ALMOST build it and they will come. Yesterday was the day thousands of Hearts fans had been waiting for, to catch a glimpse of their shiny new main stand. It was a day that almost didn’t arrive.

The Gorgie side’s return to their spiritual home at Tynecastle was shrouded in uncertainty in the run-up to this fixture as the game’s fate hung in the balance right to the death. The final word on whether it could proceed came only around six hours before kick off, courtesy of a last-gasp safety check.

There were frustration and incredulity in equal measure as visitors Partick Thistle were left hanging on to find out if the match would indeed take place. Given they managed to carve out a thoroughly deserved 1-1 draw – courtesy of an 85th-minute Kris Doolan effort cancelling out Esmael Goncalves’ opener – they’ll be delighted it did.

That’s more than can be said for their hosts. Pageantry was the order of the day beforehand. The match was delayed by 15 minutes due to queues outside the ground. Once eventually inside, the home support were treated to a rendition of the Hearts Song by Scott Hutchison, the lead singer of rock band Frightened Rabbit, before enough fireworks to launch Edinburgh Castle into orbit greeted the teams on to the park at 3.15pm. That was where the majority of the spark ceased.

The new main stand was emblematic of the team in maroon playing in front of it – ragged around the edges and far from the finished article. Unpainted walls, empty electrical sockets and hanging wires was the internal scene, while on the pitch Hearts produced disjointed attacks and more loose passes than you could shake a paint brush, threatening to take the gloss off the whole occasion.

The point was typified by goalscorer Goncalves who, just after putting his team in front after 54 minutes, passed the ball to nobody and it was left to trundle out for a goal kick not once but twice in a matter of seconds.

Thistle were comfortable in throughout the first half as their altered 5-4-1 formation – with man-of-the-match Blair Spittal in at left wing-back – kept an uninspired Hearts attack at bay. Indeed, apart from their goal, the only other shot on target of note came after just two minutes, that man Goncalves bulleting a 25-yard free-kick low straight into the arms of Tomas Cerny. The majority of the 16,999 inside the ground applauded in anticipation of what they hoped would come. It didn’t really. Hearts enjoyed plenty of possession in the Thistle half but did little to nothing with it. Danny Devine’s slip after 18 minutes allowed Kyle Lafferty to twist and turn at the edge of the area before firing wide. David Milinkovic managed to blast well over from 30 yards when afforded space in a central position. The buzz from the new main stand turned to groans as and frustration and hypothermia set in. Thistle, on the other hand, appeared calm and cool against Hearts’ high-press tactic.

The central midfield pairing of Adam Barton, and Ryan Edwards broke up a lot of the hosts’ momentum, with Spittal overlapping down the left to take on young right-back Jamie Brandon. It was a competent first-half showing which should have been capped with a goal on the stroke of the break when lone frontman Miles Storey capitalised on a slip by Aaron Hughes to race in on goal. With just keeper Jon McLaughlin, to beat, his composure left him and his low shot slide a few yards wide of the far post.

Into the second half Hearts continued to press against what was a well-drilled Thistle defence, and they eventually got their reward. Goncalves had struggled to have an influence the game in the first half yet he managed to conjure a piece of magic 25 yards out on the right to curl a shot with his right foot through a ruck of bodies to arch into the far bottom corner for the Portuguese’s second goal in two games.

The thousands in the new main stand appeared to breathe that bit more easily as a result as the man in the visiting dug-out, Alan Archibald, rolled the dice by throwing on Doolan almost immediately.

He was denied by a last-ditch Christophe Berra tackle on the hour, but not many among the 534-strong away support would have foreseen the leveller which arrived after 85 minutes.

A deep Spittal free-kick was knocked on in the middle of the box and a stramash ensued. With Hearts claiming handball and offside, the ball broke to the Thistle substitute around six yards out for him to turn and send it low into the net beyond McLaughlin.

It was a day that eventually started with a big bang for Hearts, but one that ended, courtesy of Doolan, with a damp squib.