THE consolation amid the disappointment for Neil Alexander was that at least he made it through the 90 minutes unscathed this time.
The Hearts goalkeeper's second appearance of the season in Saturday's goalless draw at Dumbarton was rather less eventful than his debut for the club when, on the opening game at Ibrox, he sustained a cheekbone injury and had to depart on a stretcher midway through the second half. Alexander's return, then, was cause for celebration but it was tempered by a sense of frustration as Hearts dropped their first points of the SPFL Championship campaign.
After four successive victories there was a feeling that Robbie Neilson's side only needed to turn up to swat Dumbarton aside but some feeble Hearts attacking and strong defensive work from their hosts served to provide an alternative outcome. The draw was enough to return Hearts to the top of the table but also served as a warning that they won't get their own way on every occasion this season.
"I'm glad to be back but it turned out to be a disappointing day," said Alexander. "On the day we just weren't good enough but you have to also give Dumbarton credit for the way they performed. They made it very hard for us. In the final third we just lacked that killer instinct which hadn't been the case of late. But you never know - it might be a great point for us further down the line."
Alexander's return was perhaps harsh on Jack Hamilton, the 20-year-old who had deputised ably during the senior player's absence. Alexander, though, predicted big things for the Scotland under-21 cap.
"I've been very impressed with him from the moment I came to Hearts," he added. "He's a great lad with a great attitude and we're very confident that he's got a fantastic future ahead of him. I can see him being the Hearts No.1 for many years to come.
"Scott Gallacher is there as well so I've got two great goalkeepers breathing down my neck which is good for the future as well. When I step down and hang up my gloves the position is in good hands."
For Dumbarton, this was further evidence of their recovery following a start to the season that threatened to leave them marooned - no pun intended - at the foot of the table. Four points from their last two matches signal they are a team that should not be taken lightly, especially at home. "We had a disappointing start in our first three games but we've had a big improvement since then," said defender David van Zanten. "We showed on Saturday that we can match most teams. We'll take a lot of positives from this and we're pleased to get a point. I thought the boys were brilliant at the back.
"That's two clean sheets in a row having conceded quite a lot of goals before. That means a lot although unfortunately, unlike our last games, we couldn't nick a winner."
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article