Heart of Midlothian B picked up their first three points since August with a narrow 1-0 victory over Broxburn Athletic.

Mackenzie Ross opened the scoring in the first half with the Wee Jambos going in deserved leaders at the break. A tough second 45 followed as Hearts B came up against plenty of pressure and crosses into the box but successfully held on for the three points.

It was Angus Beith's first game in charge since being made permanent head coach of the side.

Fast start Hearts

The young team started the game like they had a point to prove last night. Winless in 11 it looked like a team determined to get three points. From the get-go, Hearts were playing with good intensity and looking to threaten the Broxburn net on a number of occasions. Dom Plank was one of the standouts early on as his pace and direct runs caused trouble for the Broxburn defence.

As Hearts took the lead it was nothing less than what they deserved and it was a goal that was worthy of winning any match. Plank and Sandilands both did very well to evade challenges as they exchanged the ball with Plank eventually sliding in Sandilands. The attacking midfielder demonstrated fine awareness and decision-making to slide in Ross.

Although the fast start did seem to fade as the half went on, Broxburn never really seemed to cause any trouble, as the Wee Jambos went into the break with a deserved lead.

"I think first half we passed the ball really well," was Beith's view. "We looked a threat and we were in control of the game for most of it."

Using the wide areas

One of the slight changes in Angus Beith’s side compared to Liam Fox’s is the use of the full-backs. Under Fox, he utilised both full-backs to try create overloads in midfield when building out from the back, with Adam Forrester being a key part of that system. With Forrester in the first team, there has been a slight tweak to that position. Both full-backs are now more traditional with overlapping runs as they try to make the most of the wide areas. This was most noticeable in the first half down the left-hand side, as Dom Plank tended to drift inside allowing Lucas Smith to exploit the space down the flank. However, in the second half, this seemed to be less effective as Hearts seemed to play slightly more directly as Broxburn to put on pressure. 

MacDonald shows his class

There was a group of Broxburn fans who, when not giving the linesman on the Main Stand side a hard time, turned their focus to Jamie MacDonald in the second half with a number of age-based jibes. Why? Because he produced some brilliant stops to deny the visitors. The two notable saves were very different. For one, he sprang up to his right and clawed a top-corner-bound effort away. For the other, a low shot to his left looked destined for the corner but he got down so quickly to make the type of save he has pulled off numerous times throughout his career. He may be 38 but the agility is still there.

Digging deep for the three points

It’s been a recurring theme this season that the B team have sometimes struggled to match their first-half performance in the second 45. Broxburn came out the blocks flying after the interval and looked to dismantle the good work Hearts had done in the first half. 

Broxburn looked at their most dangerous from set pieces, forcing Sandilands to pull off a goal-line clearance from a corner. And then there were those MacDonald saves.

As the game grew toward a close, Broxburn began to get frustrated and as they threw more bodies forward, Hearts started to threaten on the counter with Ross and Sandilands with the most noteworthy chances out of the lot. Although the Jambos missed opportunities it was ultimately irrelevant in the end, as they managed to see out their one-goal advantage to pick up a much-needed win.

"Obviously delighted with the way that we dug it out," Beith told Hearts Standard. "It's probably been an area for improvement for us in terms of defending our box and having to defend set plays this year. We've been a little bit soft from them and in the last three weeks, the boys have really worked hard on it and had loads of focus going into training and have improved.

"I think we saw the rewards of that, which was really, really pleasing. We dug it out really well. We'd like to have had a bit more control of the ball and pass it better. We said that after the game just there in the changing room. So that's an area of improvement for us."

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Set-piece focus

It’s been a treacherous run at points for the B team this season but with a vital win under their belts, and now with back-to-back clean sheets for the first time this season, Beith will be hoping that it acts as a platform for the rest of the season. This win should help give these players a bit more belief after coming off the back of a couple of tough defeats in recent weeks.

Their Achilles heel this season has been defending set pieces. Although at points it wasn’t perfect, there was improvement.

"It's been more of a focus just in the video analysis session, the unit meetings that we've been doing," Beith explained. "And then on the pitch as well. Even just in the defensive transition moments, getting back together and everybody defending and recognising those moments where we have to go and defend deep and defend our box properly.

"I felt we saw that so delighted for the back four in particular, but the whole team defended well, I felt, in the second half, which is pleasing."