Home duck broken after Suso's glaring miss

Published Date: 04 October 2009
By Andrew Smith at St Mirren Park
St Mirren 2

Thomson 38; Dargo 64

Hearts 1

Goncalves 31
THERE can, on occasion, be alignment in the footballing constellation that allows something special to be achieved by something special.

It happened yesterday on Planet Paisley. A stupendous strike by Craig Dargo was responsible for St Mirren finally, at last, at long last, winning an SPL match at their new stadium. Nine months and 11 league games of frustration were ended when, 64 minutes in, the forward made the sweetest contact with a Tom Brighton head-flick on. Side on, and from just inside the area, he struck with a part-volley, part-hitch-kick to send the ball sailing in to the top corner. It just had to be Dargo, who scored the last goal and last league winner at the old St Mirren Park. Let's not spoil the symmetry by mentioning that there have been two Scottish Cup wins at the new ground.

"The headlines will be that it was a goal to win any game. I'm doing your job for you," a beaming St Mirren manager Gus MacPherson told the assembled press afterwards. "Inevitably, we kept on trying to spin it, be positive. But we always had the belief we could win. There was nervousness among the supporters and it was just a great relief. In the second half, for the goal and the performance, we deserved to win."

In the first half, Hearts gave them a going over, yet criminal wastefulness left them with only a Jose Concalves effort to show for their efforts. For that, and the manner in which St Mirren responded to their reprieve after Steven Thomson's equaliser approaching the break, the Gorgie club deserved to lose, defeat that drops them below St Mirren to eighth.

"This game was every easy for us to win," raged a beeling Hearts manager Csaba Laszlo. "I am very angry with some of the players. We play for the club, for our supporters and must have responsibility. I don't attack anybody but today I am completely angry about not using our chances."

His anger could only have been directed toward Suso Santana. He was guilty of an outrageous miss that must have made his manager want to molicate him. A clinching second looked certain when keeper Paul Gallacher slipped as the Spaniard darted in from the right flank with the ball. Yet, with the goal at his mercy, the attacker elected to slowly step inside, which allowed one defender to work back. Failing to learn his lesson, he did the same again, as if arrogantly attempting to tease his opponents before delivering the coup de grace. But when, after an age, he got a shot away, Lee Mair was able to get his body in front of it, with his deflection allowing Gallacher to claw the ball to safety. It was ridiculous, and really deserved to be punished, as St Mirren did seven minutes from the break.

Stephen McGinn drove the ball across the face of goal, before a scuffed shot from Andy Dorman landed at the feet of Thomson, who swept the ball in. And that, depending on how you want to look at it, was either the end of Hearts or the start of a new beginning for St Mirren.

Hearts, although making their first visit to the new St Mirren Park, hadn't lost in this part of the world in their previous eight trips. Furthermore, although the form of Laszlo's men has been patchy, the loss of a 93rd-minute goal at Celtic Park condemned them to the one defeat they have suffered in their past six outings. St Mirren, too, have been up and down, but with four goals in six SPL games, they have shown that all-too-familiar weakness when it comes to the art of winning.

Mind you, that is the supposed source of all Hearts' problems too. If you lump together what is essentially a front four – which yesterday comprised middle men David Witteveen and Suso, with Andrew Driver and David Obua in the wide area – Hearts have pace, power, mobility and trickery in goodly measure. But they need a fifth player who lurks around he box and makes good the openings they engineer.

From the early minutes, when Steven Thomson headed off the line after Witteveen had powerfully put his bonce to Craig Thomson corner, they had plenty. It was scarcely credible, then, that come the break, it was one apiece – especially as that required St Mirren to put the ball in their opponents' net. That hadn't happened for all of 274 minutes before Thomson's 38th-minute equaliser. By then, there shouldn't have been only a goal in it.

Lee Mair had blocked an effort from Obua and Witteveen had a passed up a few opportunities to make Gallagher's life difficult before Hearts eventually did bag the goal that had long seemed an inevitability. It was a simple affair, Jose Concalves rising above the entire defence to meet a Thomson corner and plant a header into the top corner. But it was what happened shortly after the opener that was to turn the encounter upside down. Suso should have been turned upside down and shaken with in an inch of his life for his glaring miss.

Laszlo's mood wasn't helped by the fact Witteveen was forced off on a stretcher with 15 minutes remaining, following a fair but fierce-looking challenge from Chris Innes. It left the Austrian with his leg "opened up", according to the Hearts manager. However, initial fears he had a suffered a break were unfounded. The striker was merely bloodied and bruised. Like his team.

MAN OF THE MATCH

By definition, whoever scored the goal that claimed the first home win at St Mirren, would have deserved the honour, so hats off to Craig Dargo.

QUICK FACT

Dargo's goal was his first of the season, aside from being a notable first in altogether more important way.

TALKING POINT

St Mirren have sorted themselves out at home, but Hearts are in the midst of an appalling away run in the SPL. The Gorgie club have failed to claim full points outside of Tynecastle since February.

Taken from the Scotsman