WILL COLLAR was all set to cancel Christmas until the not so wise men from the east came bearing gifts at the Fountain Of Youth Stadium to rescue the festive season for the midfielder.
It was only the 22-year-old’s eighth appearance since he joined Hamilton from Brighton & Hove Albion in the summer but he celebrated his first senior goal (a scuffed shot from Mickel Miller’s low cross which Hearts goalkeeper Joel Pereira allowed to trickle through his fingers) as though it was a cup final winner. Which, in a way, it was.
The result saw the visitors replace Accies at the foot of the table and changed the mood music for Collar and his team-mates.
“As footballers, we do feel the pressure but today brought five, 10 per cent more out of some of us,” he said. “Being bottom would have affected our mood on Christmas Day; it’s such a big part of your life that your take the emotions home with you.
“It’s really nice for us to have three points for Christmas. We can enjoy our turkey now. We’ll be in training on the 25th but we’ll get away early to get our Christmas dinner. I’ve got family coming up, which is nice because haven’t seen my mum and dad since the last international break.
“However, it’s even better that we’ve got three points - I’ll have my goal on repeat when they arrive!”
Miller had already fired the hosts in front from 18 yards after being teed up by Scott Martin and George Oakley. Hearts, who had lost only one of their previous 12 meetings with Saturday's opponents, responded when Oli Bozanic headed home from a Glenn Whelan corner but it was too little too late.
While Accies are in the ascendancy, Hearts are in freefall. Halfway through the Premiership campaign, they are the worst team in the top tier, four points adrift of third-bottom St Johnstone, who have two games in hand.
Hearts face Hibernian on Boxing Day and Aberdeen on Sunday and, although both matches are at Tynecastle, they have the worst home record in the division, having won only one of their last 12 league games on their own turf.
Meanwhile, centre-back Craig Halkett insists that, in spite of the overwhelming evidence to the contrary, the current squad can avoid relegation.
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“It doesn’t get any easier,” he admits. “The boys are hurting and it isn’t a nice place to be or position to be in but it’s only us who can change it.
“Everyone knows it isn’t good enough. We’re in a situation where things aren’t going our way and we know it will be difficult to get out of it .
“It may look like we aren’t together but we are; we’re fighting for each other in this difficult situation. Being a defender, it’s our job to keep clean sheets but we haven’t been doing that.
“That then puts pressure on the strikers to score goals as we can’t keep them out at the other end. We aren’t scoring enough goals either and it’s all coming together to be a big mess.
“Some of the teams [at the bottom] have been used to being down there battling at the foot of the table and we haven’t. It’s an advantage they have over us but we need to deal with it, dig deep and get out of this.
“We have to learn as quickly as we can about being down there. Everyone has to go away and have a look at themselves and help to figure out what’s going wrong here. We need to rectify it and quickly.”
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