Hearts boss wants home comforts to apply to Tynecastle Park next term

Hearts defeated Hibs 2-1 at the Oriam to complete an undefeated campaign against their biggest rivals following a run of three successive 1-1 draws.

The game included a pair of terrific goals from the Gorgie Girls and a brilliant late save from Charlotte Parker-Smith. Unfortunately, only a modest sell-out crowd was there to see the action as it was the first game this campaign not to be held at either Tynecastle or Easter Road, while the TV companies chose not to broadcast the game live.

Playing at the sports complex did give Hearts an advantage they’ve been lacking in previous encounters as it’s the ground where they play most weeks.

Eva Olid wants to play more times at Tynecastle Park so the team get the comfort of feeling like it's home. Picture: SNS

“We want to play in the stadium,” said Hearts boss Olid. “That is the priority. But when we talk about playing at home, we're talking about playing here because this is where we play every weekend.

“To feel like you're playing at home it needs to be a place you're used to playing. How we can sort that is to play more times in the stadium, then when we are playing at Tynecastle it will feel like home because we're playing there regularly. We want to be part of our home too, not just for a couple of matches.

“We like playing at the Oriam because it's a big pitch. It helps us to keep possession. Tynecastle is a smaller pitch but we can get used to playing in those dimensions, it's not a problem.”

The first derby of the campaign at Easter Road saw a record attendance for a women’s match in Scotland – which was bettered by Celtic v Glasgow City on Thursday evening – while over 7,000 showed up to the next game at Tynecastle.

After the last encounter was held back in Leith, it was expected there would be a return to Gorgie for this game. Unfortunately, timing and logical problems meant it couldn’t happen.

“It was a matter of organisation. These two week have been crazy with the games coming thick and fast,” said Olid.

With the stadium you need more time to get everything organised. It just wasn't possible.”

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