SATURDAY was a day of mixed emotions for Lawrence Shankland. He knew he wouldn’t be starting for Hearts as Celtic came to town after Robbie Neilson opted for Stephen Humphrys to lead the line at Tynecastle. He hoped to come on at some point during the contest and make his presence felt, thereby making his case for a starting spot for Thursday night’s Europa Conference League match against RFS. And boy, did he do just that.
The centre-forward’s hat-trick – the eighth of his career – was the first from a Hearts player against Celtic in the league in almost 50 years yet the 27-year-old still ended up on the losing side in an enthralling contest in Gorgie. Despite equalising in the first half, taking the lead in the second and then clawing back an equaliser to make it 3-3, Greg Taylor’s 76th-minute goal proved to be the decisive one as Ange Postecolgou’s men left with all three points.
With VAR intervening on numerous occasions as the technology made its debut at the weekend – Shankland’s first goal came via a penalty awarded by the video assistant, while his third arrived courtesy of a retaken spot-kick – it was a frenetic encounter in the capital where both sides threw caution to the wind.
