Saulius Mikoliunas is cast as villain

If Saulius Mikoliunas is looking to win any popularity contests this year then he is going about it the wrong way. His previous misdemeanours with Lithuania have hardly endeared the Heart of Midlothian midfield player to the Scottish public after his dive won his country a penalty kick in the European Championship qualifier at Hampden Park back in September.

Not content with this, on Saturday he proceeded to kick – admittedly, accidentally – John Potter, the St Mirren centre-back, in the head with such force that the defender was carried from the field unconscious.

These earlier incidents would normally be sufficient to secure his role as a target for the opposition supporters. Adding an equaliser, against the run of play, with only three minutes remaining, simply rubberstamped his place as Public Enemy No 1.

With his dated mullet, little-boy- lost smile and timid, shy voice, Mikoliunas is far removed off the field from the tigerish, aggressive winger who too often oversteps the mark. However, there remains few players in the Scottish game who seem to revel in getting jeered before the game even kicks off.

Stevie Frail, the Hearts caretaker manager, admitted several of his players, notably Mikoliunas, have an image problem with opposition fans. “I’m delighted for him because he has needed broad shoulders to handle the abuse and has kept chipping away,” Frail said. “Every time he goes down people think he dives yet in recent games the tackles against him have been pretty crude. Some players go down easily and not a lot is said, yet as soon as one of my players goes down, especially the Lithuanians, everyone calls them cheats.” Kicking people in the head, accidentally or not, and scoring late equalisers is hardly going to help your public profile.

Potter will not be the only St Mirren player today suffering from headaches after a sleepless night. Quite how they failed to win this game is a mystery, especially after a second period in which they dominated proceedings.

Jim Hamilton, the St Mirren striker, scored his first goal for the club since his move from Dunfermline Athletic in late January. His 58th-minute powerful strike coming after a knockdown from his strike partner, Craig Dargo. Normally goals against former clubs are sweeter than most, but since Hamilton has played for nine other teams before turning up in Paisley then it is hardly a moment he will cut out for his scrapbook.

If only Dargo could have done likewise then Mikoliunas may have escaped another day of wrath. Dargo has yet to score in 12 matches since his move from Inverness Caledonian Thistle in the summer. He passed up several chances, as did Andy Dorman, the St Mirren midfield player, which should have secured all three points. Dorman hit the post with a half-volley and then shot across goal late on.

Gretna’s demise all but ensures they will be relegated from the Clydesdale Bank Premier League this season. It means the pressure should now be off the likes of St Mirren, who can now entertain and blood youngsters.

Next up is St Johnstone at home tomorrow night in their Scottish Cup quarter-final replay. It will be the final cup match to be played at St Mirren’s current ground before they move to a new stadium in nearby Greenhill Road in Ferguslie Park.

“I had a couple of chances and I would have liked to have taken one of them,” Dorman said. “Hammy took his goal well and gave us a chance to win but Hearts got one. We had chances to get a second goal. We are disappointed not to take three points.

“There wasn’t relief about the relegation issue getting sorted as it was all just talk. We didn’t know what was going to happen. We just concentrated on the football. We were confident we would stay up, anyway. It would have made it a lot more interesting for the fans and everyone else, but I wouldn’t say it was a relief for us.”

Gus MacPherson, the St Mirren manager, hopes to have Potter available for tomorrow night. Will Haining, the centre-back, is also in contention after a back problem.

Dargo could not pick a better time to break his scoring duck than against their rival Saints. “Dargo played well again, he was very creative. I can’t tell you a better playmaker right now. He’s created the last three goals we have scored,” MacPherson said. Even without scoring Dargo still earns praise and plaudits. Mikoliunas could do with the number of his PR.

St Mirren (3-5-2): C Smith 6 – D van Zanten 7, J Potter 5 (sub: A Millen, 29min 6), I Maxwell 7 – D Barron 6, G Mason 6, A Dorman 8, S McGinn 6 (sub: H Murray, 77), F Miranda 6 – J Hamilton 7, C Dargo 7 (sub: B Mehmet 83).
Substitutes not used: M Howard, S Kean, M Corcoran, M Docherty.
Booked: McGinn, Miranda, Smith.

Heart of Midlothian (4-4-2): S Banks 6 – R Neilson 6, C Berra 7, R Palazuelos 6, L Wallace 6 – S Mikoliunas 7, E Jonsson 6 (sub: M Stewart, 58 4), C Karipidis 6, A Driver 5 (sub: D Cesnauskis, 39 5) – C Elliot 6, J Mole 5 (sub: R Beniusis, 67, 4).Substitutes not used: A Basso, M Zaliukas, A Ksanavicius, J Thomson.

Taken from timesonline.co.uk