A late equaliser from Lawrence Shankland earned Hearts a point against a stubborn and resolute Ross County. The visitors went ahead through Ronan Hale’s stunning strike just before half time, and looked set to claim three points, until the Hearts captain popped up at the death to salvage a draw. Aaron Fraser reports from Tynecastle Park:
Photo Credit: Malcolm MacKenzie
Liam Fox named none of Hearts’ summer signings in his first starting eleven as interim manager. Academy graduate Adam Forrester made his debut at right back, following the news that Gerald Taylor would be out for a significant period with a cruciate ligament injury. James Penrice, Craig Halkett and Blair Spittal dropped to the bench, while Malachi Boateng was left out of the squad completely. Alan Forrest, Frankie Kent and Stephen Kingsley took their places in the team.
Meanwhile in the away dugout, Don Cowie started former Hearts man Connor Randall in midfield. The Englishman spent a season on loan in Gorgie back in 2017/18, and along with Cowie, was part of the Hearts team that famously dismantled Celtic 4-0. Goalkeeper Jack Hamilton, another former Jambo, was named on the bench. Aidan Denholm, on loan from Hearts to Ross County, was ineligible to face his parent club.
Hearts flew out of the traps, creating two big chances in the opening minutes. Kenneth Vargas and Adam Forrester exchanged passes neatly on the Gorgie Stand touchline, sending the Costa Rican through on goal. Vargas stung the palms of Ross Laidlaw, who spilled into the path of the onrushing Lawrence Shankland. The ball was then squared to Cammy Devlin, and the Australian’s close range effort looked destined to burst the net, until a last ditch block on the line from Kacper Lopata.
Cammy Devlin, not renowned for his scoring prowess, seemed to be on a one man mission to get the opening goal of the game. A low drive from a similar position to his earlier chance was well held by Laidlaw.
Hearts were enjoying the lion’s share of possession during the first half, patiently probing to crack the County defence.
Alan Forrest was next to try his luck, forcing another save from Laidlaw, who again let the ball loose from his grip. Kenneth Vargas attempted a spectacular mid-air effort, but couldn’t hit the target, and picked up a yellow for committing a foul in the process.
County were content to frustrate the home support by wasting time and playing for fouls. After soaking up all the pressure thrown at them in the first half, the Staggies shocked Tynecastle on thirty six minutes. Ronan Hale curled home a spectacular strike to send the away fans berserk.
Lawrence Shankland has a good goalscoring record against Ross County for Hearts, including a hat trick at Tynecastle two seasons ago. The Hearts skipper had not found the net so far this season, and would have been desperate to get that particular monkey off his back. Shankland ghosted through the County defence, and nodded a Kingsley cross towards the goal, but saw it bounce wide.
Half time arrived to a deafening chorus of boos, as has become all too common so far this season. Hearts had arguably been the better team for large spells, but County’s goal seemed to have sucked the wind out of the Jambos’ sails. While a few questionable calls from referee Iain Sneddon had not helped matters, this could not justify the fact that Hearts were once again losing at half time.
No changes were made at the break, and the action resumed in Gorgie. Working the ball infield from the left flank, Hearts once again tried desperately to find that precious equaliser. After bouncing around for a few seconds, the ball ended up at the feet of Beni Baningime. He was denied by yet another block from the County defence.
Just before the sixty minute mark, Liam Fox rolled the dice for the first time in his interim reign. Cammy Devlin and Kenneth Vargas made way for Blair Spittal and Barrie McKay.
Lawrence Shankland came within inches of hauling Hearts back into the game, sending a volley goalwards from inside the box. Tynecastle rose to acclaim what looked like a certain goal, only for the ball to crash off the crossbar. Shankland then linked up well with Barrie McKay, with the latter going for goal from distance. Unfortunately for the home fans, just like most shots from Hearts on the day, it was off target.
Yan Dhanda was next up to enter the fray, replacing Alan Forrest. The former Ross County man’s introduction was intended to inject some much-needed creativity and flair to a Hearts team that had seriously struggled to create many clear cut chances, aside from a short period of the first half. Dhanda’s first real involvement was to send a dipping drive wide of the post.
Adam Forrester had given a solid account of himself on his first team bow, and swung a teasing delivery into the box on 77 minutes. The youngster’s cross found Stephen Kingsley at the back post, but he could only lift his shot over the bar.
As the clock ticked down, Tynecastle became more and more restless. For a team that only a few short weeks ago had ambitions to be challenging for Europe again, losing at home again would be nothing short of catastrophic. Every missed chance or foul conceded only added to the groans of discontent around the stadium.
The board went up for six minutes of stoppage time, and Hearts went all-out in search of a late goal. Liam Boyce and Daniel Oyegoke were substituted on for Adam Forrester and Jorge Grant. With only seconds left on the clock, Lawrence Shankland was bearing down on goal with only Ross Laidlaw to beat. To the horror of most of the 18,399 crowd inside Tynecastle, Laidlaw got down low to force the ball behind for a corner.
Just as all hope seemed lost, Hearts snatched a point from the jaws of defeat. Yan Dhanda’s in-swinging corner was touched home by Shankland. This late salvo was not enough to prevent a truly damning statistic once the full time whistle blew. The 2024/25 Hearts team are the first ever in the club’s history to fail to win in the opening ten games of the season.
The eight-game losing run is over, but a dark cloud continues to linger above Tynecastle. Hearts still sit bottom of the table, and having to send goalkeeper Craig Gordon up for a last minute corner kick in September is yet another indictment of just how far the men in maroon have fallen. Challenging fixtures away to Dinamo Minsk and Aberdeen are up next for Hearts, and for a team so clearly low on confidence, that elusive first win of the season still seems a million miles away at the moment.
