Heart of Midlothian 5-2 St. Mirren
From Hearts Media at Tynecastle.

A Rudi Skacel hat-trick inspired ten man Hearts to an emphatic 5-2 victory against St Mirren in Saturday's Clydesdale Bank Premier League clash at Tynecastle.

Marius Zaliukas put the Jam Tarts in front inside the first minute, but was then sent off nine minutes later as he brought down Paul McGowan inside the box. The latter converted the penalty, before Steven Thompson handed them the lead shortly after.

Skacel levelled the scores on 25 minutes, before grabbing two second half goals to replicate his hat-trick against the Saints last season. John Sutton then added a fifth late on to complete an inspired maroon fight back.

Paulo Sergio made six changes to the side that knocked Auchinleck Talbot out of the Scottish Cup last Saturday. Jamie Hamill returned to right back following his lay off, whilst Darren Barr filled in for the injured Danny Grainger on the left side of defence.

Meanwhile, injuries to Andrew Driver and David Templeton forced Paulo into changing the shape of his team. Skacel dropped out wide, whilst Stephen Elliott and Sutton were paired together in a two man front line.

The tie was barely sixty seconds old when the Jambos took the lead. An Ian Black corner from the right found the unmarked Marius Zaliukas who leapt to steer a bullet header into the top right corner.

The captain's first goal of the season appeared to inspire his team mates as Elliott unleashed a snap-shot from the left shortly after. To the relief of keeper Craig Samson, however, the ball grazed the side netting.

Hearts bright start was soon undone, however, as Zaliukas was sent off for bringing down McGowan inside the box.

Referee Steven McLean immediately pointed to the spot before giving the skipper his marching orders, much to the dismay of the home support.

McGowan then duly dispatched his penalty into the top right corner as the Saints drew level.

Danny Lennon's side were clearly boosted by their one man advantage as they took the lead eight minutes later thanks to a fine header by Steven Thompson.

A long diagonal ball from Marc MacAusland was met by the head of Thompson on ten yards, his flick on enough to send the ball looping over the outstretched Marian Kello and into the bottom left corner.

The boys in maroon were in no mood to lie down, however, and were rewarded for their endevour on 22 minutes as Skacel grabbed his sixth league goal of the campaign.

Having fought hard to regain possession, the fans favourite took a touch before unleashing a thunderous left foot strike from 25 yards out that rocketed into the top right corner beyond a helpless Samson.

After a pulsating opening 25 minutes, the game settled down as Hearts sat deep and looked to hit the visitors on the break.
The home side were doing a good job of stifling the visitors, which was reflected at half time as Sergio refrained from making any alterations prior to the restart.

A surging run from Graham Carey ten minutes into the second half caught the Jambos defence off guard, but his dipping shot from the edge of the box was punched away by Kello.

Shortly after the hour mark, however, Tynecastle came to life as Skacel grabbed his second of the afternoon.

John Sutton flicked on a long ball into the path of the Czech midfielder, enabling him to take a touch before firing an unstoppable volley into the bottom left corner.

Skacel, who completed a hat-trick against the Saints at Tynecastle last season, was keen to repeat the feat as Hearts pushed forward at every opprotunity.

He got his reward five minutes later as his low drive from 25 yards curved away from Samson's outstretched arms and nestled into the bottom right corner, sparking frantic celebrations both on and off the park.

St Mirren were growing increasingly frustrated with their own efforts at this stage, yet still posed a threat as Thompson flashed a close range header inches over Kello's bar in the 70th minute.

A Jeroen Tesselaar cross-come-shot then had the big Slovakian scrambling on his line in the 80th minute as the Buddies laid siege on the Maroon goal.

The home defence was resolute, however, with the makeshift pairing of Webster and Adrian Mrowiec coping well with the Saints aerial onslaught.

Sergio then introduced David Obua in place of Elliott with five minutes remaining as he looked to tighten up the midfield during the closing stages.

The substitute immediately won a header on the edge of the box which eventually resulted in Hearts being awarded an in-direct free kick seven yards from goal due to Samson handling an inadvertent pass back.

With the St Mirren players lining up along the goal line, Black laid the ball off to Sutton who rattled the ball into the roof of the net and effectively put the tie to bed.

Man of the match Skacel was then given a standing ovation from all four corners of Tynecastle as he made way for the returning Suso in the 90th minute.

The Jam Tarts comfortably saw out the five minutes of injury time to secure an emphatic victory in a highly entertaining encounter at Tynecastle.

Hearts: Kello; Hamill, Webster, Zaliukas, Barr; Mrowiec, Robinson, Black(Novikovas 90), Skacel(Suso 90); Elliott(Obua 85), Sutton. Subs not used: MacDonald, Glen, Hamilton, Holt.

St. Mirren: Samson, Van Zanten(Thomson 74), Mair, McAusland, Tesselaar; Barron, McGowan, McLean, Carey(Reilly 90), Teale(Hasselbaink 74); Thompson. Subs not used: Smith, Mooy, Murray, Naismith.

Referee: Steven McLean

Top man: Rudi Skacel

Hearts World