Hearts players and supporters had this much in common; they did not have a clue how to act or react. For eight minutes, with this game already at an end, the scene promised to be a euphoric one. Hearts, having swept Falkirk aside, were staring at the prospect of travelling to Celtic Park on Saturday needing only to avoid a three-goal defeat to win the league.
A twist lay in store. Deep in stoppage time at Motherwell, the controversial awarding of a penalty to Celtic and subsequent conversion materially altered the Hearts position. The whiff of cordite has been added to the mix. Derek McInnes, the Hearts manager, was so enraged by the Celtic call as to label it “disgusting”. He added: “I heard there was a 96th-minute penalty. I didn’t need to ask who for.
“I’m getting more and more dismayed at some of the decisions our referees are coming up with. It’s such a bad decision. We’re up against everybody.”
Game 38 of 38 will instead see Hearts visit Celtic requiring a point to reach their holy grail. It felt unsatisfactory in respect of such a memorable and momentous season, especially at home, that everybody in maroon looked deflated as the dust settled. McInnes will look to channel anger he did nothing to hide. Hearts already carried disquiet over the curious non-award of a penalty during their own game in Motherwell on Saturday. McInnes, it must be noted, also praised Celtic for their recent form during his post-match media duties.
Last summer, had anyone carrying a magic lamp offered supporters of Hearts the prospect of claiming avoiding defeat on the final day of the season to win Scotland’s Premiership the response would have been emphatic. Hearts have not been champions since 1960. Old Firm dominance has lasted four decades. Breaking both moulds had been portrayed as fanciful.
Being placed in that exact scenario will give palpitations to anyone with attachment to Hearts between now and Saturday. Hearts will visit Celtic with their fate in their own hands but in opposition to a dominant club, for whom success in Scotland comes as second nature. Hearts have turned heads globally with their title challenge yet the vagaries of football mean that falling short now will prove so horrendously painful. One point. So easy to say, so fiendishly difficult to achieve.
An almighty loss when this season ends will be the Tynecastle atmosphere, which was again at fever pitch before kick-off. With that, naturally, comes pressure. Calvin Miller had the ball in the net for Falkirk inside five minutes, only for the goal to be ruled out for offside. The Hearts defence were more confident than they needed to be over that call, which was tight. The moment epitomised Falkirk’s impressive opening.
News that Motherwell had opened the scoring against Celtic ignited the home support. Hearts had to come from behind at Fir Park on Saturday yet Celtic’s recent run – that of five league wins in a row – meant only the most positive Hearts supporter expected a favour in Lanarkshire. It remained the case, though, that Hearts needed to find a foothold in this game. They had not found that within the first quarter.
Lawrence Shankland almost settled Hearts. The captain’s deflected shot after fine buildup work from Alexandros Kyziridis and Cláudio Braga flew into the arms of Nicky Hogarth. The opportunity seemed to relax the hosts.
The identity of the man to break the deadlock rather summed up a collective approach. Frankie Kent has spent much of this season as a back-up, his position in the starting XI here only on account of the horrible injury sustained by Craig Halkett at the weekend. From a Kyziridis corner on the Hearts right, Kent rose unchallenged to bury a header beyond Hogarth.
A bogus message soon filled the stands, that Motherwell had moved two ahead. Rather than await verification, the Hearts team took it upon themselves to do precisely that. Cammy Devlin, a midfield warrior, found himself in the unusual position of striding on to a loose ball 12 yards from the Falkirk goal. With the aid of a deflection from Coll Donaldson, Devlin increased the Hearts lead.
Hearts were attacking with the conviction of champions-elect. Yet eyes, ears and everything else in between had turned towards Motherwell. There, Celtic’s equaliser changed the storyline once more.
Hearts’ task in the second half was a simple one, to see out an unbeaten home league season. Hearts dominated until Ben Broggio miscued a decent Falkirk chance. McInnes had made changes with Saturday clearly in mind. Celtic’s 2-1 lead was endorsing McInnes’s long-held theory that this championship would go the full distance. Motherwell equalised through the former Hearts youth player Liam Gordon with the clock in the 83rd minute in Edinburgh. Blair Spittal curled home a superb Hearts third. Was fate smiling on Gorgie Road? An intervention from officialdom 40 miles away suggested not. Not yet, anyway.
