St Mirren 1 - 3 Hearts

Scorers: St Mirren - Corcoran (78); Hearts - Driver (40), Stewart (56pen), Velicka (83)

Hearts finally climbed into the top half of the Clydesdale Bank Premier League yesterday, but their rise was accompanied by heated controversy over a fall.

Michael Stewart's winning of a second-half penalty, which he converted to put the Tynecastle side 2-0 ahead, proved a crucial moment in the match and one which incensed David van Zanten. The St Mirren right-back was adjudged by John Underhill, the referee, to have committed a foul which prompted Stewart's tumble. van Zanten, though, accused the Hearts midfielder of diving to accrue an advantage. "It was not a penalty," he said. "I can't say too much, but he basically threw himself to the ground and conned the referee."

Stewart, who finds himself the latest Hearts player confronted by such allegations after the furore which surrounded the theatrics of Saulius Mikoliunas against Scotland, claimed he was uncertain as to what had actually happened. "I would need to see it on TV to know," said Stewart. "I felt contact, although it may have been involuntary. I was just trying to get across the defender because I knew that would make it extremely difficult for him."

St Mirren's angst was compounded by having two strong appeals for spot-kicks of their own discarded by Underhill, although Gus MacPherson, the Love Street manager, declined to pin blame on the match official. Stephen Frail, Hearts assistant head coach, backed Stewart's integrity but preferred to concentrate on this being his side's fifth win from their last six matches. Andrew Driver's performance was central to the latest success and it was his goal that opened the scoring after 40 minutes.

The concession was of a type to infuriate MacPherson. Stewart's corner from the right-hand side eluded everyone to find its way to Driver beyond the far post. He was unmarked as he connected sweetly with a first-time angled drive which zipped beyond Chris Smith and into the net. It was a rare moment of attacking intent from the visitors during the opening period, in which St Mirren had looked the more threatening side without fashioning many chances of real note. The home side did, though, have the first penalty shout when Stephen O'Donnell claimed he was impeded by Eggert Jonsson inside the box.

The start of the second half brought injections of attacking impetus. Hearts withdrew Audrius Ksanavicius to introduce Calum Elliot alongside Christian Nade in attack, quickly followed by St Mirren switching to a 4-4-2 formation. Stewart Kean came off the bench after Will Haining, the centre-back, hobbled out of action with a foot injury. The alterations inspired a frantic spell of action. St Mirren slung a succession of balls into the visitors' area and had another penalty claim dismissed after Jose Goncalves appeared to handle Chris Birchall's corner.

Hearts then broke forward through Driver, who surged beyond John Potter with ease but was unable to find a finishing touch to beat Smith. St Mirren's reprieve was brief, though. A poor throw-out conceded possession and Stewart took his contentious tumble as van Zanten tried to close him down. The Love Street defender was outraged, yet that had little effect on Stewart as he calmly spotted the ball and thrashed it beyond Smith to double Hearts' advantage after 56 minutes.

The most intriguing element of the Tynecastle line-up was the debut appearance of Anthony Basso. A former Auxerre goalkeeper, Basso was signed shortly before the transfer deadline and was drafted in after Steve Banks fell victim to a sickness bug. Hearts supporters will, though, wish Banks a speedy recovery as first sightings of Basso inspired zero confidence. He must have fooled the mysterious "black box" that, according to Craig Gordon in a Sunday newspaper interview, was a favourite tool of Vladimir Romanov's for deciding upon selection. St Mirren found Basso to be a helpful accomplice in their drive for retribution. He flapped perilously at a couple of crosses and also earned a rollicking from Frail after attempting to dribble past Kean. Then, after 77 minutes, the Frenchman got nowhere near Birchall's whipped delivery and Mark Corcoran, on as a substitute, headed his side back into contention.

A salvaged point appeared to beckon, but St Mirren were finally undone with seven minutes remaining. Andrius Velicka had just replaced Nade and his first task was to sprint after a through-ball from Driver. The Lithuanian homed in on goal and scored with a toe-poke that squeezed between Smith and his near post.

St Mirren (4-5-1): Smith; van Zanten, Haining (Kean 47), Potter, McCay; Birchall, Mason, Murray, O'Donnell (Corcoran 58), Miranda; Mehmet (McGinn 68) Substitutes: Howard, Brittain, Brady, Docherty
Hearts (4-4-1-1): Basso; Neilson, Berra, Tall, Goncalves; Kingston, Stewart (Zaliukas 89), Jonsson, Driver; Ksanavicius (Elliot 46); Nade (Velicka 82). Substitutes: Kurskis, Palazeulos, Kancelskis, Ivaskevicius
Referee John Underhill

Taken from the Herald