Hearts' incredible weekend can't be spoiled by Celtic as hero basks in special moment

As it was, Celtic recovered from trailing Motherwell 2-1 midway through the second half to win 3-2 thanks to a stoppage-time winner from Daizen Maeda. The gap stays at two points.

Less than 24 hours earlier, Hearts had their own moment in added-on time. It was special, particularly for 30-year-old centre-half Craig Halkett as he showed the composure of a striker to volley past Hibs keeper Raphael Sallinger in the 91st minute and send Tynecastle into a frenzy as they won the Edinburgh derby 1-0.

“It’s hard to describe it, to be honest,” was Halkett’s assessment of that moment. “Unbelievable. I’ve been here almost seven years, played in quite a few derbies and never scored. To get my first one in the fashion I did, it’s quite unforgettable.”

We’re seven games into the Premiership season and as Hearts head coach Derek McInnes is at pains to point out, the league is in its infancy. Nothing is sorted out in early October. But something is brewing in Gorgie. Belief is swelling.

Hearts can move provisionally five points clear of Celtic once more a week on Saturday when they take on Kilmarnock, in McInnes’ first return to his former club. The defending champions are at Dundee the following day. Hearts say they are taking it one game at a time but surely there is an eye on what looks like a pretty monumental clash with Celtic at Tynecastle on Sunday, October 26.

What Hearts have done so far is take advantage of weaknesses in the Old Firm, plus Hibs and Aberdeen. They lead Rangers and their city rivals by 11 points and the Dons by 15.

Hearts rewarded by moment of creativity

Halkett’s intervention in what was in truth a poor derby blighted by a biting, swirling wind earned more than just three points. It was Hearts’ first triumph in this fixture since December 2023. It floored their neighbours with a blow which will take them some time to recover from and injected even more confidence into a team that has been reinvigorated by McInnes. The only sour note of this season so far came at St Mirren when they exited the Premier Sports Cup on penalties.

It’s unlikely anyone of a maroon persuasion would have grumbled if the spoils had been shared against Hibs given there wasn’t much between the two teams, but Hearts had that little bit of ingenuity to win it when substitute Sabah Kerjota swung in a delicious inswinging cross for Halkett to bury. It was the third time this season that the Jambos have found a stoppage-time winner.

“A lot of the games we’ve played in this year, there have been a lot of goals and we’ve scored a few late goals in some of the games as well,” said Halkett. “I always felt that we had a goal in us. But I think, if the game had finished 0-0, I don’t think anybody would have argued.”

This was a moment of personal triumph for Halkett, who has been with Hearts for six seasons and has seen it all: relegations, cup finals and injuries. His time at Tynecastle has been cruelly punctuated by knee and Achilles issues, halting him in his prime. He lost five kilograms of weight over the summer in an attempt to prove his worth to McInnes. The graft has paid off. Not only is he helping Hearts keep clean sheets - Saturday was his fourth goal of the season.

“For a single moment, definitely,” Halkett admitted if his goal was the best in Hearts colours. “I think, especially on a personal level, the last two or three years I’ve had, up and down with injuries, not playing as much as I’d like, to start the season playing every game and performing pretty well. I know it’s still early, but to top it off with a winning goal in the derby, it doesn’t get much better. But again, it’s just the start of the season and there’s a long way to go.

“I spoke during the summer and spoke about how hard I’d worked and how big a season it was for myself coming up, so I’m feeling great. My body is feeling great, feeling healthy, fit, strong and I’m just really glad to be playing 90 minutes every week and putting in decent performances. It’s just anything I can do to help the team and, thankfully, we've started the season really well.”

Hearts’ focus is only on Kilmarnock

That start is fuelling serious talk of Hearts being able to mount a title charge. The inevitable response from Halkett came. “I think the confidence is building every week but, in terms of mounting a title challenge, we’re only seven games into a 38-game season, so there’s a long way to go at that,” he said. “For the boys, the coaching staff, to keep getting confidence and keep winning games is only a good thing for everyone.”

Next up is Kilmarnock, a team that has also started the season well and sit third on ten points. Their only defeat came against Celtic in stoppage time a few weeks ago.

“We’ve got the break and we’ve still got the Kilmarnock game before that [Celtic],” added Halkett. They’re a team that’s got a new manager [Stuart Kettlewell] and they’re doing really well themselves, so going down there, we know it’s going to be a really difficult game. I wouldn’t think that anyone in the changing room is looking at Celtic game just yet. We’re focused on Kilmarnock.”

Roll on October 18, when the Premiership recommences. Hearts are key players in it.