Hearts B were defeated 2-1 by Celtic B at Ainslie Park on Tuesday afternoon as a double from Daniel Cummings saw the Hoops take all three points.
There were two changes from the side that faced East Kilbride last time out as Matty Gillies and Henry James replaced by Lucas Smith and Macaulay Tait.
When these two sides met at the Excelsior at the end of September, it was an excellent match with both sides pressing their opponents and looking to play the ball on the ground.
The early stages of this match were no different and it was the visitors who opened the scoring with a well worked move on eight minutes. Celtic played through the Jambos press and were able to find Jude Bonnar in space on the halfway line, he turned and slipped the ball right to Josh Dede and his cross was turned home at the back post by Cummings.
There was a further blow for the Wee Jambos on 15 minutes as Luke Rathie left the field of play on a stretcher and was replaced by Kai Smutek.
The men in maroon hadn’t been at their free-flowing best in the first half, but they almost levelled the scores from a set piece on the half hour mark. Matty Gillies rose highest to meet Gregor Crookston’s cross, but the ball came off his midriff and bounced wide.
Up the other end, Celtic continued to look a threat on the break and Kenzi Nair produced a goal-saving block to deny Cummings his second of the afternoon after a well-timed run from the striker saw him in behind the Hearts backline in the final minutes of the first half.
Half-time: Hearts B 0-1 Celtic B
Whatever was said in the Jambos dressing room at the interval, it had the desired effect and just seconds after Gus Stevenson saw a shot saved by Joe Morrison, the Hearts number six picked out the bottom corner when the ball next came to him, after cutting in off the left wing to restore parity two minutes after the break.
The game was finely poised as the clock ticked past the hour mark and it was Celtic who got their noses back in front in identical fashion to the opening goal as Cummings was again unmarked at the back post to tap home as Hearts looked for a flag that didn’t arrive after 64 minutes.
Hearts huffed and puffed in search of an equaliser, but in truth, it was a scrappy last 25 minutes with the Wee Jambos struggling to create any clear-cut chances. The closest they came to an equaliser was in the final minute of normal time. Callum Sandilands found space down the right-hand side of the penalty box, but his effort was straight at Morrison as Celtic held on for all three points.
Hearts: Lyon, Nair (Plank, 46), Stevenson, McLuckie (Hogarth, 70), Duncan, Sandilands ©, Gillies, Ross, Crookston, James, Rathie (Smutek, 15)
Subs: MacDonald, Smutek, Plank, Muirhead, Hogarth, Burn
Celtic: Morrison, Bonetig, Frame, Robertson ©, Agbaire, Ure, Dede, Haddow, Cummings, Bonnar, Dargie
Subs: Rice, Donovan, Kyle, Isiguzo, Cannon, McArdle, Dobbie
