REPORT | Hearts 2-1 Ross County

A valiant Ross County ended their opening match of the campaign with a narrow loss away to Heart of Midlothian at Tynecastle.

A trio of second half goals saw the Jambos take three points as Jordan White’s strike with ten minutes remaining wasn’t enough to secure a point for the Staggies.

Malky Mackay named three league debutants in his starting XI which had been subject to much intrigue going into the game, but it was Jordy Hiwula, Ben Purrington and Owura Edwards.

It took nine minutes for either side to find an opportunity, and despite early possession belonging to the home side it was County that saw an opportunity first. Jordy Hiwula latched on to a loose ball on the edge of the box but dragged a shot wide.

Hearts responded minutes later but Michael Smith’s hopeful shot from 30-yards was tame and well off the mark.

As the first period ticked by it was County who got well on top with a slew of chances throughout. Owura Edwards almost topped his goal of the season contender from seven days ago as he knocked a ball past a defender, latched on to it himself and drove a shot against the crossbar from 25-yards.

It followed Ben Purrington’s shot that was deflected over the bar following great link-up play from Hiwula and Dominic Samuel. The latter had a header slam the post which seemed to open up the Staggies for the onslaught of chances minutes before.

However, County didn’t find a first-half breakthrough and in the final minutes it was the home side on top with momentum shifting. The whistle blew for the break with neither side able to break the deadlock.

Half-Time: Hearts 0-0 County

Hearts came out for the second half starting as they ended the first. On 53 minutes Forrest worked his way into the box on the right and unleashed a shot into the bottom left corner, only to be denied by Connor Randall.

He’d have no trouble six minutes later through, as he got on the end of a cross from Alex Cochrane to turn it home just seconds before the hour mark.

In full control, County were finding it more and more difficult to breakthrough as a new-look Hearts put them under constant pressure, though admittedly didn’t really test Ross Laidlaw. It took until 78 minutes for them to add a second as Billie McKay rounded Laidlaw to finish a superb move and double the lead.

You can’t accuse County of crumbling in this one however, as substitute White latched on to a long-ball from Jack Baldwin to slot between the legs of Craig Gordon.

It led to an exciting finish as the home side held on, with County opening the campaign with a loss.

County XI: Laidlaw, Randall, Iacovitti, Baldwin, Purrington, Callachan, Tillson, Owura, Sims, D.Samuel, Hiwula

Subs: Eastwood, Dhanda, Johnson, Loturi, Watson, Harmon, Olaigbe, Paton, White.

Hearts XI: Gordon, Smith, Halkett, Haring, Shankland, Atkinson, Rowles, Forrest, McKay, Cochrane, Sibbick

Subs: Stewart, Grant, Boyce, Mackay-Steven, Devlin, Halliday, Neilson, Smith

Referee: David Dickinson