Hearts B were held to a frustrating 0-0 draw by Cumbernauld Colts at Broadwood on Saturday afternoon.
Liam Fox made two changes from the side that drew with University of Stirling last weekend as Owen Muirhead and Finlay Pollock dropped out with Gus Stevenson and James Wilson coming in.
It was a bright start from the Wee Jambos, who showed plenty of energy in the early exchanges, pressing the home side, who were intent on playing out from the back.
Yan Gromiv Godik in the Colts goal would go on to have a busy afternoon and he was called into action for the first time on 15 minutes, springing to his right to beat away a curling strike from Mackenzie Ross, who had cut inside from the right wing.
The men in maroon continued to threaten and strong claims for a penalty were waved away when Kai Smutek flicked on Bobby McLuckie’s corner to the feet of Adam Forrester. The skipper appeared to take a kick on the ankle as he was attempting to shoot, but penalty claims were waved away.
Hearts’ best chances of the half arrived towards the end of the first period. Firstly, Lucas Smith drove forward from defence and slipped a neat through ball into the path of James Wilson, he rounded Godik but his effort was cleared off the line by a Colts player.
The men in maroon came even closer five minutes before the break. This time it was Gus Stevenson who took the ball round Godik and saw his effort blocked, the rebound fell to Bobby McLuckie, who saw his first effort cleared off the line, before firing over at the second attempt.
It was bodies on the line stuff from the home side in the first half and a combination of Godik and the defence kept the Wee Jambos out for the first 45.
Half-time: Cumbernauld Colts 0-0 Hearts
The second half started in a similar pattern. The corner count continued to rack up for Hearts and it almost paved the way for the opener when Kai Smutek’s flick on dropped to Matty Gillies, but he volleyed over eight minutes after the interval.
Godik was again called into action just after the hour mark. Macaulay Tait was dictating the tempo in midfield and when he slipped in McLuckie, his effort was beaten away at the near post by the stopper.
It felt like it wasn’t going to be the Wee Jambos’ day and when they eventually did have the ball in the net through McLuckie, the near side flag denied Hearts the opening goal for offside.
The chances continued to come as the game entered the final 15 minutes and after Wilson also had a strike chopped off for offside, Dom Plank was next to call Godik into action after a smart one-two on the edge of the box.
The chance to snatch all three points arrived in the final minute of normal time. Substitute Plank burst down the left wing and when the ball dropped to fellow sub Ryan Duncan inside the box, he blasted over the top to cap a frustrating afternoon for the men in maroon.
Speaking to the Official Hearts Website at full-time, B Team head coach Liam Fox said:
“The reality of today’s performance is I thought we were really good for large periods of the game. A lot of the stuff we work on during the week, both in possession and out of possession, we saw today.
“I’m disappointed for the players as we didn’t get the rewards for the level of performance today. But the hardest thing in football is putting the ball in the back of the net and we just picked the wrong option or made the wrong decision just for that last wee period.
“So that’s the disappointment for us, but I think if we continue to hit that level of performance every week, the goals will start to come.”
Cumbernauld Colts: Godik, McGale, Dickson, Moy, Murphy, Binnie, Malcolm, Borland, Pellow, McKay, Trialist
Subs: Kearney, Greene, Griffiths, Hatfield, Dunn, White, Ferrie
Hearts: MacDonald, Smith, Smutek, Stevenson, McLuckie, Wilson, Gillies (Duncan, 83), Ross (Plank, 72), Lister, Forrester ©, Tait
Subs: Lyon, Duncan, Plank, Muirhead, Glasgow, Hogarth, Osborne
