No love lost as Jambos begin to get on a roll

St Mirren 1 - 3 Hearts
PENALTIES or no penalties, Hearts prised three imperative points from Love Street yesterday to lift themselves into the upper half of the SPL. Stephen Frail didn't employ the phrase "win ugly" afterwards, but it wouldn't be entirely inaccurate to describe the victory as such.

Points are currently akin to golden tickets for the Tynecastle side as they attempt to propel themselves into a challenging league position.

Taking three from Paisley was as invigorating as losing three at Inverness had been deflating. Whisper it, but Hearts might just be on a roll now with five wins from their last six outings.

Although the goal and overall performance of winger Andy Driver decorated proceedings at times, this was often an untidy affair peppered with some inconsistent refereeing from John Underhill that left St Mirren manager Gus MacPherson and his players visibly irate come full-time.

The home side believed they were denied a blatant first-half penalty when Stephen O'Donnell fell under the challenge of Hearts' Eggert Jonsson, and they cursed the 56th-minute award to Michael Stewart after David van Zanten's challenge. There was also a handball claim against Jose Goncalves in the second half despite the obvious lack of intent on the part of the defender.

Meanwhile, Hearts cared not an iota. The adage that refereeing decisions will balance out over the course of a campaign might not be frequently indulged by Vladimir Romanov, but yesterday proved that Hearts will indeed win some as often as they lose some.

Frail's thoughts summed up the visitors' point of view perfectly. "From where I was, ours was a penalty. Whether or not theirs was is not for me to comment on. I'm just delighted to take three points from a very difficult place," he said.

Others, however, were not so content to let things lie, and Van Zanten took the dangerous step of accusing Stewart of diving before scoring his side's second goal from the spot.

"Not a penalty," said the full-back. "I can't say too much but he's conned the referee. It's disappointing. We were still in with a shout at 1-0 down and to lose a goal like that was very disappointing."

MacPherson was in a similar frame of mind. "It's so difficult to comment because when we [managers] try to help people to understand we just get into trouble. We're not allowed to make any remarks.

"We can have a chat, get explanations. We got some strange explanations during the game but that's just something we've got to contend with.

"The disappointing thing is: we're the only team who had somebody booked for diving. There were certainly a lot more antics going on and we all know that's just part of the foreigners' game."

MacPherson appeared to be alluding to others in maroon rather than Stewart, but the midfielder gave his own explanation of events, saying: "I just tried to get across him [Van Zanten]. I felt there was contact and it would have been completely involuntary.

"I wasn't deliberately trying to fall down I was just trying to get across him and when you do that sometimes the legs can get tangled without there being any intention to do so."

Ultimately, both the penalty denied O'Donnell and the one granted Stewart fell into the "seen them given" category. So were St Mirren the victims of sheer misfortune? Possibly, but credit must be due to their visitors for rolling the sleeves up and proving that some foreigners - Ibrahim Tall and Eggert Jonsson just two examples - can scratch and battle their way through 90 minutes as well as any Scot when required.

Hearts endured a nervous first half before Driver lashed in the opener following Stewart's corner. The midfielder's penalty after the interval appeared definitive at the time, but sudden agitation on the part of debutant goalkeeper Anthony Basso afforded St Mirren new hope and substitute Marc Corcoran headed his side back into the game.

Dribbling out of the penalty area and almost losing possession and then flapping like a monkey at crosses isn't the best way to endear yourself to a new set of supporters. Those who had journeyed from Edinburgh were beginning to pray for the swift return of Steve Banks from illness when Andrius Velicka climbed off the bench to devastating effect with a third goal. "That was the sucker punch," said Van Zanten. "It came just after our goal and it really killed us." Frail had berated Basso during the game for placing managerial hearts in mouths and reiterated his point in the dressing-room at the end. "It's important not to drag everyone down after such a good win," said the assistant coach.

"We never beat St Mirren last season but it's important to pick up on mistakes.

"I told Anthony after the game I'd rather he cleared it into the stand and then we could've defended the throw-in. I felt they latched on to that uncertainty and soon after there was a goal.

"It was probably a nervous thing. We did well to be 2-0 up and then you see signs of it when Anthony mucked about with the pass back. It wasn't a great ball from Ibrahim Tall but Anthony should've dealt with it. That gave them a bit of hope and within five or ten minutes they got the goal back when Anthony came out to collect the cross and didn't get there.

"I was delighted with the spirit and the way we hung in and eventually got the third goal. That's five wins out of six now and we want to keep looking in front of us and build on that run. I think we can do so. We know we need to keep churning out results.

"We know we can reach the level of performance we did against Rangers, but the Old Firm are at the top of the league because they churn out results week in, week out.

"That's what we need to try and do. It's no use doing it against them if you can't do it against the teams round about you or below you in the league."

Whereas in Inverness Hearts received criticism for their substitutions, the introduction of Velicka proved to be a masterstroke yesterday as the Lithuanian struck the decisive third just 28 seconds after replacing Christian Nade.

"We looked at Christian and he was indicating he was okay, but we just felt we had to pressurise them at the back," explained Frail.

"With fresh legs we could look to get the ball over the top at times with Andrius, which takes the pressure off us.

"You also have the other possibility where he could pop up and get a goal, which is exactly what he did. It was a well-timed pass from Andy Driver and a good finish.

"We believe we have good players who can make an impact like that. I said last week after Inverness we should have shut up shop and came away with 1-0.

"I said at half-time yesterday that if we finished 1-0 I'd have settled for it. It wasn't a great game or a great performance, but it's a great three points."

Taken from the Scotsman