Latest news with #Jambos
Edinburgh Reporter
a day ago
- Sport
- Edinburgh Reporter
Another four goals for happy Hearts
Derek McInnes warned his men pre-match that Dumbarton are normally a solid side, with experienced players, and that the Men in Maroon may require to be patient. However, he demanded a strong performance from his much-changed squad on wonderful night for football, temperature around 20c near kick-off time, with a light breeze. The Jambos did as instructed and it was all Hearts early on, on both flanks, and they had to be patient. The intent was there from the first whistle and Lawrence Shankland drifted wide to pick up the ball as his team-mates moved ball from side to side. Patient football by order. Even the defenders were involved in the attacks, and Michael Steinwender attempted to slip James Wilson in but his pass too much weight. Then Shankland attempted to send Elton Kabangu away, but he was blocked by the speed of Shay Kelly coming off his line. Sander Kartum then beat the Sons defence with a through ball, but Wilson was thwarted, and it took dogged Dumbarton 14 minutes to mount an attack. It came to nothing as Shankland mopped up. However, the inevitable happened two minutes later when Birthday Boy, Stephen Kingsley, now 31, swung over an exceptional deep cross from the left and Shankland stooped to direct a pin-point header into the button right hand corner. Minutes later, the same player was denied by Kelly from close in following a fifth corner. Hearts kept on coming and hard-working Cammy Devlin picked up a loose ball 25 yards out and the fans shouted shoot. He did and the ball fizzed just wide. Dumbarton were being starved of the ball as Hearts probed for a second. Shankland fed Wilson and his cross was sent to safety then the skipper had a goal-bound shot blocked by Mark Durnan. The pressure was relentless, and the water break must have come as a welcome relief for the visitors. Wilson then attempted to find a way through, but the ball was cleared as the eager Jambos stayed in the front foot. Another chance came, this time to Kabangu, but his header failed to trouble the visiting defence. Hearts switched play to the other flank, looking for an opening, before Kabangu slipped Dumbarton defender, Adam Livingstone, but he sent the ball over the bar from an acute angle. The same player was inches away from connecting after a crisp Wilson/Shankland move. Kelly reacted well to smother the ball and deny Wilson as the one-way traffic continued. However, The Sons broke and Scott Honeyman forced a save from Hearts goalkeeper, Ryan Fulton, on a rare breakaway before Hearts netted their second from a disputed corner in the third minute of first-half injury time. It was defender Steinwender who converted with his head with a close-in effort much to the delight of the home fans with Sander Kartum assisting. Dumbarton shocked Hearts but hitting the bar through Scott Tomlinson's let foot shot within minutes of the re-start, but it did not take long for the home side to pile on the pressure and half-time substitute, Greek forward, Alexandros Kyziridis, picked up the ball on the right from Shankland. He drove for goal, left defenders in his wake as he weaved his way into the penalty box, and sent the ball low into the back of the net across the goalkeeper. The fans were on their feet to applaud the solo strike. Time 51 minutes. It was the newcomers second goal in two games. Blair Spittal roamed the pitch looking for openings and the former Motherwell man found Wilson in a good position but Gordon Walker showed his pace and defensive ability by clearing the ball to safety. Hearts, however, were not satisfied and Albanian signing, Sabah Kerjota, showed good pace and a willingness to spray the ball around, before crowd-pleasing Claudia Braga, who was introduced after 60 minutes for Shankland, excited fans with a well-taken goal 12 minutes after coming on. Kyziridis started the move, finding Devlin whose cut-back was directed into the net by Braga for No 4, his third goal in three games. Hearts were not finished and Spittal sent the ball inches over the crossbar as the final whistle approached. Lively Kyziridis, whose speed was causing real anxiety for Dumbarton, forced a diving save from Kelly before Braga played Wilson in but desperate defending prevented a fifth. The powerful Greek forward then set-up Wilson but the teenager sent the ball over the bar with a header. Frankie Kent left the field minutes from the end, holding his hamstring, but McInnes described that substitution as a precaution. Overall, Hearts sit on top of Group E with 12 points from four games. Dunfermline are second with six points from three starts then come Hamilton in third with three points, the same points as Dumbarton who are fourth. Stirling Albion prop up the second and have yet to register a point. The 8,722 fans at Tynecastle – apart from the 194 from Dumbarton – enjoyed what they saw from new-look Hearts but a stiffer test comes on Saturday when the Jambos entertain newly-promoted Premiership combine, Sunderland, in Craig Gordon's Testimonial (kick-off 3pm). It is Hearts' last game before they open their William Hill Premiership campaign at home to Aberdeen on Monday, August 4 (20.00) in the first phase of the competition. Hearts: Fulton, Kent, Kingsley, Kabangu, Nieuwenhof, Shankland, Devlin, Steinwender, Spittal, Wilson, Kartum. Substitutes: Clark, Braga, Milne, Findlay, Kerjota, McIntee, Forrester, Drammeh, Kyziridis Dumbarton: Kelly, Durnan, Blair, Tomlinson, Roy, Livingstone, McIntosh, Honeyman, Neill, Walker, Kirkpatrick. Substitutes: Ecrepont, Lynas, Clark, McEvoy, McCormick, Wallace, Falconer, Docherty, Johnston. Referee: Iain Snedden PICTURE: Stephen Kingsley, superb cross for Lawrence Shankland's opener. Picture Nigel Duncan Like this: Like Related
Edinburgh Reporter
2 days ago
- Sport
- Edinburgh Reporter
Kerjota is latest signing for Hearts
The 23-year-old joins the Jambos on a three-year deal from Italian Serie C side US Sambenedettese for an undisclosed fee, subject to international clearance and Scottish FA approval. The player is product of the youth system of KF Vllaznia Shkoder, one of Albania's most successful clubs, but moved to Italy in 2021. He scored nine goals for FC Vigor Senigallia in his first season and he increased that tally in the second to ten goals. Kerjota was also productive in goal assists. A move to Sambenedettese transpired last season scored ten goals assisted in 13 others to help the club to the league title and with it promotion to Serie C. McInnes (pictured) told Hearts official website that the newcomer will give Hearts more options on the wings. He added: 'Scottish football will be a new experience for him, but we've seen attributes that we feel can make him a success here. 'Sabah will need to do a bit of fitness work to bring him up to speed, but I'm looking forward to seeing him on the pitch once he's ready.' Like this: Like Related
Scotsman
4 days ago
- Sport
- Scotsman
Former Hearts and Middlesbrough star could make summer transfer after nightmare injury spell
The striker has Hearts, Middlesbrough, Cardiff City and more on his CV. Sign up to our Hearts newsletter Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to Edinburgh News, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... A former Hearts and Middlesbrough striker could make a summer transfer move - despite a memorable moment at the weekend. There are plenty of movers and shakers in the transfer market with former Jambos amongst them. One of them could be Uche Ikpeazu, who fired home a late winner for St Johnstone in their latest Premier Sports Cup group stage match, scoring the only goal in a 1-0 away win at Inverness CT. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Saints were relegated from the Premiership last season but Ikpeazu missed almost all of the campaign with injury, having been initially signed by Craig Levein, who he worked with at Hearts. The powerful forward spent between 2018-2020 at Tynecastle before moving to Wycombe Wanderers then Middlesbrough, before a stint in Turkey with Konyaspor, and Port Vale brought him to back to UK football two years ago. Uche Ikpeazu St Johnstone future latest Boss Simo Valakari told The Courier: 'I'm happy for big Uche. It has not been easy – he had not scored for a long time so I'm happy for him to get the winner. We still need to see his contract situation and how it is with him. He's still working with his fitness and we'll see how the situation is. I've not been playing him as much as he would have liked because we don't know if he will be with us or not. 'That's the situation. He knows as well. It's up to him. I want him here but it's up to him what he wants to do. Very early in the game, Inverness went to our goal and Toby Steward made a fantastic save that kept us in the game. That changed very much how the game could have gone. If we had gone 1-0 down after a couple of minutes, it would have been much more difficult. 'Some moments, we kind of lose our heads a little bit with new players – it's a new team. In difficult moments we are not that strong together yet but, as I said, I see in moments it is there. 'With the ball we will be much better and that's normal. 'You can't buy this work rate, you can't buy this attitude. We left the ego out. We knew that we needed to come here and do the ugly things right.' Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad What was Uche Ikpeazu's injury? The striker had a knee injury with several complications that meant his St Johnstone debut did not come until April this year. Ikpeazu said at the time of the nightmare scenario: 'Some days you come in and think: 'Where do I go from here?' The club sorted me out to see Dr Iain Murray in Edinburgh and he analysed the knee, had another surgery and found what was going on. An infection was hiding in there and he sorted it out quite quickly. 'That's five operations. If not for Dr Murray and how meticulous he was, I don't know when I would be back. A big thank you to him. He kind of saved me. I didn't think I'd play this season and, to be honest, I didn't know when I'd play. And it was great the club brought in Caitlin (physio Caitlin Wright, who moved from Hamilton mid-season). 'She's very thorough and takes her job seriously, which is important for a physio. You can't say that about everyone. Early mornings, late afternoons. There have been a lot of hard hours. I've missed so much football.'
Edinburgh Reporter
5 days ago
- Sport
- Edinburgh Reporter
Halkett at the double as Hearts hit four at Stirling
Craig Halkett netted a glory double as hearts swept Stirling Albion aside 4-0 at Forthbank in the Premier Sports Cup, Group E. The 30-year-old defender, whose recent career has been dogged by injury, opened the scoring after 13 minutes and completed the tally with ten minutes of regulation time remaining. Halkett (pictured by Nigel Duncan) also recorded an assist on Hearts' second netted by newcomer Claudio Braga. And Alex Kyziridis scored on his debut and also set up the opener for Halkett in the comfortable win against the Scottish League Two outfit. Three of the Jambos goals came in the first 38 minutes and the victory consolidated the Jambos at the top of the section with a perfect record of three straight wins. Derek McInnes has seen his men score 12 goals against Dunfermline Athletic, Hamilton Academical and now Stirling with only one in reply. Dunfermline are second in the section with three points, the same as third-placed Hamilton and Dumbarton, who are fourth, with Stirling Albion propping up the section. The Forthbank win also earned the Men in Maroon their second clean sheet in a week after their 4-0 victory at Broadwood against Hamilton and the Gorgie men complete their schedule with a home game against Dumbarton on Wednesday (kick-off 19.45). Like this: Like Related
Scotsman
6 days ago
- Sport
- Scotsman
Hearts run riot again, one top-flight club in big trouble, free-scorers hit eight goals
Latest from Premier Sports Cup as clubs bid to join Celtic, Rangers, Hibs, Dundee Utd and Aberdeen in last 16 Sign up to our Football newsletter Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... Hearts scored four goals for the third successive Premier Sports Group E match as they all but secured their place in the last 16 of the competition. Hot on the heels of beating Dunfermline Athletic 4-1 and Hamilton Accies 4-0, Derek McInnes' Jambos were in good form as they easily swatted aside League 2 opponents Stirling Albion 4-0 at Forthbank Stadium. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Hearts are six points clear at the top of the pool ahead of their final group match at home to Dumbarton on Wednesday and can only be overhauled if they lose to the Sons and there is an improbable goal-difference swing. Stuart Findlay scores Hearts' fourth goal at Forthbank. | SNS Group Defender Craig Halkett headed Hearts into a 13th-minute lead from an Alexandros Kyziridis cross and then Claudio Braga added a second goal with a diving header ten minutes later. Kyziridis, making his Hearts debut, netted himself seven minutes before the break to put the Jambos on easy street, and while the second half was largely underwhelming, centre-half Stuart Findlay scored his second goal in as many games on 80 minutes. 'We did some good stuff, but I'd like us to be better,' said McInnes afterwards. 'I wanted us at half time to set a marker, but I didn't enjoy as much I wanted, but we didn't have any scares. But we've scored 12 goals and are top of the group, so there are a lot of encouraging things.' Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Chastening day for Dundee Earlier in the day, Steven Pressley suffered a second defeat as Dundee manager as Alloa left their visitors' hopes of Premier Sports Cup progression in ruins. Dundee were on the end of another 1-0 defeat at the Indodrill Stadium after losing their opening game against Airdrie. The decisive moment came midway through the second half when Luke Graham could only turn Steven Buchanan's shot into his own net as he tried to clear in the goalmouth. The result moved Alloa on to nine points at the top of Group C, three ahead of Airdrie with a game more played. It was not a good day for Steven Pressley and Dundee. | SNS Group 'We weren't good enough,' said Pressley afterwards. 'I've talked a lot about how we need reinforcements, but the reality about today is that with the personnel we had on the pitch, we could do much, much better. And that's my responsibility, I take ownership of that. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad 'I felt we lacked intensity. I think the fitness of certain players needs to improve. And just our decision-making ... on too many occasions we didn't get that right. We have to improve on that, we must move forward.' Mikael Mandron hit a hat-trick as St Mirren started and finished strongly in an 8-2 home win over Annan. St Mirren find their shooting boots Mandron put Saints three up inside nine minutes following Killian Phillips' double but trialist Myles Gaffney pulled two goals back for the visitors before Richard King converted a penalty on the hour mark. Stephen Robinson's side went goal crazy in the final 10 minutes with Mandron completing his treble and Jayden Richardson and Roland Idowu also on target. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Ayr are a point behind Saints with a game in hand in Group D after Curtis Main hit a double in a 4-0 home win over Arbroath. Uche Ikpeazu scored the winner for St Johnstone. | SNS Group Falkirk could not follow up their seven-goal thrashing of Brechin as they were held to a goalless draw by Cove in another trip to the North East. The Bairns gained a penalty shoot-out bonus point but Spartans moved top of Group A with a 2-0 win at Glebe Park. Stephen O'Donnell hit the only goal as Motherwell moved top of Group G with victory over Stenhousemuir at Ochilview. O'Donnell had earlier had a goal disallowed and Callum Slattery hit the bar from a free-kick before the defender converted from a back-post corner four minutes before the break. Livingston bounced back from defeat by Kilmarnock in Group H with a 2-0 home win over Brora Rangers. Danny Wilson opened the scoring with an overhead kick just after the half-hour mark and Zak Rudden headed the second with six minutes left. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad County win in Dumfries Ross County cut the gap on Group B leaders Partick Thistle to two points after Jay Henderson's second-half winner in a 1-0 victory over Queen of the South at Palmerston. East Kilbride moved top of Group F as they followed up their shock triumph over Raith Rovers with a 4-1 win at Elgin with the help of Jack Leitch's first-half double. St Johnstone joined the SPFL newcomers on six points after Uche Ikpeazu's 90th-minute goal – his first for the club – earned a 1-0 win at Inverness.
