Hearts fight back against Partick Thistle in their first summer friendly of 2024/25
The teams played behind closed doors this afternoon
Hearts’ first summer outing ended in a draw with Partick Thistle behind closed doors this afternoon. The Scottish Championship side led 2-0 at half-time thanks to goals from Harry Milne and Dan O’Reilly, but the Tynecastle club fought back to parity after the interval with strikes from James Wilson and Blair Spittal.
The game was played away from the eyes of spectators in Glasgow and both teams fielded a number of experienced faces. The Hearts line-up included recent signings Daniel Oyegoke and Yan Dhanda, who enjoyed 45-minute runouts. Fellow new recruits Spittal, goalkeeper Ryan Fulton and forward Musa Drammeh also managed half of the match.
Defenders Craig Halkett and Lewis Neilson, midfielder Jorge Grant and forward Kyosuke Tagawa were involved for Steven Naismith’s side, whilst Thistle’s team included defender Wasiri Williams, new signing Logan Chalmers and captain Brian Graham.
Milne headed home the opening goal in the first half following Kyle Turner’s corner, and O’Reilly then prodded the second goal into the net following Turner’s free-kick. Hearts mounted a comeback after the interval as Wilson and Spittal brought them back level at 2-2.
The Edinburgh side were without international players Lawrence Shankland, Zander Clark, Kye Rowles, Cammy Devlin and Kenneth Vargas. They were on duty with their respective countries beyond the end of last season. Rowles and Devlin will travel with the squad for a pre-season training camp in Tenerife later this week, while Clark and Shankland will report back to Riccarton on Monday. Vargas’ return will be later in the month.
Thistle are aiming to build for another promotion push in this season’s Championship, whilst Hearts’ priority is to improve players’ fitness ahead of the new campaign. They have signed six new players - Fulton, Oyegoke, fellow defender James Penrice, midfielders Dhanda and Spittal, plus striker Drammeh. Full-back Gerald Taylor is waiting on a UK visa being processed to complete a loan move to Tynecastle Park from the Costa Rican club Deportivo Saprissa.