Hearts’ Sean Clare has taken aim at Celtic in the wake of last weekend’s Scottish Cup final, branding Neil Lennon’s side as ‘average’.
Ryan Edwards had given the Jambos a second half lead before Odsonne Edouard scored two to sink Craig Levein side’s hopes of cup glory.
Hearts were left dejected at full-time. (Photo by Robbie Jay Barratt – AMA/Getty Images)
Hearts gave it everything on the day and matched the treble treble winners for most of the afternoon. It has left Clare with regret, as he believes Hearts had a great opportunity to topple the Glasgow side.
Speaking to the Scottish Sun, Clare said: “Every single one of us gave our all and put in a good performance. I thought when we went 1-0 up it was going to be our day.
“They are a good side but I felt for large spells of the game we made them look average. It is disappointing when you put in that kind of performance and come away with nothing.
Clare has cup final regret. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)
“They were running out of ideas. They were going long a lot and we were putting them under pressure. That’s football. We dust ourselves down now and look forward to next season.”
Hearts gave Celtic a real scare
When Edwards knocked the ball into the net, there was a real feeling that this was Hearts’ day. Levein had Lennon worked out and everything the Bhoys threw at Hearts was ineffective up until that point.
It was Edwards’ goal that signalled the beginning of the end for the Jambos. It gave Celtic a wake-up call and Hearts couldn’t deal with it. Eventually, Celtic’s overwhelming quality toppled the Jambos.
Clare challenges Jonny Hayes (photo by Alan Rennie/Action Plus via Getty Images)
Hearts can be very proud of their efforts. That’s the closest Celtic have come to losing one of the domestic cups in a long time.
It just wasn’t to be for Clare and his teammates.