Rogers Mato’s Late Strike Hands Hearts Pre-Season Victory Over Raith Rovers

Ugandan forward Rogers Mato came off the bench to score a dramatic late winner as Heart of Midlothian secured a hard-fought 1-0 victory over Raith Rovers in a pre-season friendly at Stark’s Park in Kirkcaldy on Friday night.

With head coach Wouter Vrancken using the match to give valuable minutes to several members of his squad ahead of Tuesday’s UEFA Champions League second-leg qualifier against Sturm Graz, Mato proved to be the difference after his halftime introduction, punishing a costly defensive mistake to seal victory in the closing minutes.

Raith Rovers made the brighter start and threatened twice inside the opening 10 minutes. Lewis Gibson cut in from the left but fired over the crossbar under pressure from MJ Kamson-Kamara before Kai Montagu also failed to test Zander Clark, sending his effort over the goal.

Hearts gradually settled into the contest and began to dominate possession while creating the better chances. Josh McPake was first to test goalkeeper Josh Rae with a curling effort before Tómas Magnusson forced the Raith shot-stopper into an impressive save. The rebound fell kindly for Sabri Guendouz, but the midfielder volleyed wide from a promising position.

McPake came close again just before the half-hour mark after collecting a perfectly weighted pass from Ten Renaud, only to slice his effort into the side netting. On the opposite flank, Sabah Kerjota and Jordi Altena linked up well, with Kerjota’s dangerous delivery narrowly evading the head of Amadou Ba-Sy as the opening half ended goalless.

Hearts made three changes at the break, introducing Mato, James Wilson and debutant goalkeeper Beau Reus. Reus was quickly called into action, showing composure in difficult windy conditions before comfortably gathering a Ross Millen header at the back post.

The visitors almost found the breakthrough around the hour mark when Magnusson’s back-post header was deflected behind for a corner. From the resulting Stephen Kingsley delivery, Kamson-Kamara’s powerful header forced substitute goalkeeper Luke Armstrong into an excellent save.

As the match entered its closing stages, Hearts handed senior debuts to academy prospects Allan Clark and Peter Kellock, while Euan Glasgow was also introduced. Magnusson later volleyed narrowly wide before Wilson squandered another promising opportunity, firing over after losing his footing inside the penalty area.

Raith Rovers also had opportunities to snatch victory through substitute Dylan Easton, who was first denied brilliantly by Reus before curling another effort wide of the far post with the goal at his mercy.

However, it was Mato who had the final say. With the match seemingly heading for a draw, the Ugandan forward capitalized on a misplaced pass from Jai Rowe in the 87th minute, raced through on goal and calmly slotted past Armstrong to hand Hearts a 1-0 pre-season victory.

The late strike marked another encouraging moment for Mato, whose impact off the bench underlined his value to Hearts as the Scottish Premiership side now shifts its focus to Tuesday’s crucial UEFA Champions League second-leg qualifier against Sturm Graz.