Hearts 3 - 2 St Mirren

An injury-time strike by Rudi Skacel gave Hearts a win they rarely looked like achieving at Tynecastle.

Eleventh-placed Saints took the lead when Michael Higdon headed into Marian Kello's net after missing easy chances.

Skacel pulled Hearts level in 55 minutes with a rasping low drive from 20 yards, then Higdon rifled an effort from the same distance to make it 2-1.

But Saints could not hold on and Ryan Stevenson struck to level before Skacel knocked home a Craig Thomson corner.

This was a meeting of two sides looking for a positive reaction to midweek defeats, though for quite different reasons.

Hearts, almost certain to finish third in the Scottish Premier League, were looking to end a run of a draw and two defeats but were dealt a blow after Lee Wallace was ruled out due to a niggling ankle injury.

The visitors, meanwhile, lost their Scottish Cup replay at Aberdeen on Wednesday, and were without midfielder Hugh Murray as they tried to put further daylight between themselves and bottom club Hamilton Accies.

Buddies striker Higdon had two ideal chances to put Danny Lennon's side ahead early in the game before he finally managed to do so.

In the first minute, Steven Thomson found Aaron Mooy on the right and the Australian sent in a cross for his towering team-mate but the Englishman's weak shot was saved by Hearts keeper Kello.

Then, Thomson got to the byline to set up Higdon and he will cringe when he sees a replay of his fluffed attempt to convert the midfielder's cross from six yards - the ball bouncing off his standing foot and rolling meekly towards the Hearts goal.

Perhaps embarrassed by that, he made no mistake in 15 minutes when presented with his third chance.

Kenny McLean's free-kick into the box was knocked back across goal by centre-half Darren McGregor and Higdon looped a header over Kello from eight yards, despite the best efforts of Thomson.
Michael Higdon celebrates his goal for St Mirren
Higdon celebrates his headed goal for St Mirren at Tynecastle

Skacel flashed a low drive wide of Saints keeper Paul Gallacher's post and. at the other end. St Mirren were denied a second goal on the half-hour mark when Paul McGowan crashed a shot from Thomson's pass off the inside of the post and Thomson made a timely block on Mooy's rebound effort.

Hearts' need for a pep talk was summed up nicely by BBC Radio Scotland commentator Paul Mitchell, who told listeners: "If I were a tea cup in the Hearts dressing room at the moment, I would be worried."

In fact, Jim Jefferies sent on Andy Driver and Scott Robinson as disappointing duo Adrian Mrowiec and David Obua made way for Hearts.

David Templeton hit a shot over the bar from the edge of the box as Hearts tried to get a foothold in the match and it was not too long before fans' favourite Skacel levelled.

The Czech midfielder managed to get clear of Saints' Jim Goodwin, worked the ball on to his left foot and cracked a shot past Gallacher from 20 yards, the keeper given no chance of a save.

That goal in 55 minutes changed the tone of the match for the next quarter-of-an-hour, at which point Higdon scored his second, a delightful turn and shot into the top corner from the same distance as Skacel scored.

Prior to kick-off, St Mirren had won three times on the road this season, once more than in Paisley, and for the remainder of the match their fans were nervous that they might not be able to hang on to make it a quartet of away wins.

Their sense of unease was heightened when Hearts defender Marius Zaliukas knocked the ball down to Skacel but his overhead kick was turned away by Gallacher.

Stevenson was in the mood to try his luck and, moments before making it 2-2, he hit a long-range shot into the side netting.

His equaliser was a poor one from the Buddies' point of view, their inability to defend an 82nd-minute throw-in punished when Stevenson blasted beyond Gallacher for his fourth goal of the season.

Incredibly, and barely deserved, Hearts won the game in the third minute of injury time as St Mirren once again conceded a late goal.

A corner by Thomson was knocked on by Robinson and Skacel was on hand to blast in the winner and leave Lennon's side utterly dejected.

Taken from the BBC