St Mirren 2-2 Hearts

Yes we're all worried about the way our club is being run and most of us are unhappy at the way that our captain appears to be getting an exceptionally raw deal. But to be perfectly honest, the vast majority of us just go to watch Hearts playing in football matches and despite the disappointment of not winning at Love Street and the various frustrations that arose from the match, if the entertainment level in the coming weeks can match this game then I don't think many of us will complain too much.

You can't exactly say that the game was technically a thing of beauty or that Hearts look set to become a force again a la George Burley's team from last season. But from a purely edge-of-the-seat, can't-take-your-eyes-off-the-game point of view, it was top entertainment.

Valdas Ivanauskas' team lined up with a slightly more conventional look to it after the nonsense of the Malofeev reign, but I was still disappointed that Brellier was once again dropped. I felt that having played the last three games back-to-back, the Frenchman would now be approaching full match fitness, so the decision to drop him annoyed me, although at least it was Aguiar who played in there and not Tall or Zaliukas!

Another thing that annoyed most of us was the position that Paul Hartley appeared to be deployed in. It seemed that in the midfield four of McCann, Hartley, Aguiar and Mikoliunas, Hartley was being asked to play in the holding role, while Aguiar played further forward. This was a sad waste of Hartley's main attributes and stifled Hearts' attacking play for much of the afternoon.

That said though, Hearts started the match in the most dramatic fashion I can ever remember. After what I'm told was 17 seconds of play, they were 1-0 up! I think it has to be the quickest Hearts goal I've ever witnessed, but if I'm forgetting a quicker one then please post a comment telling us when and where it was.

The goal was beautifully crafted. A move down the left involving good play from Fyssas, Velicka and Jankauskas, ended with the latter playing a lovely through ball for Mikoliunas to ghost in behind the defence and prod the ball past the onrushing Tony Bullock. 1-0 and much of the large travelling support was still in the pie queue!

Hearts looked dangerous any time they went forward, but unfortunately so did St Mirren and they quickly took a grip on the game. Within a few minutes they had carved open a dodgy-looking Hearts defence and Hugh Murray blasted wildly over the bar when it looked easier to score from a completely unmarked position just outside the six yard area.

Craig Gordon then made an absolutely fabulous save from Stewart Kean, who wriggled free in the box and fired a shot low towards the corner that had 'goal' written all over it. But once again Gordon made an inprobable save, getting quickly down to push it away.

The equaliser was coming though and unsurprisingly it was the dangerous Kean who did the damage. From a questionable free-kick, John Sutton held off the Hearts defence a la his brother and set it up for Kean, who planted the ball high into the top corner past the helpless Gordon from close range. A deserved equaliser.

Saints weren't finished there. They continued to pull the shaky Hearts defence all over the place in those early stages and they soon had the lead. A fine sweeping move eventually saw Brady supplying Kean again and he fired a great shot low across Gordon and into the far right hand corner of the net. The away support was now fearing the worst.

The Hearts defence was clearly struggling and Ivanauskas immediately substituted Christophe Berra with Marius Zaliukas, which turned out to be a sound decision. I hope now, that Berra is at long last given a break from the first team. The lad has been asked to play in every match this season and for me has been given far too much responsibility for a guy of his limited experience.

Hearts slowly managed to steady the ship and got back into the game. Mikoliunas, looking far more comfortable away from the Tynecastle crowd, burst through the middle and rasped a shot at Bullock from 25 yards, which the St Mirren goalie could only parry back out. Velicka responded quickly and buried the rebound, but the offside flag went up as soon as the striker had become 'active'. This decision was a heated topic for discussion at half-time, but we couldn't possibly tell if it was correct from our position behind the goal. I suspect it probably was.

Bullock was in the action again a few minutes later when Tall met a Hartley corner perfectly to bullet in a header that was unfortunately too close to the 'keeper, whose handling was nonetheless very safe.

Just before half-time Hearts should have been level when the ball was played to the lethargic-looking Jankauskas ten yards out from goal. He had the goal at his mercy, but his effort was rather lazy and far too close to the 'keeper, who saved easily. The fans were not slow in letting Jankauskas know what they thought of his effort.

Half-time 2-1.

The second half was pretty much dominated by Hearts for the most part. St Mirren appeared to be quite happy to sit in and allow the visitors a lot of possession, a ploy that ultimately backfired on them.

I felt that Hearts generally played some nice stuff, displaying a lot of good ball retention and looking dangerous when they got the ball to the forwards.

Neil McCann in particular was causing problems and his lack of protection from referee Richmond was one of many things to annoy the Hearts support about the man in black's performance. The St Mirren players were given a free reign to kick and shove McCann whenever they liked without punishment, particularly those who had already been booked.

However from one free-kick that WAS given for a foul on McCann (one that should have resulted in a red card), Hearts got the equaliser. Hartley fired the ball over and Zaliukas, who had been excellent at the back in place of Berra, nipped in front of Bullock to head into the net. 2-2 and the points were surely now there for the taking.

Sadly however, Charlie Richmond nipped any chance Hearts had of three points in the bud with his performance in the last half hour of the match.

I appreciate that I am biased and look at these games from a Hearts point of view, but even after having had time to reflect on some of what I witnessed from Richmond in that second half, I am at a loss to explain how he could possibly favour one side so much.

I've already mentioned the over-zealous treatment of McCann, which involved several players who had already beeb booked going through him with tackles from the back. Indeed one player had a swing at McCann and Richmond clearly went for his red card. But McCann then reacted to the attempted punch and when the ref saw this, he changed his mind and made it a yellow. Why I wonder?

Then, almost predictably, Richmond's inconsistency was complete when he sent off Paul Hartley after 71 minutes. Now, people might say that Hartley had been mouthing off all afternoon about this, that and the other. They may have been right, he's that sort of guy, but Richmond seemed to me to be trying to bait Hartley instead of calm him down all afternoon. I saw him playing the 'I'm in charge, you're just a little player' arrogant imbecile card too many times and I'm afraid that just winds people up. Hugh Dallas used to do exactly the same to Neil McCann when he was a Hearts player a few years ago. I think it's unacceptable - referees to be trying to encourage a good clean game than to try and give themselves a reason to send players off. Dare I say that some of these guys are just on a power trip? Would that be fair?

Hartley's second yellow card came when he barely caught a St Mirren player in the centre of the park. It was the most innocuous infringement of a game littered with bad challenges, but Richmond could not wait to get the red card out. I wonder why his treatment of the St Mirren players was so lenient by comparison. You'd have to ask him I suppose.

After the sending off the remainder of the match was played with a very bad taste in the mouth. You got the impression that someone else might walk but somehow we got to the end with the remaining 21 players still on the park, despite some savage tackling.

The match ended 2-2, which was a result that I can't imagine either side would have been content with. However we should perhaps try to take what positives we can from the game.

Hearts played well at Love Street, especially once Berra was subbed. Some of the football was excellent and with perhaps one of two exceptions out there, they really seemed to want to win the game.

On the downside, that's now nine games we've gone without a win and it's about time that situation was rectified. I have a feeling though, that if this sort of performance can be reproduced in the coming weeks and we get a settled defence, then it will happen sooner rather than later.
Star Player
Quite a few good performances, but I particularly enjoyed the composed display of Takis Fyssas, who looked far more like the player he was last season. Encouraging.
Player Ratings
Gordon 7
No chance with either goal. Made two wonderful saves once again.
Neilson 5
Did not have his most comfortable afternoon.
Fyssas 8
Wonderfully composed amid the frantic pace elsewhere on the park. Some nice link-ups with McCann and the strikers.
Berra 2
Pulled all over the place by Sutton and Kean before being subbed.
Tall 4
Struggled alongside Berra and even afterwards, still never looked completely convincing.
Aguiar 5
Anonymous for long spells, but did come into it a bit more in the latter stages. Very unlucky to be booked at the end when he clearly pulled out of a challenge.
Hartley 5
Appeared to be deployed in defensive midfield position which stifled his forward play. Always looking for an opening but was rarely in the best position to attack. Victim of a shocking red card decision.
McCann 7
Looked dangerous, particularly in the second half when all St Mirren could do was foul him.
Mikoliunas 6
Had a very good first half, where he scored and linked up well with the forwards. Faded after the break though.
Jankauskas 5
Did show the occasional sublime touch and always holds the ball up well. However his finishing was poor from great positions and he never appears to put the effort in that he should.
Velicka 7
Just couldn't quite find the right pass in the first half, but improved after the break and was always dangerous throughout. Really works hard from start to finish.
Zaliukas 7
Looked excellent at the back when he came on for Berra.

Pospisil 4
Not on for long enough to make an impact, but encouragingly looked hungry and sharp.