28th September 2019 St Mirren v Hearts 0-0

Suffering withdrawal symptoms with no football for the past fortnight having been on holiday in Paphos. Did check the Cypriot fixtures but Paphos were away both weekends we were there and I did not fancy traveling to Limasol, which is 116k away, to watch them. However today will be a first for me as it will be the first time I have attended a game at St Mirren's Simple Digital Arena. I attended there old ground at Love Street on several occasions but despite the new ground opening in 2009 this will be my first visit. I caught the 12.01 train to Glasgow Central at Haymarket and then from Central boarded the 13.36 to Greenock which arrived at Paisley St. James at 13.53 despite on of the toilets being out of action after some-one threw up all over the toilet area. The ground is a few minutes walk from the station and I arrived just around 14.00. I purchased programme in the club shop than had a chat with David. the Hearts historian, before going into the ground. With me having missed the last three games David brought me up to date with his thoughts on the performances over the period.

The Hearts team line up was interesting with captain Christophe Berra on the bench. Berra has been a Hearts stalwart over the years but since he came back from injury early in the year has not been at his commanding best and probably needed a rest after a tough spell of matches recently. The team announcement provoked some discussion over how the side would line up with only one regular central defender listed. The final formation was; Joel Periera in goal, a back three of Craig Halkett, Michael Smith and Aaron Hickey, Callumn Morrison and Jake Mulraney as wing-backs, Glenn Whelan and Loic Damour in central midfield and Ryotaro Meshino and Steven MacLean supporting lone striker Uche Ikpeazu. St Mirren appointed Jim Goodwin their former captain and ex-Alloa manager as there new manager in the summer. He was appointed late in the pre-season period and has done well to build a squad in the short time available before the transfer window closed. The side however are not renowned for their attacking flair having only scored three gosls in six league games to date. 

Hearts started well and after five minutes Morrison forced a corner after a run down the right. The corner was hit short to Mulraney who fired a low ball across goal to Halkett whose wayward shot was diverted by MacLean past the near post. Things began to go wrong after about twenty four minutes when Halkett went down after a challenge in midfield. He was forced to leave the field and replaced by Berra. This meant a reshuffle in the back three with Hickey moving to the right and Berra slotting in on the left. St Mirren then had the ball in the net after Tony Andreu turned in the penalty box to shoot past Periera but the ‘scorer’ was flagged offside. Berra than had a good header from a corner by Andy Irving, who had replaced Damour another injury victim. The header however was straight at keeper Vaclav Hladky.  

The second half continued much as the first with Hearts having the bulk of possession and moving the well round well but unable to create chances. I felt part of the issue was that Hearts held the ball too long and was unsure if this was due to players lacking confidence to find ‘killer’ passes or a lack of movement among the forward players to allow good passes to be made. Hickey had a couple of long range efforts, one held comfortably by Hladky and the other past the post before Hearts had a penalty claim. Irving ran from midfield into the box and fell after a challenge just inside the area. The referee waved play on and I would have to agree with his decision there. Hearts had a great chance to take the lead after seventy three minutes when Ikpeazu turned on the edge of the box and knocked the ball forward for MacLean. The striker lunged for the ball but only managed to knock it over the bar as he collided with Hladky. The keeper required treatment before continuing, as the thought went through my head that the first time I saw Hearts win outside Edinburgh was in 1969 with a late winner against St Mirren. No such luck here and St Mirren game closest to a goal after a pass from Danny Mullen sent Jon Obika in on goal. The strikers shot went wide and the sound of the final whistle was a relief to both players and fans.

After the game it was a two minute walk back to the station although with a half hourly service the next train to Glasgow did not arrive until 17.11. The train was soon full when it arrived and it was standing room only all the way to Central Station. One Heats fan collapsed in the cramped conditions although thankfully he was able to walk from the train on arrival at Central. The main Paisley station, Gilmour Street, is apparently a fifteen minute walk from the ground and that may be a alternative given there are more trains as trains to Ayrshire use Gilmour Street before going on to Glasgow. I walked from Central to Queen St in Glasgow and caught the 17.45 back to Haymarket. Arrived there at 18.30 and was home within ten minutes after a good day out and happy with the result given the injury problems had prevented Hearts making tactical substitutions to change to game. 

Teams
St Mirren: Hladky, P. McGinn, Waters, McLoughlin, Magennis, Flynn, Andreu, Durmus, Foley, Morias, Broadfoot. 
Subs: Mullen, Obika, McAllister.

Hearts: Pereira, Smith, Mulraney, Whelan, MacLean, Ikpeazu, Damour, Halkett, Morrison, Hickey, Meshino. 
Subs: Berra, Irving, White.