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Alloa Athletic v Heart of Midlothian, 31/01/2015


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43 points clear of Alloa with still 42 to play for.

We are officially safe from relegation.

Finally, we can breathe easily, and perhaps think realistically of the play offs or even perhaps the pipe dream of automatic promotion (although of course those in charge would never allow that to happen ahead of Rangers).

The above is what is known in the trade as being tongue in cheek.

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Straightforward win. Hearts stretched us apart like nobody else has this season. Streets ahead of everyone else in the league, and the best posters in Edinburgh, judging by our threads against the two teams :P

Our passing got progressively worse as the game went on, which may have had something to do with the cold. It was absolutely bitter out there tonight. I don't think the raking forward balls are working any better than the patient build-up, as they're being dealt with quite easily. Craig seemed a bit leaden-footed between the sticks too, and the backpass thing was a bit weird. Nice to see the instant reaction when the new boys came on, but Hearts were having none of that and got the fags out immediately after.

Congratulations to Hearts for definitely avoiding the drop, and everything else. Now, I'm off to try and get the feeling back in my extremities :shutup

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Finally, we can breathe easily, and perhaps think realistically of the play offs or even perhaps the pipe dream of automatic promotion (although of course those in charge would never allow that to happen ahead of Rangers).

The above is what is known in the trade as being tongue in cheek.

If Cowdenbeath win every game from here on and we lose every game from here on they could finish above us on Goal difference so it's still too early to talk about a "top 7 finish" as a done deal

I'm quietly confident though

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That was really fucking cold. :lol:

Good game, took all 4 goals well though was a bit worried we'd failed to kill it after Alloa scored their goal, good composure from Walker for the 3rd to end it.

Stadium and cold didn't lend itself to a great atmosphere, which was actually to be found at Stirling Station on the way home - would all passengers please mind the gap ;)

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Stadium and cold didn't lend itself to a great atmosphere, which was actually to be found at Stirling Station on the way home - would all passengers please mind the gap ;)

I think that was one of the best atmospheres of the season at the Recs :lol:

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I think that was one of the best atmospheres of the season at the Recs :lol:

I was probably too busy working feeling back into my toes to pay attention tbf. :lol:

Really enjoyed that visit though, a few good pubs within a 10 minute walk of the stadium and you can shuffle around where you want.

Hoping the next visit is on a balmy summer evening in a cup rather than the league though!

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Wow, jus wow. Although this was a poor performamce from alloa some of the complaints and criticisms from the terracing was beyond bearable, did some of you guys leave the house thinking alloa would win this? I know I left the house expecting a thrashing.

Anyway on to the game and hearts just look a class above everyone else, sow looks nothing special though, bit of a primaddona looking to hit the deck at all oppurtunites. Simmons was pretty woeful today but fans in the alloa end have pretty short memories. Personally I heard "waste of a shirt" "waste of a wage" "worst player in the current alloa team" and a few more. Do they forget how influencial simmy has been for us since signing. Even if it looked like he had hearts on the coupon today.

Both hearts goals were screamers but also could have been stopped with a bit better defending. Hearts hit a great freekick aswell but were denied by the bar.

On a positive note Layne and jahraldo-martin (sp) looked good when they came on, linked up well and it was both of them who kickstarted the move for our goal. Jahraldo-Martin looked comfortable on the ball a number of times and seems very skillful.

Referee was a joke for both sides and ruined the game for me.

Overall a deserved hearts win as they showed why they're top of the league.

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As folk have already said, far too much room for the first goal. To give a team (that one especially!) that much room was asking for trouble, terrific strike though (so was the 2nd goal). Hearts deservedly had a 2 goal lead although we were unlucky with the shot off the post at 0-1 (same one done us against QOS too) and I felt we should have had a penalty at 2-0 down too with Simmons being brought down, really think it'd have been given had it been roles reversed. Referee intercepted a cross-field pass and gave them a free kick in the box for a passback which had deflected off a Hearts forward. Had a decent penalty shout at 2-1 with Doyle being the victim of a high foot and the throw-in fiasco at 3-1 which nearly cost us another goal compounded the feeling of 'big club v wee club' decisions tonight. Hearts had a couple of shouts for penalties as well but more in hope rather than expectation if they're being truthful, would've been sore to take had they been given, especially after being denied ours beforehand.

When we got back to 1-2 we looked like a team full of confidence and we could've maybe taken something from the game. Hearts' throw-in takers and their goalkeeper even started to time-waste, which was quite a compliment, but after Simmons' mistake it was game over.

No complaints about the overall result though as Hearts are an absolute class above The Rangers and I hope they go on to win the league (deservedly so). To be fair, Hibs are better than The Rangers too but they have perhaps taken too long to get into their stride this season and may well need to play two extra play-off games to go up because of that. Just glad it wasn't 1-5 tonight or we'd never have heard the end of it.

Sow, for such a big guy, has brilliant tight ball control and can turn a defender in no time. Pace, power, trickery and just all-round footballing ability. He can play at a much higher level than the Premier League never mind the Championship. Ozturk strolled through the game today too, solid player.

Jahraldo-Martin looked a confident and assured player when he came on for us and was very comfortable on the ball and also not afraid to get physical too and I reckon we should just give him a start at Livingston on Tuesday and try something a little different. Games are running out for us now and we really need 3 points soon. Layne looked slightly off the pace, especially for a substitute, but could perhaps still have a part to play with a few more sub appearances to help him acclimatise to the pace of the Championship. I hope Simmons just forgets about the mistake tonight, this was realistically just a bonus game for us and he's still one of our more important players.

Onwards to Livi, c'mon the Wasps!

Edit: I haven't seen any highlights yet so if I've been talking shite about some of the above incidents...ah feck it I don't care! :P

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Wow, jus wow. Although this was a poor performamce from alloa some of the complaints and criticisms from the terracing was beyond bearable, did some of you guys leave the house thinking alloa would win this? I know I left the house expecting a thrashing.

Anyway on to the game and hearts just look a class above everyone else, sow looks nothing special though, bit of a primaddona looking to hit the deck at all oppurtunites. Simmons was pretty woeful today but fans in the alloa end have pretty short memories. Personally I heard "waste of a shirt" "waste of a wage" "worst player in the current alloa team" and a few more. Do they forget how influencial simmy has been for us since signing. Even if it looked like he had hearts on the coupon today.

Both hearts goals were screamers but also could have been stopped with a bit better defending. Hearts hit a great freekick aswell but were denied by the bar.

On a positive note Layne and jahraldo-martin (sp) looked good when they came on, linked up well and it was both of them who kickstarted the move for our goal. Jahraldo-Martin looked comfortable on the ball a number of times and seems very skillful.

Referee was a joke for both sides and ruined the game for me.

Overall a deserved hearts win as they showed why they're top of the league.

I protest. That level of Simmons abuse is our job. ;)

He has clearly been a decent player for Alloa. Your fellow fans should look on the bright side. There were way poorer players for us in the team Simmons was in. You could have Tom Brighton or Scott McLaughlin. Now they really were pish.

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Regarding the penalties, I don't think there was much in the Alloa shout tbh. Pallardo has nudged him but never enough to knock him over. Don't think Sow's first claim was a penalty either but the one on him right before Walker's goal was a stonewaller.

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This is an excellent Hearts side and after the first two goals the outcome was pretty much settled.

We certainly didn't start well and I think leaving out Kevin Cawley had something to do with that. He may have been carrying a knock as that would also explain why we didn't throw him on later on. Otherwise it was an odd and frankly concerning choice to leave him out.

Benedictus struggled against Sow at the start (Gordon or Meggatt would have dealt with him better I think) and that allowed Hearts to push us back. We made a few individual errors over the game, but again I can't be harsh on the players. I thought the midfield all did well, with Ryan again the pick of them. Ben, Meggatt and Doyler were excellent at the back (I thought Michael shaded Alloa MotM from Ben) and Liam Buchanan again looked dangerous on little quality ball. Greig still isn't effective enough for me.

Bringing on both Isaac and Calaum together certainly gave the team and crowd a lift. I thought both looked a bit taken aback by the pace and standard of the game, so they will have to adapt pretty quickly. Difficult to judge how well they will do against other teams as Hearts areso strong defensively.

Clearly Tuesday is a huge game. One which we can't afford to lose. I'd take a draw now if you offered it.

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