| There is no such thing as a friendly these days as even in pre-season games, teams all want to win |
Both Edinburgh sides are taking in the clean fresh air in Austria as part of their pre-season preparations. Hearts were the first into action but claimed they were victims of rough tactics and poor refereeing after a 2-1 defeat to Ukrainian side FC Tavriya in Seekirchen, near Salzburg, Austria. Christos Karipidis scored for Hearts to equalise before half-time after Andriy Zborovsky had put Tavriya ahead. The same player secured victory for Tavriya after converting a second half penalty. Hearts gave a run-out to new signing Michael Stewart in the second half, and a trialist, named by the Tynecastle club as Artiz Martinez, also appeared off the bench during the closing stages. Hearts assistant manager Stephen Frail complained about the hard tackling from Tavriya after the game, believing they repeatedly went too far, and criticised referee Norbert Schwab for failing to give the appropriate punishment.
Frail said: "I don't think he (Schwab) struggled. I think he was just poor. Some of the tackles were tasty from the Ukrainian side to say the least, then we go and lose a very, very soft penalty and he just can't wait to give it. It's disappointing because some of the tackles were really tasty and a couple of them should have been sent off."
New-old-boy Stewart was pleased with his half-hour appearance, which came within hours of his first training session in his second spell at Hearts, who he has rejoined after two years at Hibs. The former Manchester United reserve said: "I'm delighted to get started. It was a bit surreal in terms of having the first day's training and then playing a game at night as well, but it's always good to get started as quickly as possible." He is looking forward to playing alongside Laryea Kingston in the Hearts midfield during the coming season. Stewart went on: "Obviously he's a quality player. Everyone's seen that from the time he's been at the club so far, and it's always good to play with good players. I'm no different from anyone else, I enjoy it." | Editor
Ger Harley (ger@scottishfitba net)
Admin Team (admin@scottishfitba net)
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