Bullock’s masterclass stops Hearts

Hearts 0 / St Mirren 1
Stewart Fisher at Tynecastle

VLADIMIR Romanov may admit to picking the team these days but there remain other variables that he cannot control.

A combination of some astonishing goalkeeping from Tony Bullock, at least one crucial and controversial intervention from referee Dougie McDonald, and a late Stewart Kean finish condemned Hearts to a rare and demoralising home defeat.

The red mist descending to the extent that Roman Bednar was sent off on the way up the tunnel for foul and abusive language towards the match official.

The Czech player was still incensed after a first-half incident which saw him denied a penalty when Kirk Broadfoot appeared to tug on his shirt.

Craig Gordon revealed his team-mates were so annoyed about that and a dubious booking that Saulius Mikoliunas picked up for an alleged dive that there was a hint of anarchy in the air at half time.

“I thought we had a few shouts,” the Scotland goalkeeper said afterwards.

“We could have had a penalty on another day but sometimes you have to take these decisions.

“The two in the first half the boys were very disappointed with. Maybe if big Elvis [Steven Pressley] was Inzamam-ul-Haq we wouldn’t have come out for the second half.”

But the goalkeeper’s honours yesterday belonged to Bullock. Two first-half saves, first from a Mikoliunas close-range snap shot, and then from Christophe Berra’s point- blank header, will be hard to better all season long.

Bullock more than justified Gus MacPherson’s decision to reinstate him after the Englishman had started the season playing second fiddle to youngster Chris Smith.

The result moves St Mirren level on points with their hosts in third place in the SPL table after six games of the season. “A lot of people said that we would struggle and that may still pan out to be the case,” MacPherson said.

“But we have an honest group of players who work hard and are conscientious.”

Romanov had appeared in the morning papers admitting to the worst kept secret in Scottish football, that he had picked the Hearts team in the past and will do so again in the future.

As if to illustrate the, at times, apparently random nature of his selection policy, the team showed five changes from the side which beat Inverness Caley Thistle 4-1.

There was a start up front for youngster Jamie Mole, although Mauricio Pinilla’s prize for a goal on his debut was a place among the substitutes.

The Chilean international impressed when he finally came off the bench, and who knows what Calum Elliot – now banished to Motherwell on loan in order to get experience only for another, even less experienced, striker to take his place – thought of it all.

Pressley received an award for becoming the most capped Hearts player of all time, capping a build-up of typical Tynecastle razzmatazz, on the kind of baking hot day which made St Mirren’s black change strip an unfortunate choice of apparel.

Nonetheless, the Saints had already won at Inverness, and hardly been disgraced at Celtic Park on their travels, and they started here with some vigour.

Garry Brady fresh-aired a shot from a decent position, then passed up on another shooting chance from a similar area, before Kean almost embarrassed Gordon as a complacent looking Hearts team struggled to find their rhythm.

Still, the first lesson in the Bullock masterclass only took quarter of an hour to arrive. Mikoliunas latched onto Bednar’s flick only for Bullock to dive full length to defy him from close range, then from the resultant corner he was alert enough to tip over Pressley’s back post header.

Three bookings in three minutes just before the half hour was a sign of the game coming to life and, within minutes, St Mirren had carved out a great chance of their own.

Excellent work down the left by Simon Lappin and Brady led to a close-range, swivelling volley from Kean which Gordon saved well.

Bullock’s best was yet to come, somehow defying a Christophe Berra header from point-blank range after Pressley had swung over a perfect delivery from the right. Minutes earlier, John Potter had cleared a finish from the Czech striker off the line.

St Mirren put on the industrious Craig Molloy for the injured Potter at half time, dropping Millen back into the sweeper’s role, although there was little change in the pattern of the game.

Bullock dived to his left to defy a Hartley free-kick, before Pinilla misconnected with an ambitious overhead effort with his first touch, before another turn and rasping shot produced another great save from Bullock, this time diving full length to tip it round his bottom right-hand post.

Still it was not entirely unexpected when the goal came at the other end. Early warnings had arrived when first Gordon looked ungainly when clutching Lappin’s volley, then Sutton’s header flew narrowly wide.

When the goal arrived, Sutton even had the luxury of two runners down the right before opting for a clever ball through to Molloy. The youngster slapped in a shot which Gordon could only parry, and Kean slid in to knock the ball into the net.

There was still time for Pinilla, Bednar and Fyssas to miss chances for an equaliser, and Robbie Neilson to hurl in some of those long throws.

But St Mirren were in no mood to throw their hard-earned advantage away.

Taken from the Sunday Herald