Celtic ran out deserved 4-1 winners at Tynecastle on Sunday afternoon. The few hundred away supporters who were allowed into the ground were noisy throughout the match.

Only around 600 tickets were allocated for the Celts amid what turned out to be a horrendous move from Hearts. The Jambos decided to cut Celtic’s usual Tynecastle allocation by over half of what it usually is.

This was in order to facilitate room for their own supporters, although the match didn’t even sell out. An attendance of 17,608 was reported by the BBC [which seems generous] at a stadium which has a capacity of 19,852, making a surplus of 2,244.

It is fair to say that if Hearts gave Celtic their usual Gorgie allocation behind the goal, we would have in all likelihood seen a sell-out. Instead, empty seats were vast and the home support was sat sporadically throughout the stadium.

If the home team had done what they usually do regarding allocations of tickets, Tynecastle would have been rocking with a full Celtic end and the Hearts fans packed together, making for a fierce and intimidating atmosphere. Instead, things were tepid and flat.

This was only of detriment to the home team and it was their own fault. The ticketing situation wouldn’t have made a difference to the final result of the game, but if the club handled it better, their players may have put up more of a fight against the champions and made for a more entertaining contest.

Despite this being the case, Scottish football has a way of continually punching itself in the face. We’ll likely see Hearts double down on the allocation cut.