Revenge is sweet for St Mirren

Jonsson 78

St Mirren 1

Dorman 90
ANYONE who wondered whether there was residual resentment borne of Hearts' unwillingness to move this match back 24 hours, need only have witnessed the St Mirren celebrations when Andy Dorman popped up in stoppage time to give the visitors a share of the points. Make no bones about it, this was a grudge match. Chairman Stewart Gilmour chose not to go into the boardroom, snubbing it instead for a seat amongst the away fans, and the atmosphere in the technical areas was far from friendly – while on the pitch there were eight bookings.

With 76 minutes on the clock, Eggert Jonsson popped up with his second goal of the season and just like his first, back in November, it looked like it would be enough to give Hearts a 1-0 victory over St Mirren. But this time the opposition were not done.

Less than 48 hours after they had tied things up in the Scottish Cup replay against Motherwell, they perhaps should have been, especially as Hearts had tried to play the match at a high tempo in a bid to drain their guests' already depleted energy reserves. But to Hearts' despair they were still able to find enough in the tank to breach their hosts' latest makeshift defence.

With Marius Zaliukas still out suspended and Hristos Karipidis unavailable due to a virus, Robbie Neilson was drafted into the heart of the back four, alongside Jonsson and while they had looked comfortable enough for most of the match, they were unable to keep the clean sheet.

With the match eating its way through stoppage time, Jack Ross played a free-kick into the box and after a nod on it was Andy Dorman who managed to stab out a boot and play the ball into Janos Balogh's net.

That made it 1-1 the celebrations began. It was a draw which St Mirren seemed to have been happy to settle for throughout most of the second half. Even their manager Gus MacPherson admitted that they had been a tad negative, willing to negate the Hearts attacks without putting too great an onus on carving out a winner.

In the first half Hearts had come close to breaking the deadlock but Jonsson had his close-range effort denied by the post and then Bruno Aguiar's long-range strike shaved just over the bar.

Yet for all the possession Hearts had, they were unable to penetrate. It began to try the patience of the home fans who grew more and more narked the longer the game went on.

They weren't the only ones. There were several verbal spats between the technical areas which rumbled on until after the final whistle and the police had to intervene at one point when a Hearts fan and MacPherson exchanged words before the interval.

Part of that was a dispute about play being stopped for head injuries, with Gary Glen down. The fact he was unable to continue after the break suggested the referee's concerns had been justified, though. He was replaced by Laryea Kingston who pulled up six minutes later with a hamstring injury.

Most of the rumbles after the break were more to do with the lack of creative flair. Having tried to run the legs off the Paisley outfit in the opening 45 minutes, the home side were unable to see out the gameplan and kill them off in the second half. They dominated possession but even when they managed to play the ball in behind the stubborn St Mirren rearguard there was no-one able to find the target. It was an impotent period. Until Jonsson stuck his foot out and forced St Mirren to come out looking for an equaliser.

The fact they eventually found it enraged the home manager, who felt his side had not learned from past mistakes and seen the game out but he was also disappointed in the profligacy of Saulius Mikoliunas, who should have taken an extra touch when he found himself in space in front of goal courtesy of an Obua cross.

A moment of composure and he would have made it two-nil and put the match out of sight but he sclaffed his first-time shot high and wide and earned himself an earwagging from his gaffer in the dressing room.

It was two points squandered by Hearts but a point well and truly earned by a resilient St Mirren side playing their third game in seven days.

OVERVIEW

MAN OF THE MATCH

Eggert Jonsson, Robbie Neilson and Jack Ross were all contenders but goalscorer Andy Dorman summed up the spirit and stamina of the St Mirren side.

QUICK FACT

Hearts are unbeaten in their last eight games at Tynecastle, while St Mirren have yet to record a league win in 2009.

TALKING POINT

The fact that the Hearts hierarchy had refused to postpone the match and forced St Mirren to play their second match in less than 48 hours.

Taken from the Scotsman