Lawrence Shankland says there is no better game to grab his first goal for Hearts - but admits Martin Boyle stole his thunder.
The Scotland international was a long term target for boss Robbie Neilson this summer as the Jambos boss looked to add to his attacking ranks as part of his transfer plans. The former Dundee United man has joined the likes of Alan Forrest, Kye Rowles, Lewis Neilson, Alex Cochrane and Jorge Grant in the capital and he made it the perfect start by notching the opener at Easter Road.
It looked set to be the winner for the Jambos but returning Hibs hero Martin Boyle climbed off the bench to hit a leveller with the last kick off the ball as he sent the home fans wild. He was only included in the squad after gaining clearance following his return from Al-Faisaly. Shanks admits the leveller so late on was a sickener and while he was delighted with his first strike for the club, a win would have made it much sweeter.
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He said: "It was great, obviously it was my first competitive goal for Hearts. There's no better game to get it in for myself, so I'm delighted with that. But obviously I would've been much better if we'd took the win.
"It's a sickener for us, conceding that late in the game. Everyone knows that. At the end of the day, we got a point away from home in a derby. But yeah, he probably did steal my thunder.
"We just had a throw in to defend in their half. They've managed to get the knockdown and I think we were a wee bit open for the second ball, which I think caused us the biggest problem.
"That allowed them to get the runners down the side of us and the boy [Elie Youan] played a good ball in to be fair, and they got their goal. We didn't manage it as well as we should've."
Hearts had their chances to put the game out of sight before the lasp-gasp goal from Lee Johnson's men including a chance for Shankland.
But David Marshall - who made a number of top saves - denied the striker a derby double.
He continued: "Start of the second half, first 10-15 minutes, we made three good chances. Marsh made a really good double save to be fair, and I think there was another one as well, I can't really remember.
"But when you get they chances you need to get the second goal. And had we got it I think we would've saw the game out. It would've given us a lot better situations in which to hold on. We're disappointed with that.
"It knocks it obviously when you go into the changing room and you've conceded that late. It feels like a defeat. But tomorrow when we've all settled down we'll look at the bigger picture.
"We've not lost the game and that's the most important thing. It was a decent performance from us and there's plenty of positives to take."
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- Three things we learned from Hibs vs Hearts as Boyle in heroic return and Shankland off the mark
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