Hearts B kicked off their 24/25 Lowland League campaign with a 4-1 victory over East Stirlingshire at Ainslie Park on Friday night.
Liam Fox named a strong side for the visit of Shire with James Wilson, Finlay Pollock and Macaulay Tait all in from the start. Meanwhile, Jamie MacDonald was back in a Hearts shirt as he got the nod in goals.
The men in maroon were dominating the early possession but hadn’t managed to test Ollie Ecrepont in the Shire goal in the opening exchanges.
The visitors had rarely ventured anywhere near MacDonald’s goal in the first 23 minutes of the match, but they opened the scoring with their first chance, after good play from Stephen O’Neill on the right wing. He crossed low for Greig Spence, who was in the right place to tap home from close range.
Shire’s lead lasted little over five minutes. A McLuckie corner wasn’t cleared and when Pollock got to the byline and delivered a dangerous cross, it was turned into his own net by the unfortunate Sam Campbell.
O’Neill continued to look a threat down the right wing, and he almost restored Shire’s lead in the final minute of the half. He got past Henry Lister but fired straight at MacDonald.
Half-time: Hearts 1-1 East Stirlingshire
The second half started in a similar fashion to the first, with Hearts dominating possession but struggling to create much in the way of openings.
It was the visitors who had the first chance of the second half. Former Hearts man Morgaro Gomis latched on to a through ball and after taking the ball round MacDonald, everyone inside Ainslie Park was waiting for the ball to hit the net, but unfortunately for the visitors, it was the side net as the Wee Jambos survived a scare.
Shire were punished for that miss just five minutes later as Callum Sandilands completed Hearts’ comeback. Forrester’s cross from the right was perfect for the number 10 to fire the ball home from inside the box.
As the game entered the final few minutes, Hearts’ lead remained a slender one, but Mackenzie Ross came off the bench to seal the points, tapping home a cross from the left, before fellow substitute Dom Plank scored the pick of the bunch with a wonderful solo goal, cutting in off the left wing, dancing past Shire defenders and firing home.
Hearts: Macdonald, Smith (Rathie, 56), Smutek, McLuckie (Plank, 72), Wilson, Sandilands, Gillies (Duncan, 60), Lister, Forrester ©, Tait, Pollock (Ross, 72)
Subs: Tas, Duncan, Plank, Ross, Crookston, Muirhead, Rathie
East Stirlingshire: Ecrepont, Trialist, Campbell, Pyper ©, Gomis, Brown, Spence, O’Neill, Hynd, Murray, McAlpine
Subs: Cantley, Liddell, Penker, Reilly, Trialist, Curtis, Flynn
