Lawrence Shankland’s penalty put Hearts in front before the breakHearts won an entertaining contest with RFS of Latvia as they kickstarted their Europa Conference League campaign.Lawrence Shankland’s first-half penalty put them ahead before the break, and Alan Forrest’s strike in stoppage time sealed victory.Hearts had goalkeeper Craig Gordon to thank at points, especially for tipping one effort on to the woodwork.They also passed up good chances to add to their tally – including Shankland missing an empty net.In the end it did not matter as Hearts move second in Group A behind Istanbul Basaksehir – who defeated Fiorentina 3-0 – as Robbie Neilson’s side prepare to face the Serie A club home and away next.The win in Riga keeps some hope of progression alive for injury-hit Hearts, who were handed a sixth defeat in seven games by Basaksehir last week when the Turkish side left Edinburgh with a 4-0 win.Hearts go from sticky patch to sizing up FiorentinaReaction & as it happenedGiven that display, this was a must-win game for Neilson and his squad and at various stages of the first half they looked rattled, especially when centre-back Craig Halkett limped off 20 minutes into his return from injury.RFS – last season’s champions of Latvia who earned a shock draw in Florence in their opening match – hit the woodwork after two minutes when Gordon was at his acrobatic best to tip Emerson’s shot onto the woodwork.And the Hearts keeper pulled off another two stops in quick succession to keep… Click below to read the full story from BBC Sport
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RFS 0-2 Hearts: Scottish side get first Europa Conference League win
