Another weekend watching the Hearts B Team and three games into the new season, the Wee Jambos remain unbeaten after this 1-1 draw at Gala Fairydean Rovers.
In truth, it was a closely-fought game and a point each was a fair outcome.
Hearts will regret missed chances (and there was a few) and they actually took the lead just before the hour mark when Bobby McLuckie’s corner deflected into the net off a defender, but Gala Fairydean are a decent outfit who gave a good account of themselves and they bagged a deserved equaliser with about 10 minutes remaining.
Both teams had a goal disallowed at different points during the afternoon and big Liam McFarlane, although no clean-sheet, proved his worth with some decent saves when he was called upon towards the end of each half.
Hearts went into this game perched at the top of the table after winning in midweek at Civil Service Strollers (or Civil Strollers as Louie Selfridge might call them) and wore their maroon kit for this one, with Gala in their change strip of ‘peppermint green’ shirts.
There’s certainly some interesting kits up here in Scotland this season!
It was bright sunshine at kick-off and although it was very tight and ‘nip tuck’ for much of the first 45 minutes, Hearts had the better of the early chances as Harry Gordon tested the home ‘keeper and Ryan Duncan was also denied, before Bobby McLuckie put the ball in the net albeit he was judged to have been offside. It was a tight call.
Callum Sandilands was the orchestrator of two or three incisive balls as the first half progressed and was one of Hearts’ better players in this game, but sadly nobody could put his through balls away.
One of them, played on the deck, found Bobby McLuckie and when he rounded the ‘keeper, he could only hit the ball into the side-netting. Then, after a series of four or five headers in quick succession in the middle of the park, Sandilands nodded one into the path of Mak Kirk who got power behind his shot but not accuracy as he blasted the ball just wide. Another through ball found McLuckie again who this time overran it as the move petered out despite Rocco Friel’s best efforts to keep the danger alive, and in another move, Mack Ross skewed one across goal and wide from inside the six-yard box as he got on the end of a cross but it wouldn’t have mattered anyway as the whistle had already gone.
The hosts were forced into a change around the half-hour mark and a familiar face was introduced for Gala in the shape of Michael Aitken (part of the Hearts team which played in the Scottish Youth Cup Final in 2022) and although Mack Ross beat him with some neat footwork in his very first involvement after coming on, it was Aitken’s new team which finished the first half well as Liam McFarlane was tested two or three times - including one where he had to parry away a powerful drive at his near-post.
The referee didn’t help himself at times. Luke Rathie was booked after a tussle with Gala’s No.9 and moments later Jamie Semple himself was yellow carded in a separate incident (a different referee may well have just warned both players instead of punishing stuff with cards) and after playing about five minutes of injury-time which seemed excessive, he upset the Gala bench when he blew the half-time whistle after the hosts broke downfield from a Hearts corner and Bailey Dall was involved in a tussle inside his own penalty box.
Gala’s dugout wanted the whistle for something else and made their feelings known as everyone trudged off… but it remained 0-0.
By the end of the first half it was raining (cue Franny Healy belting out ‘Why Does It Always Rain On Me?’ because it seems to have rained at nearly every game I’ve watched in Scotland over the past few weeks) and it was still chucking it down at the start of the second half.
With the sun in temporary hiding, Hearts though looked brighter to begin with and they soon carved out a great chance when Bobby McLuckie twisted, turned, switched it and executed a perfect ball which found Mack Ross inside the box and his effort was beaten away by the Gala Fairydean ‘keeper.
The rain then turned into a deluge for a few minutes which left every player soaking wet and it was during this period that Hearts broke the deadlock. Having won a corner, Bobby McLuckie’s delivery (this time a good one) cannoned off a Gala defender inside the six-yard box and into the net. Unfortunate but a big moment for the Wee Jambos!
The assist (make sure you claim it Bobby) proved to be McLuckie’s last act of the afternoon near enough because he was soon replaced by Ethan Drysdale as he continues to build up match-minutes following his return from injury, and the substitute very nearly got on the score-sheet when he was played in-behind by Bailey Dall only to sort of drag his effort wide from a difficult angle.
Hearts continued to search for a second goal and when one of Liam McFarlane’s big balls downfield dropped for Callum Sandilands, he managed to wrestle his way through only for the covering defender tussling with him to do enough to just distract him. And Gus Stevenson, another who came off the bench, was also denied in a move which involved some nice interplay with Mak Kirk.
Owen Muirhead was another player introduced for what was his Lowland League debut so this is a game he’ll remember (congratulations Owen) but, nonetheless, as the second half progressed, Gala’s experience started to show and it became more and more glaringly apparent they were getting on top.
They started to win a lot of second balls, dictate things in midfield, their physical presence and pressing (at times) was noticeable and they converted all that into territory and pressure - thus, they had a few decent chances.
Hearts looked vulnerable when defending corners and in two instances, the big men got their heads to the ball but couldn’t find the target. Liam McFarlane also made a few decent saves and in one particular scary moment, a Gala attacker rode Kenzi Nair’s tackle around the edge of the box when he lunged in (he could have gone down and made the referee make a decision) and when the ball spun towards a trialist, he put it in the back of the net for what he thought was an equaliser, but it was disallowed for offside.
You felt like a goal was coming because Gala’s pressure was very intense and eventually it paid off when they won a penalty as Luke Rathie appeared to go through the back of the home trialist, just seconds after McFarlane had saved with his feet at his near-post. It looked a penalty on first glance, the referee didn’t hesitate in awarding it and their weren’t too many appeals, and when it was taken it was duly dispatched by Danny Galbraith for a well-deserved equaliser; a goal which capped off a good performance by him as he was their chief threat!
The hosts pushed again in the last 10 minutes and McFarlane made a couple more saves but into injury-time, Hearts almost got a chance when Callum Sandilands’ corner nearly dropped for Luke Rathie inside the box, only for one of the defenders in peppermint green to nip in and make a timely interception to prevent any last-gasp drama.
On the whole, a point apiece was a fair result.
Hearts will regret their missed chances (that's understandable) and their might also be a few frustrations too at not being able to hold onto the lead, but Gala Fairydean were very strong in the second half once they went behind, quite organised and a good team - so a point against this calibre of opposition, away from home, in testing weather conditions, isn’t too shabby. It’s something for the lads to show for their efforts and it means they’re still unbeaten this season with two awkward away fixtures navigated in the past few days.
Last season in this same fixture, Hearts ‘caved in’ as they went from 3-1 up with eight minutes to play, to drawing 3-3 in the game where Arron Darge was sent-off. This time around, they couldn’t hold on to get three points but the lads didn’t ‘capitulate’ under the pressure by any means - and that’s probably partly down to being in this league for a second season, using last year’s experiences as a learning curve, and learning a few things about ‘game-management’ which they’re doing their best to implement.
Sometimes I felt Hearts ‘over-played’ in high areas when it might have been more worthwhile just to get shots off quicker and not play ‘too much’ and think about things, so as to let Gala Fairydean get men behind the ball. That was noticeable but given how strong the home team finished - how aggressively they pushed and pressed for that equaliser, how good the No.9 and No.10 were (both quite decent players) plus their physicality in certain areas, I’ve got no doubts there’s quite a few players in maroon shirts who’ll have learned so much from this game - especially the younger ones and especially in that last 30 minutes where it was very tough and backs to the wall at some points. It’s beneficial and it will only stand them in good stead (especially the younger lads who need these experiences to develop and become better players) as the season progresses.
So not a perfect day, not vintage by any means - things to learn from and improve and even implement in future games, missed chances will be the frustration, but the point earned was still a good one all things considered.
A mention again for Callum Sanidlands because his first half play was sharp; he was one of the better players wearing a Hearts shirt and put three or four really intelligent balls through to his team-mates. In the second half, like everyone else in maroon, he was on the back-foot more often and it just proved to be one of those days where chances weren't taken.
And credit to Liam McFarlane too because it says a lot about his afternoon when he made quite a few good stops and it took a penalty to eventually beat him.
So we now move on to the next game!
I’ll be at Brechin on Tuesday; the only ground in the SPFL that I’d not been to before they got relegated from League Two a couple of years ago. I’ve still not been so I’m looking forward to that and potentially also seeing a few ‘older heads’ involved such as Aidan Denholm, Harry Stone or Connor Smith, with the rules of the Challenge Cup (or whatever it’s officially called) being slightly different to the rules in the Lowland League.
Credit to the ‘Gala Ultras’ at this game. Very annoying but very loud (and I mean VERY loud - particularly with their drum and relentless energy). My eardrums have only just recovered and even though I couldn’t understand some of what they were shouting, I had to chuckle at the ‘You’re just a sh*te Kelty Hearts!’ chant. Top marks from me on that for originality - and also humour!
If every club in the Lowland League had groups like this; kids being kids and just getting together, enjoying themselves and generating an atmosphere, the division would be a better place for it.
