Still missing a beat

IN A sensational development last night, referee Dougie McDonald admitted accepting a bribe to ensure Hearts only drew with St Mirren. This confirmed that the loss of two points had absolutely nothing to do with the home side's scintillating performance, which was of Champions League standard.

The above paragraph has about as much basis in reality as Hearts' owner Vladimir Romanov's alleged rant about corruption in Scottish football. For the majority of those living on this planet, the honesty of Dougie McDonald is plain to see. But why let the facts get in the way of another dismal Hearts display?

Watched by the brooding owner on a rare visit to Scotland, Hearts fell a goal behind to the 11th placed club in the SPL and were grateful to a second-half Laryea Kingston equaliser to avoid complete humiliation.

As he sat alone with his thoughts after McDonald, clutching a bulging brown bag, blew the final whistle, Romanov may have pondered that St Mirren's annual wage bill is less than a 10th of what he pays his own absurdly bloated squad. No wonder he had 10million reasons to feel deflated.

With his popularity plummeting and notoriety rising, Romanov left it to the last moment before taking his seat in the stand. He may or may not have heard a song by the Monkees being played over the tannoy, another oh-so-funny dig at the media, who he regards as inhabiting the safari park. We'll see who has the last laugh.

Predictably, as it was his first attendance at Tynecastle since October, Romanov threw a sop to the supporters by restoring Craig Gordon to the side at the expense of Steve Banks. And although there were five changes from the previous match, against Inverness Caledonian Thistle, by a strange coincidence he selected one of the more predictable Hearts line-ups.

How long this game of Championship Manager can continue is open to debate, but with Aberdeen having earlier lost to Celtic a great opportunity to move into third place was lost by Hearts. They had the better of the game, but unlike the previous Saturday there was no late winner to numb the pain of another depressing performance.

The 4-5-1 formation deployed by Gus McPherson, with Stewart Kean on his own up front, was clearly designed to frustrate Hearts. But that depended on the visitors being aware and alert - they were anything but in the opening minutes.

Encouraged by the crowd, who remain behind the team if not the owner, Hearts' start was lively as St Mirren continued to snooze in the welcome warm sunshine. Andrius Velicka fired in a terrific 30-yard shot in the ninth minute, which forced Chris Smith to make a desperate save.

The duel continued two minutes later, but this time the striker shot tamely into Smith's hands as the home side pressed for the opener. The goal duly arrived - but to the consternation of the home support, and against the run of play, it was St Mirren who went ahead.

It was a poor goal to lose from a Hearts perspective. Kean threaded the ball into the box and found Stephen O'Donnell, who had made a forward run without the inconvenience of being tracked by a marker. Left in glorious isolation, he belted the ball past Gordon.

Not a happy return for the Scotland goalkeeper, who viewed large swathes of this match as a spectator, but although Hearts continued to enjoy the bulk of the possession they were woefully lacking in creativity.

Velicka again came close with a flashing header, and on a different day might have had a first half hat-trick, but nobody else in the home side displayed any cutting edge. This was best exemplified by new recruit Kingston, who has assumed Paul Hartley's role. The little midfielder is a neat and tidy player with a decent pass, but entrusted with the numerous free kicks awarded to his side within 25 yards of goal, his first half deliveries lacked the pace and devilry which were the hallmark of his predecessor.

Hearts also miss Hartley's surging energy, but even so should have found an equaliser in the opening 45 minutes. Michal Pospisil and Marius Zaliukas both headed over the bar, but the best chance of all fell to Velicka, who scooped the ball over the bar from only eight yards.

The Lithuanian failed to reappear for the second half, with Calum Elliot taking over. But although Ibrahim Tall had an opportunity with a header, St Mirren enjoyed their best phase of the match in the opening minutes of the second period and gave the Hearts defence some anxious moments. O'Donnell's volley from an Ian Maxwell throw-in was the pick of their efforts, but it was directed straight at Gordon.

Valdas Ivanauskas isn't renowned for the astuteness of his substitutions, but on the hour mark he made a sensible one. It was possibly a crowd-pleasing decision, but Julien Brellier's introduction for Takis Fyssas allowed Hearts to play three at the back, with the Frenchman beefing up the midfield.

The equaliser followed eight minutes later, and was surprising given it was the umpteenth time Kingston had been given a free kick opportunity. This time, instead of sending it sailing harmlessly into the St Mirren penalty box, the Ghanian hit the ball with precision into Smith's right hand corner.

"The goalkeeper probably expected it to go over the wall and into the other corner," McPherson observed later. Whatever, it was a peach.

While the goal encouraged Hearts, it hardly invigorated the home side. A more confident team would have closed in for the kill, but time and again the visitors were allowed to hump the ball away to safety. Another Kingston free kick, from an almost identical position as the one which brought the equaliser, was again dispatched into the box but Pospisil just failed to get the touch which would have given his side a scarcely deserved win.

Taken from the Sunday Herald