that the objective of football remains the same whether a game is played at Hampden Park or Christie Gillies Park - the surroundings are almost artificial and it’ll be how players perform on the day, against Rangers or Hibernian, that will decide things!

For now, everyone should enjoy the moment, take in the feeling of waking up buzzing and bouncing over what lies ahead and cherish this moment and the next few days. Every player everywhere in the world remembers their youth team days with huge fondness and reaching the top level National Cup Final is something to be proud of and cherished!