Hearts 0 St Johnstone 3

St Johnstone piled on the misery for Hearts by following up their derby disaster with a comfortable win at Tynecastle.

The Edinburgh side were looking to bounce back from the 6-2 hammering by Hibs last week.

However, the Jambos were comprehensively beaten by an impressive St Johnstone side.

The match hinged on a controversial penalty at the start of the second half when Keigan Parker was adjudged to have been brought down by Kevin James.

After Parker converted the spotkick the floodgates opened .

Paddy Connolly then helped himself to a double as Hearts totally crumbled.

Hearts fans then produced a red card protest against chief executive Chris Robinson, who was barracked throughout the game, and a sizeable number of supporters vented their anger after the game outside the main stand with calls for his board to resign.

Hearts made a few changes from that defeat at Easter Road with manager Jim Jefferies opting to give youth the chance.

Youngsters Robbie Neilson, Kenny Milne and Scott Severin all lined up.

Milne made an initial impression when he galloped down the left flank in the first minute before drilling a low effort wide.

But Hearts fans had an inkling of what was to come in the ninth minute when they had a lucky escape.

A flick by Neilson put Connolly in on goal but it was a cutback too far for Parker who could only shoot into the arms of keeper Antti Niemi.

Hearts cursed keeper Alan Main when he twice thwarted the home side within the space of a minute.

Kevin James knocked Stephen Pressley freekick and Colin Cameron's shot was held by Main.

Then he pulled off a superb save after Andy Kirk cut inside Darren Dodds and he twisted to save low down.

Hearts keeper Niemi produced a fine stop in the 29th minute when he parried a fiercely driven effort from Gary Bollan.

Steve Fulton deserved better a minute before full time when he played a one-two with Flogel before being crowded out and shooting wide.

The match erupted four minutes after the interval when St Johnstone were awarded a controversial penalty.

James was adjudged to have stopped Parker in his tracks although it looked a soft decision.

Parker dusted himself down and slotted the spot kick high into the net to give Saints the lead.

A dazzling run by the goalscorer in the 57th minute then set up Connolly whose shot was blocked by a cluster of desperate defenders.

St Johnstone increased their lead in the 62nd minute when Connolly collected the ball from Sean Evers and unleashed a superb 25-yard drive which took a slight deflection to help it soar over Niemi's head and into the net.

St Johnstone controlled the rest of the match and enjoyed large spells of possession with Hearts thoroughly demoralised and their frustrated supporters becoming increasing irritated.

The mood was not helped in the final minute when Connolly broke Hearts' fragile offside trap by collecting Paul Kane's through ball before easily slotting home to seal a truly depressing day for Hearts.

Teams:

Hearts: Niemi, Pressley, James, Severin, Neilson, Fulton, Cameron (Tomaschek 58), Juanjo (Locke 64), Milne, Durie (Flogel 10), Kirk.

Subs Not Used: McKenzie, Murray.

Booked: Severin.

St Johnstone: Main, Dods, Bollan, Weir, Kernaghan, Dasovic, Kane, Sylla, Evers, Connolly, Parker (Lovenkrands 86).

Subs Not Used: Cuthbert, Hartley, McBride, McCulloch.

Goals: Parker 49 pen, Connolly 62, 89.

Att: 10,884

Ref: G Clyde (Scotland).



Taken from sportinglife.com