It wasn’t the kind of strong win that the heart-wrenching pre-season search was looking for.
Despite this, Jamie Walker’s second-half penalty, probably awarded by Cameron Harper for handball, gave the hosts three Bayfred Cup Group A points at the expense of Inverness.
Hearts took over and created possibilities.
However, there were times when they were confronted at the other end.
At the start of the match, he thanked goalkeeper Craig Gordon for firing a brilliant block to deny Daniel McKay, while Kyle’s substitute Nikolai Todorov lacked comfort as he widened a wide from a senior position.
“I really enjoyed the game,” said Robbie Nielsen, manager of Hearts. “There were times when I thought we did really well and over time we got a little sluggish but it makes sense when you don’t play for so long.”
Much has changed in the 209 days that have passed since the defeat of Miran on his last hard work of hearts.
No matter what the world looks like, it’s now the ‘new normal’ at Gorgie Club.
A new set of current and new players, so much so that there were only two left in the team that started against Buddies, Craig Halkett and Steven Nassmith.
Anger has subsided over his severe leg injury, although his desire to return to the Premiership is evident in his first attempt.
The start of the league is yet to come, with a week of visitors on Friday.
The Bayford Cup action at Tencastle last night was against Inverness, a team that finished second in last season’s cut.
Robbie Nielsen, the boss of hearts and the discovery of the noise of the crowd was played through the PA system during this game.
It would have been difficult for them to compile audio if the sound was from last season’s home games at Tynecastle, as players rained down from the stands during a miserable campaign.
The noise may not have matched what was happening on the pitch but the heart moves smoothly inside the gears in the early stages.
It was only two minutes into the game when Preston winger Josh Ginnell scored on two goals to get Cameron Harper back on target, although both Craig Whitton and Steven Nemist were denied by Mark Ridgers.
Gordon’s save in the second minute shook him three minutes later.
Nearly 18 years before starting his first term at Hertz, the former Celtic defender dived to his left to brilliantly deny the title a point-blank bounce from Mackay, which was linked to Shane Sutherland’s cross. .
Gordon also had to land on a free kick from Scott Allardyce, while Ginelli made a save at Ridgers before teammate Craig Halkett took over.
Primarily, anything good from the heart came right through Ginelli.
What Inverness manager John Robertson didn’t like was the fact that his players followed the two-meter distance rule when they were close to him.
Hearts lifted the tempo in the second half as they successfully continued their search for the goal.
Jelly Brandon had a close range drive that was skillfully saved by the releasers from approaching both Oli Lee and Mihai Popescu.
The goal finally came in the 62nd minute when Walker knocked home a penalty.
The incident that caused the spot-kick was so severe on the visitors that Harper could not get out of the way of Hellcat’s bullet.
“It’s frustrating because I think he (referee Steven McLean) guessed it,” Robertson said.
“Under the new rules – and we were all on the zoom call, that’s not a penalty.
“In terms of the game, I thought our young Lad was great and worked really hard and created opportunities and Craig Gordon made great savings.
“I’m disappointed to lose like this.”
However, hearts did not matter, and the hosts probably deserved it on the balance of the game.
Nielsen returned to his bench to refresh his side after the goal and gave the start to Jordan Roberts, Andy Halliday and Stephen Kingsley, who signed just hours before the start.
Todorov made sure the first outs in Maroon’s jersey got off to a winning start when he hit his own attempt in the 84th minute.
