Preston Athletic 0-3 Hearts B

Preston Athletic 0-3 Hearts B

Pre-Season Friendly

Wednesday 12th July 2023

This was a really positive night for the Hearts B Team as they were deserved winners over Preston Athletic in this pre-season friendly.

After a deluge about an hour-and-a-half before kick-off (a traditional welcome back to Scotland from my perspective), it was a dominant performance and a night of many positives; a clean-sheet, a good display and an absolute peach of a goal from Mak Kirk.

Preston’s pitch held up well against the early evening deluge and with Hearts playing up the slope (a substantial slope as well) it took the Wee Jambos just three minutes to leave Preston with an uphill challenge as last season’s B Team top scorer, Mak Kirk, brilliantly stooped low inside the six-yard box to head the ball home from Owen Muirhead’s cross.

A scrappy period of sorts then followed for a while; both teams not retaining the ball all that well, but even by the quarter-hour mark it was clear that Hearts were the better team. They spent more time in the Preston half and could have had a couple of goals; Mak Kirk heading one wide and later flashing a speculative pot-shot from about 25 yards just wide of the target, whilst in between those chances, Gus Stevenson set-up a move with an energetic driving run from midfield, laying the ball off around the edge of the box and continuing his run, before receiving it back and testing the ‘keeper at close-range.

Murray Thomas didn’t have his best night in terms of getting things on target (it’s football, it happens) but some of his link-up play with Bailey Dall was good at times. Both of them looked a threat and whenever Big Muz got to run at Preston’s right-back his footwork had him on the back-foot, back-peddling and on toast.

And on the three occasions Preston did get the ball forward in the first half and looked to get in-behind Hearts, each time the flag went up for offside. Callum Flatman (strong and an excellent) and Kenzi Nair (no nonsense, reliable and what a player) also defended aggressively, in the air and on the ground, to make sure nothing got past them.

Preston were fortunate that it was only 1-0 at the interval; it could have been more and after some half-time changes from both teams - Ryan Duncan amongst those introduced for Hearts, the home team were more organised to begin with in the early stages after half-time.

Not that much happened from half-time up to roughly the hour mark apart from Murray Thomas getting a yellow card and he was involved in a good, physical battle with Preston’s No.6 - both of them going at it for a while, which was interesting to watch.

When Hearts did nearly breach Preston; Harry Gordon and Bailey Dall (I think - apologies if I’m wrong) being involved in a move which put Mak Kirk through with the ball at his feet, the offside flag went up - and just before Big Muz was replaced, he did well to burst away down the left and drive a low cross into the six-yard box which the home ‘keeper spilled and the hosts managed to clear.

At the other, in one of Preston’s rare moves, when their striker let fly with an attempt from distance, the ball ended up closer to Barbara’s back garden than it did the back of the net. Always the sign of a good defence though when you’re reducing the opposition to shooting from distance.

Hearts still looked good in the second half and, after some more substitutions from both teams, the second goal finally arrived as Rocco Friel’s cross from the right was somehow knocked into the net by an unfortunate defender - still claim it as an assist though, Rocco, because it makes your stats look good.

If the second goal was lucky, the third certainly wasn’t.

I can’t quite recall how Mak Kirk received the ball about 25 yards out but like a typical striker, he didn’t need a second invitation to let fly and with a lethal swing of his boot, he unleashed a pearler into the top corner which gave the ‘keeper no chance. Top class!

Even though there were a few tired legs in the latter stages, Hearts could have bagged a few more. Harry Gordon burst through in a one-on-one and was denied by the ‘keeper and when Bailey Dall (who was pushed higher up the left flank when Big Muz went off) drove forward, beat his man and got into the box, Harvey Chisholm had an effort blocked at the near-post.

Overall, a very enjoyable night.

A few little bits to improve; ball retention at times, but the positives far outweigh the negatives and it was a deserved win - thus there’ll be some happy faces.

The clean-sheet is testament to the defensive work because the boys were tested on a couple of occasions and they stood up to that (impressive - and every manager always love a clean-sheet), there were some good bits of play and it was a good performance.

A special mention for Bailey Dall, especially, as he worked his socks off and I really enjoyed watching him - from his defensive work and reading a few things (a little header in the second half was quality), he also covered so much ground, showed his pace and was good on the overlap (when playing at LB/LWB earlier in the game) plus he was unlucky with a pass in the first half to Gus Stevenson that went out of play; absolutely the right idea, just a bit too tight to the byline. Elsewhere, Murray Thomas was good in one-v-one battles (just one of those nights when the attempts he had went over the bar); Gus Stevenson was aggressive and battled as did Harry Gordon, Mak Kirk will be pleased with his two goals which will no doubt appear on his highlights reel at some point, Rocco Friel and Owen Muirhead too with their assists - and, again, it was just a very dominant performance with lots to be pleased with.

My plan for this season is to try and get to a few more Hearts B Team games even if my 25% LNER discount has ceased to exist. 

These lads were good to watch last year and once they got accustomed to the physicality and rigors of life in the Lowland League, their form in the second half of the season was decent and as good as plenty of others in the division. That hasn’t gone unnoticed and I’d recommend it to any Hearts fans living locally to give them their support on Friday nights at Ainslie Park where they’ll be playing this coming season.

I’ll be at Dunbar on Saturday, so up the Hearts B Team, here’s hoping for better weather and if the ice cream man who was out and about during the pre-match deluge, albeit not quite one of Hampden proportions, happens to be selling umbrellas with a cornetto, then I’ll have one next time please pal.