Hearts debrief: Many excel in excellent win, return of pace and confidence, Yutaro Oda's selflessness

A look back on Saturday’s match at Tynecastle Park as Hearts easily defeated Ross County 6-1.

Player of the match

Spoiled for choice. Just about everyone in maroon was excellent. Alex Cochrane shone in the inverted full-back role with a goal and an assist; Josh Ginnelly’s return gave a dimension to the attack it had been missing, while he bagged two goals and an assist himself, and Cammy Devlin had his best performance of 2023. However, it’s hard to go for anyone other than the guy who netted a hat-trick. Lawrence Shankland has been the club’s obvious player of the year and he was brilliant again on Saturday. Even aside from his goals, his passing and link-up play were tremendous.

Defining moment

It’s hard to pick just one in a game full of highlight moments for the men in maroon, but let’s go for the second goal. Devlin was huge in setting it up, winning back possession and playing through a terrific ball for Ginnelly. It was the attacker’s finish which demonstrated the huge swing in confidence and belief which reverberated throughout the team during this encounter. He decided to cut in on his weaker left foot and unleashed an unstoppable finish right into the postage stamp. It was just a shame he had to wait for the VAR check to overturn the assistant’s offside flag to celebrate properly.

Ref watch

Don Robertson missed the trip by Dylan Smith on Shankland at the end of the half, but VAR was there to correct it as the hosts went in 4-0 up at the break.

Benefit of hindsight

Josh Ginnelly celebrates after his goal is awarded via VAR, putting Hearts 2-0 ahead. Picture: SNS

Could it be suggested a change at the manager’s position should have been made earlier? The sacking of Robbie Neilson was harsh considering the club had only just slipped from third, but ultimately it was made because of how much is on the line for getting there, and this was a performance full of verve and tempo which has been missing for months.

Moment you may have missed

After Yutaro Oda decided to try and square for Ginnelly instead of going himself he was teased by his team-mate as well as Shankland and Devlin for being so selfless when he should have shot.