Hearts debrief: Liam Boyce as an island, perplexing Gary Mackay-Steven, Friday night frustration

Liam Boyce was once again Hearts' key player. Picture: SNS

Player of the match

It is one of those easy decisions where one individual is on another level to his team-mates. But in this instance, it is not because someone has been truly extraordinary or brilliant or even very good. Liam Boyce was good and he was still head and shoulders above most of his colleagues. Throughout the game his link play as a focal point in attack was excellent. He would get the ball into feet, shield it and keep it. However, he had little to no support and even less service. It was, therefore, no surprise the Northern Irishman won the penalty which he converted. Apparently no man is an island. Try telling that to Boyce.

Defining moment

You could look at either penalty decision as the defining moment. But there was an incident in the second half which just about encapsulated the Hearts performance. Michael Smith motored down the right, played a simple pass to Gary Mackay-Steven only for the ball to trickle past the winger and out of play. Perplexing. You could also use that word to describe Mackay-Steven’s performance. Other words are available. Yes, he has had to get up to speed since joining in January but there was still an expectation that there would be at least glimpses of devastating wing play.

Ref watch

Collin Steven was somewhat duped into giving Queen of the South a penalty due to smart play from Isiah Jones when running at Stephen Kingsley. Such was the performance, however, there was little anybody cared about the official’s display.

Benefit of hindsight

For supporters, many would have used their new-found power to find something, anything, better to do on a Friday night. For Neilson, he revealed he didn’t want to risk Armand Gnanduillet on the pitch due to a tight hamstring. He may well have been a useful option from the bench. Hearts were ponderous, passive and predictable. The French striker would have likely brought about a period of sustained pressure on the Queen of the South backline with balls into the box or forced them to push higher up the pitch to negate his aerial threat, leaving more space in behind.

Something you may have missed

If you turned off at full-time, you'd have missed Ryan Stevenson delivering a very honest assessment.