CRAIG LEVEIN, the Hearts manager, believes the Tynecsatle side illustrated their mettle against Stenhousemuir – as he lauded Craig Halkett as his ideal makeshift striker.
The capital club were on course for a chastening defeat to their lowly League Two visitors when Mark McGuigan gave the visitors the lead after 77 minutes.
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Hearts had been unable to break down stubborn Stenny, with Graeme "Buzz" Smith rolling back the years between the sticks.
Levein concedes that he started to fear the worst when one remarkable attacking sequence saw FOUR blocks in the space of ten seconds – but he was delighted by the fortitude shown by his players.
Halkett ultimately struck twice in the final seven minutes to complete a dramatic turnaround, ensuring Hearts will top Group A so long as they don’t lose to East Fife on Saturday.
“We love to keep everyone in suspense,” Levein said with a laugh. “I’ve got a lot of faith and we created so much I felt we would eventually take advantage - but after the four shots from six yards out I did have a small part of me thinking: ‘Oh no’.
“But all credit to the boys for keeping plugging away. I thought tonight was a good lesson about perseverance.
“Craig Halkett? Well, that’s three [goals] already. He’s an auxiliary striker in the making!”
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Stenny No.1 Smith was in fine fettle as the Jambos sought to break the deadlock in the opening stages, parrying a point-blank Steven MacLean header to safety following an excellent Michael Smith delivery.
Souttar, captaining Hearts in the absence of Christophe Berra, almost crafted an opener when his sensational solo run and cross narrowly evaded Conor Washington, while a stretching Jamie Walker could only ripple the side netting.
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Smith and Sean Clare both came close as half-time approached but the hosts could not find a way to break the deadlock.
Smith was proving unbeatable in the Gorgie sunshine and further excelled after the interval when he tipped a ferocious Souttar drive from distance over the cross-bar.
The sneaking suspicion that this was destined not to be Hearts’ night was only heightened when they were denied four times in ten seconds.
Michael Smith burst into the box but saw his goal-bound effort saved by Graeme Smith, who then recovered to block the rebound from Bozanic. Washington and Walker then saw their follow-ups heroically smothered by defender Scott McLaughlin as, somehow, the score stayed level.
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Stenny thought they had produced a smash-and-grab for the ages with 13 minutes left on the clock. A slick counter-attack saw David Hopkirk spread a fine cross-field pass to Alan Cook, whose delivery for McGuigan was inch-perfect for the predator to convert.
However, Halkett scrambled home to restore parity when Stenhousemuir failed to deal with a simple corner-kick.
And, with the clock running down and the visitors side clinging on for penalties, the former Livingston skipper notched his third goal in two games to break Stenny hearts.
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