The greatest high, according to Craig Halkett, was winning the Edinburgh Derby in stoppage time.
In the 92nd minute, the 30-year-old centre-back scored a fantastic first-time goal after latching on the back post of a cross from Sabah Kerjota, capping an outstanding overall performance.
Over the past few seasons, Halkett has experienced a plethora of physical difficulties, ranging from cruciate ligament damage to hamstring strains and more knee ailments.
But after seven games, he has started every league game for Hearts on their run to the top of the table. When asked if the goal that gained a valuable 1-0 victory could be considered the ultimate high after all the bad points he has experienced recently, he was straightforward.
“Definitely, for a single moment,” he murmured.
“It’s fantastic to start the season playing every game and doing fairly well, especially considering the past two or three years I’ve had up and down with injuries and not playing as much as I’d like.”
It doesn’t get much better than finishing with a derby victory, even if I know it’s still early.
To be honest, it’s difficult to explain. Incredibly so.
I’ve played in a good number of derbies over my nearly seven years here. “I’d never scored, so it’s really memorable to get my first one the way I did.”
“Sabah played a fantastic ball, and I just had to stick my leg out and make clean contact with it.” It was amazing to watch it go into the net.
As part of his festivities, Halkett made a golf swing and disclosed that there was a unique motivation.
“Actually, it’s a funny story,” he replied. “A few weeks ago, we had a Hearts sponsors’ golf day up at the Fairmont at St Andrews, and I played with a boy named Greg, who has a season ticket to Hearts.”
“He told me to look out to where he is if I ever score at one of the home games after he got a hole-in-one when he was in my group.”
“I caught him there at the last minute, so I gave him a little golf swing.”
Halkett has no trouble describing the overwhelmingly optimistic atmosphere that is gradually growing within the camp, but he declines to get involved in the debate about whether Hearts can actually maintain this push to the top of the table for the length of the season.
He stated, “I think the confidence is growing every week, but there’s a long way to go in terms of mounting a title challenge—we’re only seven games into a 38-game season.”
“It is only beneficial for the boys and coaching staff to continue gaining confidence and winning games.”
“My body feels fantastic, healthy, strong, and fit, and I’m just really happy to be playing 90 minutes a week and giving good performances.”
Manager Derek McInnes has also given Halkett more of a leadership role, and he seems to be flourishing under that burden.
“The manager told me he thought I was a leader,” Halkett stated.
He wanted to assign more duties, most likely more things that you guys don’t see, but he was keeping Shanks (Lawrence Shankland) as captain.
Only assisting with the organisation of the stadium and training area. It’s something I do fairly naturally.
Fining individuals is a part of it. It should be a fun Christmas night out because Cammy [Devlin] and I are in charge of that and we’ve done fairly well this year.
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