Scottish Cup meetings
05.02.2012

Hearts and St Johnstone have been drawn against each other in the Scottish Cup on seven previous occasions, with the Edinburgh club progressing six times. However, last season, Saints ended the sequence of defeats with a dramatic 1-0 success at Tynecastle. Ahead of today's fifth-round showdown, we take a look back at the previous encounters.

Saturday 25 Jan 1908 1st Round, Tynecastle Park (3,250)
Hearts 4 Saints 1
Hearts took no chances against the Northern League club from Perth and the home players looked sharp after special training at the Raemartin Hotel in West Linton. After 30 minutes, Hearts broke the Saints' resistance with goals from William Reynolds and Charlie Thomson. However, early in the second-half, John Cameron reduced the deficit and there was some panic before Hearts regained control and scored again through Robert Ritchie and James Dargue. The Saints keeper, Noble MacPherson, had a fine game and even saved a penalty from the Scottish international captain, Charlie Thomson.

Saturday 21 Jan 1928 1st Round, Tynecastle Park (28,000)
Hearts 2 Saints 2
John Stevenson silenced the home crowd with a goal after ten minutes and then just after half-time, Jimmy Munro put Saints two goals in front. Hearts struggled to harness a gale-force wind and to break the stout Perth defence that was inspired by 17-year-old keeper Sandy McLaren, who would later play for Scotland. Eventually, after a frantic finish, the Maroons grabbed a replay, scoring twice in three minutes through Andrew Miller and Tim Morgan.

Wednesday 25 Jan 1928 Replay, Muirton Park (11,400)
Saints 0 Hearts 1
The replay started at 2.15 pm and once again, the game was spoiled by heavy rain and a very strong wind. As a result, the pitch was in poor shape and this drained the players, especially when the match went into extra-time. During the additional period, after 103 minutes, a Lachie MacMillan shot crashed against the Saints crossbar and Willie Murray, who was signed from Middlesbrough, was on hand to score what proved to be the winning goal for Hearts. Saints were too exhausted to mount any recovery action.

Saturday 18 Feb 1933 3rd Round, Tynecastle Park (38,885)
Hearts 2 Saints 0
In this exciting contest, Perth keeper Sandy McLaren defied the home attackers for 55 minutes. He was then beaten by the former Penicuik Athletic striker Archie Gardiner, who headed home a corner kick. Saints were then hit by a sucker-punch after George Fulton hit the bar with a great shot. Hearts broke quickly and the speedy Gardiner beat two men during a long run that ended with the ball in the Saints net after a right-foot drive from 20 yards. During the final minutes of the game, McLaren, who is one of Saints' greatest-ever players, was at his very best.

Saturday 25 Jan 1947 1st Round, Tynecastle Park (19,336)
Hearts 3 Saints 0
On a sand-covered pitch, the Hearts players seemed to be galvanised by the loss of skipper Bob Baxter, who was taken off on a stretcher after a clash with Peter Simpson. The Maroons then besieged the Perth goal during the second-half and eventually took the lead from an Archie Miller penalty after 53 minutes. Alfie Conn stroked home goal No. 2 and then with only three minutes remaining, Archie Kelly made the score 3-0 for Hearts.

Saturday 5 Feb 1972 3rd Round, Tynecastle Park (12,431)
Hearts 2 Saints 0
The Saints keeper Derek Robertson was in splendid form and he defied the Hearts forwards for 69 minutes. At that point, Hearts' redoubtable centre-half Alan Anderson came up the field to head home a corner kick from Tommy Murray. Saints battled for an equaliser and therefore the majority of the crowd gave a cheer of relief in the last minute when Ernie Winchester smashed the ball past Robertson after a pass from Derek Renton.

Thursday 7 March 1996 QF, McDiarmid Park (9,951)
Saints 1 Hearts 2
There was a great crowd at McDiarmid Park on a Thursday night for the quarer-final despite live TV coverage and the First Division side matched Hearts in the first-half with chances being squandered at both ends. However, in stoppage time before the break, Gary Mackay sent over an inviting cross and Alan Lawrence turned the ball into the Saints net at the near post. The Perth men came out fighting and from a Gary Farquhar cross, George O'Boyle tapped home the equaliser after 50 minutes. Hearts then grabbed the winner in 56 minutes when a Steve Fulton free-kick was headed down and into the net by the towering figure of Dave McPherson.

Tuesday 11 Jan 2011 4th Round, Tynecastle Stadium (7,038)
Hearts 0 Saints 1
With burst water pipes over the weekend, this tie was quickly rescheduled for the following Tuesday evening and there was a rather subdued atmosphere with a small crowd and the Wheatfield Stand not being used. There were several missed chances at either end but Hearts' confidence eventually drained away after an injury to talisman striker Kevin Kyle after 55 minutes. With only four minutes left, a nervous home defence could not clear a Murray Davidson header and the loose ball was prodded into the net by Peter MacDonald for Saints' sensational winner.

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