The mental goings on inside the Church Hill Theatre would have brought some sanity to more Premiership title race
A production of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest opened in Edinburgh’s West End last night but it had nothing on the psychodrama playing out at Tynecastle.
The mental goings on inside the Church Hill Theatre would have brought some sanity to more Premiership title race lunacy unfolding in Gorgie as Hearts rattled in three goals against Falkirk which ensured a final-day shootout against Celtic on Saturday . There was delirium, grown men in tears, when for a brief moment the Jambos surged into a four point in-play lead over the Hoops.
Finally, realisation dawned that another rollercoaster of emotions await in two days’ time as the Jambos face the ultimate joust with history. Frankie Kent’s first goal of the season arrived before Cammy Devlin and Blair Spittal strikes provided the formalities against the Bairns. But the madness of it all ended with the mass hysteria of men, women and children in maroon more concerned about the state of play in Motherwell .
Bonkers it may have been but eventually the facts were laid bare – avoid defeat to Celtic and the mother of all title parties can get started. A clinical assessment of the various scenarios would have required some to reach for some sedatives from Nurse Ratched or a few pre-match pints in the Tynecastle Arms to calm the nerves. But for the Jambos a win over John McGlynn’s side was a basic imperative whatever was to unfold in Lanarkshire.
Pitfalls aplenty were lodged in some minds, given the scarring disappointments in the club’s climactic title chasing history. Derek McInnes was without Craig Halkett and Marc Leonard, both laid low with serious Achilles tendon injuries as he made four alterations from the side which started the weekend draw against Motherwell. The return of Devlin was an obvious positive to a side decimated by absentees as Kent, Harry Milne and Alexandros Kyziridis came in.
Falkirk weren’t without their own issues with a host of usual starters missing. Coll Donaldson, Liam Henderson, Sam Hart and Ben Broggio lined up in a side which was aiming for a first league win over the Edinburgh outfit in this campaign with centre-back Lewis Neilson ineligible to face his parent club. The sense of anxiety from the home support was tangible and understandable.
That unease wasn’t helped by the stat that Hearts had conceded the first goal in each of their previous five league outings and it was Falkirk who put on the early pressure. That stress was compounded by the sight of Calvin Miller racing clear down the left before slamming a low shot past Alexander Schwolow, only to be rescued by the sight of Nick Walsh’s raised arm for a fifth-minute offside call.
The decision was far too tight for comfort as far as the hosts were concerned and the sighs of relief were audible. It was already abundantly clear this was no end of season wind down for the Bairns as they hustled the home side out of their stride.
Spittal picked up a 16th- minute cation for clattering into Connor Allan as news of a Motherwell opening goal against Celtic in Lanarkshire only served to crank up the decibels a few levels to add to borderline hysteria inside Tynecastle. An opening 20 minutes had Falkirk edging the contest both in territorial advantage and possession but Stuart Findlay was next to threaten as he nodded a Spittal corner over as the tide started to turn.
Lawrence Shankland turned on the edge of the area and fired in a low shot which was well-gathered by Nicky Hogarth in the Bairns goal. The revelations from Fir Park had clearly had a calming effect on the Hearts players who were now finding space down the right. Kyziridis was being fed and embarking on several promising runs which came to nothing. All that would change as the Jambos edged ahead on the half-hour mark.
An explosion of noise greeted Kent’s bulleted header high into the net from a Kyziridis corner as the Jambos hit the magic four-points-clear mark in the ‘as it stands’ table. A second goal was soon to follow and it was all to easy as Devlin was allowed to run on to a loose ball to fire home. An evening beyond the wildest dreams of Hearts fans continued unfolding before being momentarily brought to a halt by a Celtic equaliser.
The half ended with Miller’s superb strike which was tipped over by Schwolow and it brought with it some sober silence from a crowd being reminded that Premiership crowns aren’t handed out prematurely. Stephen Kingsley replaced Milne at the restart as Gorgie cranked up the volume again for another massive 45 minutes.
Hogarth was forced to claw away a Kyziridis cross in the 50th minute with the help of the bar as Hearts again used the right-flank route for their attacks. Celtic’s fightback at Fir Park filtered through and with it a lull on proceedings but Shankland’s 58th-minute header flew inches wide and events elsewhere were temporality forgotten with Hearts’ lead reduced to one point with half an hour remaining.
Ross MacIver was inches away from converting a front-post header as Falkirk rallied. Well’s late leveller triggered more jubilation for the Jambos and then Spittal curled home a brilliant third goal four minutes before the end. Just when it looked like title glory was all but sealed in Gorgie, news filtered through of Celtic’s late, late winner. Shock treatment, right enough.
Please follow us on Google to support us John Mcglynn Celtic FC Hearts FC Scottish Premiership Claudio Braga Premium
United Kingdom Latest News, United Kingdom Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Scottish Premiership: Hearts' Derek McInnes and Celtic's Martin O'Neill both confident of title glory, live on Sky SportsCeltic are one point behind Premiership leaders Hearts with two games remaining; Hearts have not won the top-flight title since 1960; watch Hearts vs Falkirk and Motherwell vs Hearts on Wednesday, live on Sky Sports from 7pm and Hearts vs Celtic on Saturday, live on...
Read more »
Scottish Premiership: Hearts' Derek McInnes and Celtic's Martin O'Neill both confident of title glory, live on Sky SportsCeltic are one point behind Premiership leaders Hearts with two games remaining; Hearts have not won the top-flight title since 1960; watch Hearts vs Falkirk and Motherwell vs Hearts on Wednesday, live on Sky Sports from 7pm and Hearts vs Celtic on Saturday, live on...
Read more »
Scottish Premiership: Hearts' Derek McInnes and Celtic's Martin O'Neill both confident of title glory, live on Sky SportsCeltic are one point behind Premiership leaders Hearts with two games remaining; Hearts have not won the top-flight title since 1960; watch Hearts vs Falkirk and Motherwell vs Hearts on Wednesday, live on Sky Sports from 7pm and Hearts vs Celtic on Saturday, live on...
Read more »
12 things to know about Hearts and Celtic title fight as every Premiership finale scenario namedThe title race is going to the wire and the challengers can't afford a slip-up with just two games remaining
Read more »