Hearts 0 St Johnstone 0

By Chris Roberts, PA Sport

Hearts' UEFA Cup dreams were put to bed for at least one more week after their ten men hung on for a point at Tynecastle.

The Edinburgh club needed victory to clinch third place in the Premier League and a place in Europe next season, but St Johnstone came to spoil their party and battled away to earn a deserved share of the points.

But Hearts' efforts were not helped by the needless second-half dismissal of striker Gary Naysmith, for kicking out at Darren Dods.

Up until that point the three points were well within their grasp, but now Hearts will have to wait, after Motherwell won to close the gap to five points with two games remaining.

However, Hearts will have nightmares before the end of the season with their remaining games against champions Rangers at Ibrox and Edinburgh rivals Hibernian at Tynecastle.

The home side looked a side desperate to kill off the European chase early as the game started in lively fashion as they looked for the all-important opening goal.

In the fourth minute Thomas Flogel got through the challenge of Kieron McAnespie before crossing for striker Gary McSwegan, whose glancing header went well wide.

But Hearts should have gone in front in the 10th minute when Lee Makel played Fulton through with just St Johnstone keeper Stephen Robertson to beat but he dragged his shot wide of the post.

Gary Wales was looking for his fourth goal in four games and his perseverance almost paid off in the 14th minute when he dispossessed McAnespie on the edge of the box before seeing his effort deflected for a corner.

Hearts began to become more frustrated as time wore on without a goal, and in the 22nd minute Makel went into the referee's book for a late lunge on John O'Neil.

St Johnstone were struggling to create any real opportunities for their strikers and in the 23rd minute Marc Millar saw glory when he attempted an ambitious 22-yard effort which went past the post.

Hearts then broke dangerously in the 26th minute through Darren Jackson, but he was floored by a reckless challenge from Millar, who subsequently became the second player to be shown the yellow card.

Jackson then tried a speculative lob from the edge of the box in the 31st minute after Steve Fulton's corner broke to him, but it sailed high over Robertson's crossbar.

St Johnstone's first good chance came in the 34th minute when McAnespie cut inside his marker before picking out O'Neil, who fired just wide on the volley.

Saints midfielder Paul Kane then tried his luck from 20 yards after being given space to shoot by McAnespie, but his effort went well wide.

Hearts manager Jim Jefferies brought Colin Cameron on at the break for the impressive Makel, who must have been struggling with an injury.

They were hoping that would give them a lift to claim the three points and Naysmith tried his luck with a 20-yard free-kick which had insufficient power to trouble Robertson in the St Johnstone goal.

The home crowd started to lose patience and the players seemed to sense how nervous they had become as they chose to sit deeper and were reluctant to drive forward in numbers.

On 56 minutes, Petric was lucky that St Johnstone failed to capitalise on his mistake when he was caught in possession on the half-way line by O'Neil who broke clear but Steven Pressley's interception saved his teammate's blushes.

Cameron made a run into the visitor's box in the 58th minute and was picked out by Flogel, but his glancing header sailed well wide.

But Hearts were lucky not to go behind in the 62nd minute when Keigan Parker released Graeme Jones through on goal, but Antti Niemi produced a wonderful save at his feet to deny him.

From the resulting kick downfield, Jim Weir brought down Wales on the edge of the box and the St Johnstone captain was shown the yellow card when the home crowd were calling for the red.

The game livened dramatically in the 65th minute when Hearts striker McSwegan was shown the red card for lashing out at defender Dods after losing out on the touchline, and moments later Kane also went into the book for a foul.

The home side breathed a sigh of relief when substitute Gerry McMahon's header from an O'Neil cross sailed into the arms of a grateful Niemi.

As events unfolded, Hearts would have settled for a draw which means thefight for Europe could go to the very last game of the season - increasing the agony for the Edinburgh supporters.

Teams:

Hearts: Niemi, Flogel, Pressley, Petric, Naysmith, Fulton (Locke 73), Makel (Cameron 46), Tomaschek, Jackson (Juanjo 73), McSwegan, Wales.

Subs Not Used: Rousset, Severin.

Sent Off: McSwegan (65).Booked: Makel.

St Johnstone: Robertson, Millar, Weir, Dods, Bollan, McAnespie (McMahon 73), Kane, O'Neil, O'Halloran,Parker (Thomas 73), Jones.

Subs Not Used: Gow, Griffin, McBride.Booked: Millar, Weir, Kane.

Att: 12,638

Referee: John Rowbotham.


Taken from sportinglife.com