There was a hint of offside to the winning goal as Heart of Midlothian B lost 2-1 to Celtic B at Ainslie Park.

Daniel Cummings scored similar goals either side of Gus Stevenson’s equaliser for the young Jambos, though there was a delay in awarding what proved to be the winner.

No one seemed to know, officials included, whether or not to award Cummings the second goal but after a delay it was given.

Hearts Standard was at Ainslie Park to analyse the action.

Development opportunity

A challenging purpose with Angus Beith unavailable, Hearts B were led by under-18s coach David McNeil. There were also a number of players unavailable.

Adam Forrester, who captained the B team earlier in the season, has had plenty of first-team minutes and striker James Wilson now has two goals after his Edinburgh derby heroics. Macaulay Tait continues to train with the first team.

It meant Mackenzie Ross starting at centre forward and he came close with a first-half header from a corner – a rare time that Hearts B threatened in the opening 45 minutes.

McNeil said that young players making a success in the first team is a “challenge” but it is also “the purpose” of the B team.

“Someone else then needs to step up,” he added. “So Mack goes up and plays today. Then we get Taylor [Hogarth, who came on as a second-half substitute] who is playing in the under-18s to come on to the pitch.

“For me, it’s development. We want to push players into the first team. So James going into the first team, we can sacrifice part of our game – someone else needs to step up.”

Defender requires scan

Hearts B also named one fewer substitute than their opponents, led by former Scotland international Stephen McManus.

Then, shortly after Cummings gave the visitors the lead after around eight minutes, Hearts B defender Luke Rathie crumpled to the floor. After lengthy treatment he was stretchered off and replaced by Kai Smutek, reappearing later at the side of the pitch on crutches.

“Luke got caught, he’s going to have to go for a scan,” said McNeil. “So we’ll see what comes from that.

“He’s not had much luck recently, but he’s been very strong mentally and he’ll continue to do that.”

McLuckie is another whose afternoon was cut short, limping off in the second half with a knee complaint after an impact. He will be assessed in the coming days.

Half-time tweak

At half-time, Kenzi Nair was replaced by Dominic Plank and Hearts B had there best spell of the game.

Gus Stevenson had started the game on the left wing but had moved back to midfield by the time he was sent through on goal soon after the break, only to be prevented from scoring by a great save from Celtic B keeper Joe Morrison.

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A minute later, Stevenson finished well from just inside the box to level the scores.

That sparked the home side’s best spell of the game but it was too short-lived to put their opponents under any real pressure.

“We need to recognise momentum,” said McNeil. “There was a period where we were pressing well, we were on the front foot and we had a lot of control and possession.

“But we need to keep that momentum, find the final pass and commit players into the box.

“Those things were lacking a wee bit today.”