Hearts 3 – 0 Motherwell
A second Lawrence Shankland brace topped off with James Forrest finisher saw an improving Hearts dispatch a frustrated Motherwell side in the ‘best of the rest’ clash.
Attempting to combat the heat, the referee called a stop to play to allow players to take a water break. However there would be no denying Shankland in front of goal, the striker profiting from a defensive howler from Stephen O’Donnell to give Hearts the lead.
Having tasted the back of the net Shankland would come back for seconds after the break, meeting James Penrice’s delicate cross to almost put the game out of reach and in doing so scoring as many post-split as he had prior.
Just two minutes later it was good night Vienna for Wimmer, as Forrest tapped home Aston Oxborough’s save after some excellent work from substitute Yan Dhanda to force the parry.
Motherwell for their part did threaten prior to the collapse, Callum Slattery’s sizzling long range effort going just over the bar as the visitors probed for a hole in debutant Ryan Fulton’s goal.
Slattery wheeled away in celebration after thundering home an equaliser, only to be denied after a lengthy VAR check ruled for offside as Dan Casey was judged to have obscructed in play.
Fulton suffered his first real test, spilling Tom Sparrow’s low driven shot, fortunate not the have it collected by a Motherwell player.
Three points for Hearts see them leapfrog Motherwell to go seventh and confirm survival for next season.
Missing diamond but Shankland shines bright
Quick to deny any criticism of his predecessor Critchley, interim boss Liam Fox did not need to say what he thought of the decision to drop Shankland deeper at the top of a midfield diamond.
Instead he showed it by making the striker the sole man up top and it has paid dividends. Four goals in two games has gone some way in reminding the Tynecastle faithful just how good he is, but also what a player they will be losing should Shankland not re-sign.
With Craig Gordon also more out than in as it stands, Fox, or whomever the board select as their next manager have a wealth of experience to replace.
Either way, with Shankland in red hot form for the first time this season, fans may finally have something to smile about following a torrid year.
Auditions but no x-factor
In the build-up to this week, Wimmer called the three remaining games “an audition” for some members a bloated Motherwell squad.
If that was the case, no prizes for guessing how many of the players earned the golden buzzer.
Very much in the game even a goal down, the quickfire double sucked the life out any attempts to salvage something from the game.
The manager denied he would make any decisions off the back of a single game. However, with a healthy expected for the signing of Lennon Miller and a cull of the fringes, fans can expect a stronger squad than the one that has flattered to deceive this year.
What the managers said:
Hearts interim boss Liam Fox:
“I think I repeat what I said last week. If you put Lawrence Shankland in these types of positions and you do work on how you’re going to get the ball to him, Lawrence Shankland will score goals.”
“This is not in any way, shape or form a criticism of the previous regime, I just felt it needed to get Shankland closer to the goal.”
“At this moment in time, we’ve got a day off tomorrow and we’re back in on Monday and that until somebody tells me any different, that is where it’s at.”
Motherwell boss Michael Wimmer:
“It was a disappointed result. But this happens in football, I think, if you see the stats, it was four shots for Hearts or five shots and they scored three goals, and we had all of our shots and we didn’t score.”
“It was not good enough, especially in both boxes, but to make decisions on players depending on one game. I don’t think it’s fair.”
“My only thing is what I always say, but also in Germany, if the VAR says something and if the VAR says ‘come on, I have something to say’ then in my opinion it should be a clear mistake.”
Line-ups:
Hearts: Fulton, Penrice, Halkett, Kent, Forrester, Grant (Kartum 72), Baningime (Nieuwenhof 81), Devlin, Forrest (Kabangu 81), Shankland (c) (Wilson 72), Vargas (Dhanda 53) Unused subs: Clark, Kartum, Kingsley, McKay, Steinwender
Goals: Shankland (30, 60), Forrest (62)
Booked: Devlin, Halkett
Motherwell: Oxborough, Seddon, Casey, O’Donnell (c), Sparrow, Miller, Halliday (Andrews 84), Thompson (Wilson 68), Slattery (Zdravkovski 80), Maswanhise (Dickson 68), Watt (Armstrong 68) Unused subs: Armstrong, Balcombe, Ebiye, Paton, Wilson, Jair Tavares
Booked: Halliday, Miller