Date	Saturday, 07 May 2016
Competition	Scottish Premiership
Fixture/Score	Heart of Midlothian 1:1 Ross County
Venue	Tynecastle Park
Attendance	15,438
Referee	Nick Walsh
Comments	Match Report Report by Alasdair Lamont for the BBC. Premiership Top Six Heart of Midlothian 1 Ross County 1 A poor match came to life in the closing minutes as David Goodwillie cancelled out Juanma's goal to earn Ross County a point. The Spaniard's close-range strike seemed certain to give Hearts victory after a game that had offered precious little entertainment. But County pulled level when Goodwillie headed in Martin Woods' cross. The result means both teams have now won just once in their last seven games. There was no lack of effort from the players but inspiration was in short supply. The 'end-of-season affair' tag was never more apt as the players huffed and puffed. With Hearts already guaranteed third place and Ross County sitting sixth, there was little at stake and it showed. The 15,000 Hearts supporters in attendance at times voiced their dismay as their team went through the motions. That said, both teams will look back on successful, impressive seasons, making it difficult to be overly critical of a late dip in form. County, who have never won at Tynecastle, should have been ahead at half-time but Alex Schalk - sent through on goal by Woods - had his shot well saved by the out-rushing Jack Hamilton. Prince Buaben had a half-hit shot cleared off the line and twice in the second-half was denied by good saves from Scott Fox. But Buaben provided the cross from which Juanma appeared to seal the three points - the substitute stealing in to convert at the near post. His fellow substitute Goodwillie had the final say, though, as he too darted into the six-yard area to get on the end of Woods' cross to level the scores and earn County a deserved point. Hearts head coach Robbie Neilson admits securing third place well before the end of the season has affected his team's recent performances. The 1-1 draw with Ross County means they have won only one of their last seven games. "The players gave 100%," Neilson told BBC Scotland. "But when we're blooding young players, focusing a bit on next season and how we want to play, that takes the edge off the game a little bit." The game was a largely lacklustre affair until the last 10 minutes. Juanma gave Hearts a late lead only for David Goodwillie to equalise with the first goal of his loan spell from Aberdeen. "It was one of these games towards the end of the season where we play a couple of young boys to try to give them an opportunity and we didn't get the result we wanted," said the Hearts head coach. "We're in that strange situation where we've secured third place, we can't get second, we're not going to finish fourth. "These games are always really difficult for players because, although you're really motivated to go and win, it takes the edge off it slightly for them. "The run's not been great, but overall the season's been very, very good for us. If we'd been coming to the last game of the season and we'd secure third place with a win, we'd have been delighted. "But we managed to do it before the split and these games now we're looking at developing young players to try to get them through, we're looking at things for next season because we have a very early start. "So the formation's been changing, the personnel's been changing. It's always difficult to get a true reflection of the game." Neilson's opposite number at Ross County, Jim McIntyre, is dealing with a similar issue, with his side having also won just one of their seven games since winning the League Cup. While he, like Neilson, can be pleased with the season as a whole, he admitted to unhappiness at the recent run of results. "It's not been good enough - I've got to say that," Mcintyre told BBC Scotland. "One win in seven - I expect better from my team. Sometimes, when a team wins a trophy, there can be that sense of achievement, especially if you've not been used to winning trophies. "In some of those games, we should have won. In others - like last week against St Johnstone - we got what we deserved. "We're trying to get the players focused for every game. Sometimes the quality and performance let you down." McIntyre was relatively satisfied by Saturday's efforts, with the point keeping alive County's desire to overtake Motherwell in fifth place. "We were very conscious of the fact we still want to try to move up a place or two, so it was so important we got a result," he added. "We'd the best chance in the first half to take the lead and, when you come to places like Tynecastle, you always think they're going to come back to bite you. "Hearts have taken the lead fairly late on and we've managed to reply quickly, which was great and, with the effort the players put in, I think we deserved that."
Ross County
Manager	Jim McIntyre
Starting 11	1: Scott Fox, 6: Christopher Robertson, 7: Michael Gardyne, 12: Richard Foster, 15: Andrew Davies, 17: Jonathan Franks, 18: Stewart Murdoch, 23: Alex Schalk, 36: Jackson Irvine, 42: Martin Woods 1, 43: Paul Quinn
Bench	41: Mark Foden, 2: Marcus Fraser, 8: Ian McShane, 9: Brian Graham, 10: Liam Boyce, 24: Raffaele De Vita, 25: David Goodwillie 1
Heart of Midlothian
Manager	Robbie Neilson
Starting 11	Jack Hamilton, Callum Paterson, Alim Ozturk, Juwon Oshaniwa, John Souttar 1, Prince Buaben Abankwah, Sam Nicholson, Don Cowie, Perry Kitchen, Gavin Reilly, Abiola Dauda
Bench	Neil Alexander, Miguel Pallardo Gonzalez, Arnaud Sutchuin-Djoum, Juan Manuel Delgado Lloria 1, Jordan McGhee, Liam Smith, Dario Zanatta