Hearts’ Europa League bid ended on Thursday with the Jambos stunned at Tynecastle, a two-one defeat to Birkirkara saw the Maltese side advance by the same scoreline on aggregate.
The first leg in the heat of Malta ended goalless with captain Alim Ozturk firing an effort against the crossbar from distance with summer signing from Derby Conor Sammon having the ball in the net but this was disallowed for offside.
Such a result left the tie in the balance ahead on Thursday’s return leg.
After a goalless first half at Tynecastle, which saw Prince Buaben miss a penalty, Christian Bubalovic and Edward Herrera had Birkirkara two-up and in complete control. Jamie Walker and Sam Nicholson hitting the frame of the goal too left Hearts with it all to do.
Sammon pulled one back but it wasn’t enough with Hearts losing two-one on the night crashing out on aggregate, which was all the more surprising given Birkirkara had only managed two wins in 23-matches in Europe before this!
