Former Scotland captain says Craig Gordon deserved man of the match in Hearts' win at Arbroath

Former Scotland captain Gary Caldwell felt Hearts goalkeeper Craig Gordon delivered a man-of-the-match display in the 1-0 win at Arbroath.

Hearts goalkeeper Craig Gordon had to be on form in Arbroath.

The 37-year-old produced two first-half saves to deny Kris Doolan, the second of which was in the exceptional category.

The Arbroath forward spun away from Hearts defender Craig Halkett to squeeze in a low attempt which was heading for the net until Gordon’s outstretched right hand pushed it away.

“For me, Craig is possibly the man of the match,” Caldwell said of his ex-international colleague on BBC Scotland. “The big moment in the match early was that [save from Doolan]. If that goes in, it’s a totally different game.

“It’s a brilliant save. Because he sees it so late, it’s low and he has to get his weaker hand to it. It’s a strong hand he gets. Even late on, he was alive to everything and focused.

“He showed all his experience and quality. That is probably the match-defining moment that won the game for Hearts.”

Substitute Craig Wighton’s goal 20 minutes from the end settled the game and Michael Smith’s assist helped him earn BBC Scotland’s man of the match award.

Arbroath’s spirited display might have earned them at least a point on another day and Caldwell insisted they deserved praise.

“It’s never easy to win league titles and we said it wouldn’t be easy [for Hearts] coming away to Arbroath. They have a fantastic home record and they showed great fighting spirit.

“They showed unbelievable fitness levels for a part-time team. I think every player deserves a lot of credit for the energy they put into the game.

“Right until the very end, they were still in there fighting and giving everything, getting bodies in the box, and could have got the equaliser.”

Caldwell’s fellow pundit, former Hearts coach Jon Daly, explained that visiting manager Robbie Neilson would be delighted with his team’s persistence in a difficult encounter.

“Robbie will see that as a really good victory. They get exactly the same three points as they did last week for beating Dundee 6-2,” said Daly.

“It was a scrappy game but it will show the players that it’s not going to be easy this year. It’s not going to be all pain-sailing.

“They are going to have to come to venues like this and work hard. You have to give a lot of credit to Arbroath, they made a really good game of it.

“At 1-0 they’re always in the game. The had a couple of chances at the end to equalise but luckily for Hearts they held out and took the three points.”

Daly added that he hopes to see Wighton continue thriving after claiming his fourth goal of the new campaign.

“The finish is just exquisite, to have that composure to lift it over the oncoming goalkeeper. He has that quality,” said Daly. “We saw his hat-trick against Raith [in the Betfred Cup] and he is starting to get a bit of confidence.

“He is starting to grow at Hearts now, which is great because he’s had a tough time. I’d like to see him really kick on at Hearts and start scoring more goals.”

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