Andy Dorman arrives late to gain measure of revenge against Hearts

As all around him burst into delirious applause, a wry smile may just have broken out on the face of Stewart Gilmour, the St Mirren chairman, after Andy Dorman’s injury-time equaliser denied Heart of Midlothian what would have been a deserved victory.

Gilmour, who chose to sit among the away fans at Tynecastle rather than in the executive box, had openly expressed his disappointment at the Tynecastle club’s ardent refusal – 12 days ago – to switch the match to Sunday and, thus, allow St Mirren reasonable preparation time after their Homecoming Scottish Cup tie with Motherwell on Thursday.

With four-and-a-half hours of football behind them in the space of a week, and having conceded the opening goal 14 minutes from time after having absorbed sustained Hearts pressure for most of the match, St Mirren’s wearied playing staff would have been forgiven for surrendering the points. Perhaps, however, the sense of injustice outweighed mere physical exhaustion and St Mirren mustered one final push and were rewarded.

“I don’t want to say too much about it [the Tynecastle club’s refusal to delay the match until Sunday],” Jim Hamilton, the St Mirren and former Hearts striker, said. “It’s something we just had to get on with. It’s not particularly nice to play two big games in 48 hours and maybe they would have been even happier if we had gone to extra-time on Thursday night. Hearts probably expected us to tire near the end, but we got even stronger and that shows our mental strength and how much we wanted to take something from the game.”

But would they have shown the same overpowering desire in similar circumstances 24 hours later, had Hearts agreed to their initial request? Maybe not; maybe Csaba Laszlo’s side would have clinched the victory and consolidated third place in the Clydesdale Bank Premier League.

“We could have used it as an excuse for losing,” Hamilton said. “But, with the mental strength we have in this team, I don’t think there was any chance of that happening.”

Had Hearts held on to clinch victory, they would have been sitting four points clear in third spot, following fourth-placed Dundee United’s 2-2 draw with Aberdeen.

Despite the missed opportunity, however, Saulius Mikoliunas, the midfield player, is adamant Hearts will prove the country’s top club, outwith the Old Firm, and clinch a place in the Europa League next term. “I think there’s still a long way to go,” he said. “It’s a big incentive to play European football next season, but we are confident we can do it.”

Heart of Midlothian (4-4-1-1): J Balogh 6 – J Thomson 6, R Neilson 6, E Jonsson 6, L Wallace 7 – D Obua 7, M Stewart 6 (sub: S Mikoliunas, 71min 3), B Aguiar 8, A Driver 6 – G Glen 5 (sub: L Kingston, 45 2; sub: R Palazuelos, 51 4) – C Nade 7.Substitutes not used: M Kello, A Mrowiec, D Cesnaukskis, C Elliot. Booked: Nade, Palazuelos, Mikoliunas.

St Mirren (4-4-2): C Smith 8 – J Ross 6, J Potter 6 (sub: D Wyness, 88), S Cuthbert 7, M Camara 6 – H Murray 6 (sub: S Thomson, 55 6), A Dorman 7, G Brady 7, S McGinn 5 (sub: C Dargo, 79) – B Mehmet 6, J Hamilton 6. Substitutes not used: M Howard, G Mason, W Haining, D Barron. Booked: Murray, Cuthbert, Hamilton, Thomson, Dorman.

Referee D Somers. Attendance 13,609

Taken from timesonline.co.uk