St Mirren 1-1 Hearts

Euan Mclean At Love Street

WORRIED Saulius Mikoliunas says he was too shaken to concentrate on his game after a horror collision left John Potter out cold and covered in blood.

The Hearts winger put fears for the stricken Saint aside to grab a late equaliser but after the game all he could think about was Potter who was taken to hospital to be monitored.

The horror of Phil O'Donnell's tragic death on the Fir Park pitch in December is still clear in the thoughts of the Motherwell skipper's SPL peers.

And Mikoliunas admitted he'd seriously hurt Potter when he kicked him in the face while attempting an overhead kick.

He said: "I am so sorry for the player and apologise again to him. I just didn't see him.

"I was worried it was really serious because he was bleeding and we have already seen some terrible things on a pitch this year.

"I was in shock after it happened. I felt shaken for a while and couldn't concentrate properly. But I was able to put it behind me and was pleased to score because it was an important goal."

The sound of the Lithuanian's boot smacking into Potter's face could be clearly heard around the stadium and the collective gasp from the 4557 crowd was equally audible. After lengthy treatment on the pitch the bloodied defender regained consciousness and was stretchered off to be replaced by Andy Millen.

That setback seemed to take the wind out of St Mirren's sails and keeper Chris Smith suddenly had to save his side after Andrew Driver scampered past the veteran sub to go clear on goal.

Within seconds Smith was called into action again, throwing himself to his bottom left corner to hold a meaty header by Christos Karipidis.

Jambos then lost limping Driver who was replaced six minutes before the break by Deividas Cesnauskis.

Scotland Under-21 keeper Smith was fast becoming a key man for the home side and pulled off another good save seconds after the restart, tipping over Calum Elliot's crisp effort after Jamie Mole had cut inside to tee him up.

Stephen McGinn copped a booking for fouling Mikoliunas and Hearts swapped Eggert Jonsson for Michael Stewart before the game turned St Mirren's way in 58 minutes.

Ian Maxwell's long free-kick towards Craig Dargo was cleverly headed back by the pint-sized striker into the path of Jim Hamilton who smashed his first goal for the club high into the net from eight yards.

And it should have been two 10 minutes later.

The impressive Andy Dorman worked a one-two with Dargo to dash into the box and send a low shot raking across keeper Steve Banks and off the far post. Franco Miranda was booked for a foul on Stewart in 71 minutes before both bosses shuffled their packs.

Ricardas Beniusis replaced Mole and St Mirren's McGinn made way for Hugh Murray before another good display by Dargo ended seven minutes early with Billy Mehmet taking over.

Just when it looked like the game was fizzling out Hearts snatched the equaliser four minutes from time.

A Cesnauskis corner wasn't cleared properly and as it broke to Mikoliunas 18 yards out he took a step inside to curl a lovely finish inside Smith's right post.

Suddenly all hell was breaking loose as shocked St Mirren tried to hit back. And in the dying seconds both Dorman and Mehmet missed the target with good chances as Hearts held out for an unlikely draw.

REF WATCH

WILLIE COLLUM baffled the home fans by booking Chris Smith and letting Ricardas Beniusis off for a bad tackle on Andy Millen that infuriated the keeper. Kept a lid on things overall. Rating: 5/10.

MATCH FACTS

SHOTS ON 3

SHOTS OFF 8

OFFSIDE 3

FOULS 14

CORNERS 3

BOOKINGS 3

SHOTS ON 3

SHOTS OFF 9

OFFSIDE 1

FOULS 16

CORNERS 7

BOOKINGS 0

Taken from the Sunday Mail