Date	Sunday, 26 December 2021
Competition	Scottish Premiership
Fixture/Score	Heart of Midlothian 1:1 Ross County
Venue	Tynecastle Park
Attendance
Referee	David Munro
Comments	Match Report Report by Andrew Southwick for the BBC. Heart of Midlothian 2 Ross County 1 Hearts suffered from a lack of fans said Robbie Neilson as they enjoyed a first home Scottish Premiership win over Ross County since 2015. Michael Smith's early goal and Ben Woodburn's deflected finish made it 2-0 at the break, but it could have been more with John Souttar twice hitting the woodwork. Jordan White pulled one back for County, but the visitors could not find a second as third-place Hearts held on to earn back-to-back wins for the first time since the beginning of October. "The game really reflected last season with no fans," Neilson told BBC Scotland. "We started really well, got comfortable, got a couple of goals, but because there's no atmosphere here to drive us on the game became a bit flat." County remain in 10th, with Dundee and St Johnstone below them both failing to win. There had not been a home winner in this fixture for 11 games. And, with only Rangers and Celtic beating County in their last nine, coupled with Hearts' tendency to alternate between a win and a loss, Malky Mackay's visitors had reasons to be optimistic. But Hearts were hungry right from kick-off in front of an empty Tynecastle and just four minutes in they were ahead. Woodburn picked out Aaron McEneff, whose shot was blocked by goalkeeper Ross Laidlaw, but Smith appeared from the right to coolly slot home. Full-back Smith would poke a shot the wrong side of a post not long after and McEneff threatened twice from Barrie McKay crosses, but Woodburn was more clinical when he did find the second for the hosts. The on-loan Liverpool forward latched on to a long ball, stepped to the right to create space for himself, before his shot took a wicked deflection off County defender Harry Clarke to outwit the goalkeeper. Either side of that goal, Hearts defender Souttar side-footed off the crossbar, then headed off the inside of the post. If anything was going to happen for County, it looked likely to come through Dominic Samuel. But his finishing was below par, weakly hitting a shot at Craig Gordon, then heading wide. Hearts' rhythm was disrupted with two early second-half substitutions - one forced when Craig Halkett had to hobble off injured - and the visitors upset the apple cart when White found the net after Joseph Hungbo picked him out. And that set up a thrilling finish. Peter Haring headed wide for Hearts, but it was the Highlanders who sensed another goal. Regan Charles-Cook and Clarke both lashed shots through a ruck of bodies, with Gordon having to save the latter. And, only an incredible mix-up in the last moments of the game denied County an equaliser. It looked like White had managed to scramble in from a free-kick, but Hungbo got in the way to knock it off the line and ensure Hearts held on. While Hearts are five points clear in third, they have struggled for consistency of late. After four defeats in seven games, they have now won two in a row. The performances of McEneff and McKay were a positive for them, but they wobbled at the end with Gary Mackay-Steven and Jamie Walker making little impact from the bench. County had been on a fruitful run, and only the Premiership top three have defeated them in the last 10 games. But only in the last 20 minutes did they ever look a threat in the capital and Malky Mackay will be frustrated they left it so late to show their teeth. Hearts manager Robbie Neilson: "I thought we played really well in the first half, we brought that intensity. "I thought today as a whole was difficult for everyone. Hopefully the winter break allows everything to clear up and get everyone back in here, because when it's full Tynecastle is the best place in the world to play." Ross County manager Malky Mackay: "We started too slowly and we can't allow a good team like Hearts to do that, so we gave ourselves a mountain to climb, we weren't at it, and by half-time Hearts could have been out of sight. "We needed to be more assertive. I thought in the second half we really came out and pushed, I think we had 14 chances to three, and I don't know how the ball has not gone in for the equaliser."
Ross County
Manager	Malcolm (Malky) Mackay
Starting 11	1: Ross Laidlaw, 2: Connor Randall, 3: Jake Vokins, 4: David Cancola, 5: Jack Baldwin 1, 7: Blair Spittal 1, 10: Dominic Samuel, 17: Regan Charles-Cook, 20: Harrison Clarke 1, 23: Joseph Hungbo, 25: Jordan White 1
Bench	21: Ross Munro, 9: Alexander Samuel, 18: Jack Burroughs, 15: Benjamin Paton, 25: Coll Donaldson
Heart of Midlothian
Manager	Robbie Neilson
Starting 11	Craig Gordon, Michael Smith 1, John Souttar, Peter Haring, Aaron Mceneff, Ben Woodburn 1, Taylor Moore, Andy Halliday 1, Alex Cochrane, Barrie McKay, Craig Halkett
Bench	Liam McFarlane, Stephen Kingsley, Jamie Walker, Gary Mackay-Steven, Armand Gnanduillet, Cameron Logan