Hearts go down to a determined St Mirren

It had to be Hearts, didn't it? A full nine months St. Mirren have gone without winning a league game at their new home but now that streak has ended as Hearts went down 2-1 at St Mirren Park, today.

Jose Goncalves opened the scoring for Hearts in a first half when they should have netted two or three but, thanks to an equaliser from Steven Thomson, the teams went in level at half time. The match went from an entertaining spectacle in the first half to a scrappy contest in the second summed up by the dreadful performance from the away side and in the end a Craig Dargo strike 15 minutes into the second half was enough to give the home side a historic victory.

Hearts lined up without the injured Marius Zaliukas but the blow was softened by the return of Lee Wallace to the back four. With the Hearts fans in full voice despite schizophrenic weather conditions the away side started very brightly and had two chances in the first three minutes to take an early lead.

First David Witteveen thought he had put the Jam Tarts a goal up when his front post run enabled him to meet Craig Thomson's corner from the right. The Austrian had Paul Gallacher well beaten but the header was cleared off the line at the back post. Then within 60 seconds David Obua cut inside from the right and drove a low shot that flashed inches wide of the post.

With the game having descended into a scrappy spectacle it was brought back to life with one swing of Suso Santana's right boot. With little back-lift whatsoever the little Spaniard hit a sweet strike from 25 yards that Paul Gallacher had to be at full stretch to tip the ball over the bar.

From the corner David Obua saw his header cleared off the line but Hearts didn't have to wait long to take the lead as Jose Goncalves rose highest from the resulting corner to knock the ball past Gallacher and celebrate in front of a jubilant away end.

The scoring shouldn't have stopped there for the away side. Paul Gallacher slipped on the wet turf whilst trying to clear a back pass and that allowed Suso to take the ball past a couple of St Mirren shirts into the centre of the penalty area. With Gallacher still out of his goals Suso had to double the advantage but inexplicably dallied on his shot enabling Lee Mair to get a vital defection that took the pace out of the shot allowing Paul Gallacher to get back and tip the ball away inches before it crossed the goal-line.

As expected Hearts were made to rue that missed opportunity as Steven Thomson fired St Mirren level ten minutes before half time. Stephen McGinn's deep cross from the left found Andy Dorman all alone at the back post. The Englishman fluffed his attempt at a volley but possession stayed with the midfielder and he was able to cut it back for Thomson to strike.

David Witteveen was starting in the lone striker's role for the second consecutive game and the Austrian's confidence was clearly improving as a result. Although Witteveen will perhaps feel he should have grabbed a goal that his first half display merited when he had two chances in as many minutes just before the interval. A flick at the near post after meeting an Andy Driver cross had Gallacher stranded but shaved the outside of a far post before a header from eight yards dropped just wide.

In spite of the blustery weather conditions that plagued the first half there was actually quite a lot of good football on show. With the sun finally shining for the first 15 minutes of the second half the players, on both sides, reverted to form and the sight of two consecutive completed passes was rare to say the least. A free kick from Craig Thomson that Gallacher pushed wide was the period's only highlight.

With half an hour of the game remaining Hearts went behind as an absolutely stunning strike from Craig Dargo put St Mirren within touching distance of their first league win at their new home stadium. From a free kick flighted into the Hearts penalty area the ball broke to Dargo 18 yards out. The striker shifted his body and unleashed a looping shot that dipped over Balogh into the far corner of the net.

And that was that. Thirty minutes of the match followed but there was little action to speak of and any onslaught from the away side that may have expected to come didn't materialise. After such a promising start Hearts may feel a little unlucky to have taken nothing from the game but, in all honesty, the players got exactly what they deserved from a very disappointing second half performance.

St Mirren: Gallacher; Ross, Potter, Mair (Innes 45), Barron; McGinn, Murray (Brighton 60), Dorman (O'Donnell 90), Thomson; Dargo, Mehmet. Subs not used: Howard, Brady, Burns, Faulds.

Hearts: Balogh; Thomson, Bouzid, Goncalves, Wallace; Stewart (Robinson 77), Palazuelos; Suso (Nade 65), Obua, Driver; Witteveen (Black 74). Subs not used: MacDonald, Kucharski, Jonsson, Templeton. Booked: Bouzid

Referee: Brian Winter

Top man: Jose Goncalves

Hearts World