Kean ensures yet another Hearts failure

ST MIRREN 2 - 2 HEARTS

Kean 19, 21

Mikoliunas 1; Zaliukas 51

NO CLUB captain at the start of the game and by the end of it, his deputy was also missing. One dispatched by club officials, who have decreed him an unwanted distraction, and the latter sent off for a second yellow card with 15 minutes of the game remaining.

When Steven Pressley read out the now infamous statement from 'a number of players', he said that the return of Valdas Ivanauskas was almost irrelevant. The events of the past 48 hours have proved that whatever else the club hierarchy think of the suspended captain, he was correct in that assessment.

The Lithuanian coach was back in the technical area at Love Street yesterday but Hearts have still not won a game since October 1, and this week's veneer of unity was exposed as just that on Friday when the deposed captain was told not to bother turning up for training and suspended. So, once again off-field shenanigans overshadowed everything as the team took to the field, poor St Mirren the latest team to take a walk-on role in the kind of Hearts saga even the Eastenders scriptwriters would reject as too downbeat.

But there was evidence that Scottish and Lithuanian players can combine to produce some kind of result. The first goal came from the boot of the much-criticised Saulius Mikoliunas thanks to Edgaras Jankauskas' pass and, having witnessed another couple of class saves from Craig Gordon to keep them in contention, the second was scored by Marius Zaliukas but came from a free-kick won by Neil McCann and delivered by Paul Hartley. Talk about timing.

The Scotland midfielder had been the subject of taunts from the home crowd seconds earlier, asking him what the score was. As they were in full voice he moved to weigh up the options and skelped in a ball that his Lithuanian team-mate headed beyond Tony Bullock. The answer: 2-2. As he galloped up the sidelines in celebration, he will have taken delight in the looks on the now-silent St Mirren fans' faces.

It's not often that the Hearts players or fans get the last laugh these days though. The highs of last season are almost viewed in sepia, so distant do they seem from the reality of the current plight. And it will have come as no surprise to a support now weary of having hopes lifted and then dashed that the lead they took in the opening minutes of the match was undermined by a quick one-two from Stewart Kean.

St Mirren are a team who have already proved themselves capable of distressing the team from the capital, their 1-0 victory at Tynecastle earlier this season ample warning of their potential and they showed the mental fortitude to get themselves back into the game following the loss of that early goal.

Three minutes later they should have been back on level terms when Simon Lappin was presented a gilt-edged opportunity inside the box but ballooned his effort over the bar. A minute later it was Kean who shot on the turn but Gordon made an incredible save, diving down to get a palm to it and block. The team with the thrust at that time, they lacked a cutting edge and, while the assistant referee's flag and Gordon's goalkeeping prowess prevented him finding the back of the net, Kirk Broadfoot was still allowed to venture that far forward untracked.

Jankauskas did have another effort for Hearts but the big striker, while showing more industry than usual, was a calamity when it came to converting the chances which came his way throughout the 90 minutes.

Kean was not so profligate. The St Mirren striker was lethal in the 19th minute, peeling away from his man and leaving Ibrahim Tall flailing to restore parity. He went one better two minutes later. This time the entire Hearts defence looked in disarray as Gary Brady played the striker in and he lashed it across the face of Gordon's goal and low into the bottom corner.

The minute it hit the net, Ivanauskas, called on Zaliukas and sent him on for young Christophe Berra, who did not looked to be injured.The switch did actually help settle the side, however, with the St Mirren chances dissipating.

The Lithuanians were obviously trying to endear themselves to Hearts fans who were only recently accused of racism and Mikoliunas had another bulleted drive, blocked by Bullock and Velicka followed up but was beaten by the offside flag. Then Jankauskas had another shot but obviously thought he was offside and by the time he checked for a flag he had already dispatched an insipid effort straight at Bullock.

Just before that Hartley had sent in a corner which Tall headed goalwards, but the St Mirren keeper again spoiled the celebrations before they began.

In the second half Zaliukas almost scored with a header and Jankauskas was denied by the crossbar after that equaliser. Lappin came close three minutes after that goal but, while he found the target this time, he couldn't beat Gordon. And after that there was little give and take as both teams dug in their heels and neither found the kind of inventiveness to set them apart.

By the time the game finished, the rain was pouring down. It shouldn't have surprised anyone. Dark clouds have been gathering for a while where Hearts are concerned.

MAN OF THE MATCH: Stewart Kean: Injury may have denied him his hat-trick but he menaced the Hearts defenders while he was on the pitch and scored the goals which gave his team a valuable point.

ASIDE: Pity the poor Hearts mascot. The absence of Elvis as captain robbed him of a photo opportunity. Apparently the young lad already had a photo of himself with stand-in keeper Paul Hartley. He wasn't the only one upset. It took the travelling fans less than two minutes to give their first rendition of "only one Steven Pressley".

Taken from the Scotsman