KEVIN McHattie's first loves were actually roller hockey and ice hockey, not Raith Rovers or Hearts, but the full back still finds himself ever-so-slightly conflicted by Sunday's Scottish Cup fourth round tie. The 23-year-old from Glenrothes spent his weekends being dragged along to Stark's Park by his grandfather, fostering an affection for the Kirkcaldy side which lives on to this day, where he now plays as a full back for his hometown side. His 'second club', though, is Hearts, who plucked him from the youth ranks at Dunfermline and gave him the grounding in the sport which made him what he is today.
"My grandad used to speak about the European nights, he was in Munich for the Bayern game and used to take me along to Stark’s Park now and then," said McHattie. "I used to play roller hockey when I was younger and after that I would nip up with him to watch the Rovers - I was about five, watching players such as Stevie Crawford. But Hearts are my second club, I have such a soft spot for them after all they did for me - so it will be a weird atmosphere."
Having also played against Hearts under Gary Locke in the colours of Kilmarnock, McHattie knows what to expect if the Kirkcaldy side can dump Ian Cathro's side out of the cup on Sunday. His old pals populate the Tynecastle first team; indeed in most cases the adversity of attempting to keep administration-ravaged Hearts in the top flight might have been the making of them. McHattie still meets up now and then with Callum Paterson, who this week underwent an operation on the knee injury which will keep him out for nine months, while fully expects goalkeeper Jack Hamilton to throttle him if he comes up with the winner.
"Big Cal is a good mate," said the former Scotland Under-21 player. "I wish him well after his op this week, I’m gutted for him as he has been flying. I see him once or twice a month, big Brad Mackay drops in from Inverness and we head over and see him. It’s a shame but he has been there before, he’s had injuries before, and I’m sure he will bounce back.
"We had a great bunch of boys and a strong dressing room," added the full back. "The average age of the squad was only 23 - while we had older guys such as Jamie Hamill and Ryan Stevenson [now a Raith team-mate again] the younger guys included me and Cal, Brad, Danny Wilson, Jamie Walker and Jason Holt, even boys such as Fraser Mullen who played the Scottish Cup tie against Auchinleck Talbot. Those were times I’ll never forget, loving every minute playing for such a big club. We knew they couldn’t spend money so we had the chance to develop which is what most of us did. If we were to knock them out a few of my mates wouldn’t be happy, including big Jack Hamilton in goal. If I scored against him he would probably have me by the throat!"
McHattie had a watching brief at Hampden that fateful day in May 2012 when Hearts racked up a 5-1 win against their Edinburgh rivals, having made a handful of first team appearances that season. As much of a shock as it was to be told that his services were no longer required by Robbie Neilson, he hasn't given up on returning to that level.
"It was tough, I spoke to Robbie and he was straight up with me which is what you want from a manager," said McHattie. "I didn’t want to be hanging about when he told me I wouldn’t be playing as many games as we would have liked and at my age I had to be playing every week. I agreed. He said he would be happy for me to stay but I decided to move on and try to get some games and my aim is to get back to that level and hopefully the young squad here can help me out."
Hearts under Craig Levein memorably came a cropper to a Collin Samuel and Lee Miller-inspired Falkirk side immediately after the winter break back in 2003 - 20-year-old Craig Gordon had to fish the ball from his net four times before half time - but McHattie reckons top flight sides will be too smart to let them be ambushed in a similar manner. While a play-off place remains a possibility, Raith have lost their last three matches and a cup shock would be perfect to get them back to winning ways.
"They had a bounce game last week at their academy and they’ll be flying because they would have missed the game while they were on their holidays, which is a break we don’t get," he said. "That’s football, we’re not on the greatest of runs but this game has come at a crucial time to take us away from the league and focusing on a cup game in which anything can happen."
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