Arbroath 0 – 1 Heart of Midlothian
The Lichties lost by a single goal at Gayfield tonight as former loanee Craig Wighton lobbed Derek Gaston in the 70th minute to give Hearts a hard fought victory.
The Lichties were without the suspended Thomas O’Brien, as well as Scott Stewart and Connor Smith who couldn’t play against his parent club as Kris Doolan, Michael Ruth, Colin Hamilton all returned to the side.
Arbroath can feel slightly hard done by as despite Heart’s having the vast majority of possession in the first half it was the Lichties who created the best chances with Craig Gordon pulling of great saves to deny Kris Doolan and Gavin Swankie before denying Doolan again on the half hour mark.
Arbroath continued to impress in the second half but it was a moment of magic by Wighton in the 70th minute which opened the scoring for Hearts.
Heart’s almost doubled their lead in the 77th minute when Liam Boyce had a shot cannon off the post.
As the clock ticked down Arbroath brought on Bobby Linn, David Gold and Luke Donnelly and Arbroath started to press in the final minutes and Michael Ruth was unlucky when his shot in the 91st minute was blocked for a corner by Michael Smith.
With just seconds remaining the ball was played to Michael McKenna on the edge of the Heart’s box but his drive was high over the bar.
A good all round performance from the home side against the League favourites with only the brilliant of Craig Gordon preventing the Lichties opening the scoring in the first half.
C’mon the Lichties
Possession – Arbroath 40% – 60% Heart of Midlothian
Total Shots – Arbroath 6 – 13 Heart of Midlothian
On Target – Arbroath 2 – 4 Heart of Midlothian
Off Target – Arbroath 2 – 5 Heart of Midlothian
Blocked – Arbroath 2 – 4 Heart of Midlothian
Corners – Arbroath 6 – 9 Heart of Midlothian
Fouls Committed – Arbroath 8 – 10 Heart of Midlothian
Arbroath
1 – Derek Gaston
2 – Jason Thomson
3 – Colin Hamilton
4 – Ricky Little (c)
8 – Michael McKenna
9 – Dale Hilson (Linn 76)
10 – Gavin Swankie (Gold 78)
14 – Kris Doolan (Donnellly 78)
16 – Michael Ruth
22 – Miko Virtanen
28 – James Craigen
Substitutes
6 – Mark Whatley
7 – David Gold – 10; 78th
11 – Bobby Linn – 9; 76th
15 – Luke Donnelly – 14; 78th
21 – Scott Gallacher (GK)
Yellow Card – McKenna 83
Heart of Midlothian
1 – Craig Gordon
2 – Michael Smith
26 – Craig Halkett (c)
28 – Mihai Popesc
21 – Stephen Kingsley
16 – Andy Halliday
8 – Olly Lee
30 – Josh Ginnelly (Wighton 9)
7 – Jamie Walker (Haring 78)
24 – Elliot Frear (White 61)
10 – Liam Boyce
Substitutes
3 – Aidy White – 24; 61st
5 – Peter Haring – 7; 78th
13 – Ross Stewart (GK)
14 – Steven Naismith
15 – Craig Wighton – 30; 9th
19 – Andy Irving
25 – Jamie Brandon
Goal – Wighton 70
Yellow Card – Lee 13
Officials;
Referee – Greg Aitken
Assistant Referee 1- Alistair Mather
Assistant Referee 2 – Billy Baxter
Fourth Official – Graham Grainger
