27th November 2012. Hearts 2 St. Mirren 0

 

After Hearts disappointing performance at  Motherwell today brought a home match against St. Mirren unthinkable SPL. After lunch I decided to watch Arsenal v Newcastle on Sky before walking down to Tynecastle. As a result I was later in arriving and after going though Covid checks and then the turnstiles I finally arrived at my seat around 14.40 as the sides were warming up. To be perfectly honest I have never liked St. Mirren despite being the first side I saw a Hearts win at outside Edinburgh with a late goal by George Fleming securing a 1-0 victory in 1969.  St Mirren lay down to Celtic in 1986 to allow their opponents to win the league Iain goal difference from Hearts. This was followed by St. Mirren beating Hearts in the 1987 Scottish Cup Final and the 2013 League cup Final. The final straw came in 2019 when a 1-0 defeat in Paisley lead to Hearts being demoted, not relegated, when the season was ended early after the initial Covid outbreak. 

Hearts make four changes to their starting line-up at Motherwell. Andy Halliday replaced Alex Cochrane at left wing-back with Craig Halkett returning at centre-half for the suspended Taylor Moore. Upfront Gary Mackay-Steven (GMS) and Liam Boyce came in for Josh Ginnelly and Ben Woodburn. With the exception of Moore all those replaced were on the substitutes bench. St Mirren are a bit like  other well , a stuffy rather than entertaining side, built in the image of their manager, Jim Goodwin. Goodwin, who started with Celtic, played for St Mirren as a tough tackling midfield player. After starting his managerial career with Alloa he moved to St Mirren in 2019. A former Republic of Ireland international he has signed a number of players from that league. Todays side included Jamie McGrath and Connor Ronan signed from Irish sides. 

Th match started quietly with both sides seeming to be finding out the strength and weaknesses of the opposition. St Mirren had the first chance when an attempt from Charles Dunne from a corner was blocked by the feet of Craig Gordon who followed up by diving to push away the follow-up from Eamonn Brophy. Shortly afterwards Joe Shaughnessy was lucky to escape with only a yellow card after the fouled Boyce around thirty yards from goal. Thankfully Boyce was able to continue after several minutes of treatment. Hearts then had  a chance but Alnwick made a good save to stop a volley from GMS. Just before halftime Richard Tait had the ball in the net for St Mirren but was clearly in an offside position as the assistant referees flag confirmed. 

Straigt after half-time a run from McKay lead to GMS forcing a save from Alnwick. St. Mirren the came into the match again and Gordon made another good save from a McGrath shot. From  the corner Boyce cleared a header from Marcus Fraser of the goal line before Gordon blocked the rebound. Gordon then tipped a shot from McAllister over his cross-bar as St. Mirren piled on the pressure. Hearts took the lead in fifty-nine minutes when McKay broke down the left. His shot as blocked but fell to GMS around fifteen yards from goal in the centre of the penalty area. The winger rolled the ball into the net past the helpless Alnwick. I had spent most of the game feeling that GMS had beene, at best, ineffectual but his strike made up for his previous performance. Cammy Devlin was then booked as he clashed with goalkeeper Alnwick after a shot from Boyce. Devlin ran in to look for a rebound and I thought the booking was harsh as it was a clash when looking to play the ball and not an intentional foul. With fifteen minutes to go Hearts went two up. Boyce was fouled around twenty-five yards from goal in the centre of the pitch. As Steven Kingsley stepped up to take the kick I heard a vice from behind me saying "top right hand corner". Kingsley followed these "instructions" with an excellent strike over the wall and past the diving Alnwick into the net. With a rond fee minutes left Hearts lost Beni Baningime to injury. He went down after blocking a shot and appeared to have injured his knee. Later reports stated however that he was walking in the dressing room and would be available for the next match. In the last of the six minutes of stoppage time St Mirren had Shaughnessy sent off after he fouled Devlin just outside the penalty area. The Hearts midfielder tried to wind up Shaughnessy as he left the field by waving goodbye as he walked form the park. 

After the match I was heading to the Shakespeare Bar to meet my friend Ivan for a catch up. As I mused on the match I thought this was a game that in recent years Hearts would have drawn r even lost. Gordon in goals makes a big difference to the side. With most of the other keepers in a Hearts jersey over the past few years I am sure there would have been goals for St. Mirren today. 

Teams

Hearts: Gordon, Smith, Halliday, Souttar, Halkett, Kingsley, McKay, Baningime, Boyce, Devlin, Mackay-Steven.

Subs: Ginnelly, Gnanduillet, Haring

St. Mirren: Alnwick, Tait, Tanser, Shaughnessy, Dunne, Fraser, McGrath, Flynn, Brophy, Power, Rohan

Subs; McAllister, Dennis, Kiltie