Heart of Midlothian 2-2 St. Mirren

Hearts were held to a 2-2 draw at home to St Mirren in Saturday afternoon's William Hill Scottish Cup Quarter Final at Tynecastle.

A Graham Carey free kick put the visitors ahead before Craig Beattie headed home a Danny Grainger corner to register his first goal for the club.

Rudi Skacel continued his remarkable goal record against the Buddies as he handed the Jambos the lead minutes after the restart, but a tap in from Hasselbaink six minutes from time sent the tie to a replay.

Hearts made four changes to the side that so impressively beat Rangers last week, with Jamie Hamill and Scott Robinson missing out due to illness and suspension respectively. As a result, Ryan McGowan and Mehdi Taouil were both restored to the starting eleven.

A further two changes were made to the attacking line as Paulo Sergio opted to go with two up front in the shape of Stephen Elliott and Craig Beattie, the latter making his home debut following his appearance as a second half substitute at Ibrox last Saturday.

It was an attacking formation for the home side as they looked to take the game to a St Mirren team who had notched up six draws in their last seven games.

The visitors, however, had opted for a three man attack and started brightly with Steven Thompson forcing a save from MacDonald before Paul McGowan twice went close from the edge of the box.

The home side survived the early scare and slowly began to impose themselves, going close on the twenty minute mark when Beattie slipped a neat ball through to Driver inside the box. The winger produced a sharp turn only to see his shot turned away by Craig Samson.

Danny Lennon's men continued to look dangerous, however, and eventually broke the deadlock on 26 minutes as Graham Carey's free kick from 20 yards nestled into the bottom right corner past the outstretched MacDonald.

Hearts were finding it increasingly difficult to gain a foothold in the game as the Saints midfield, marshalled by McGowan, looked assured and comfortable in possession.

Shortly after the half hour mark, however, Stephen Elliott won a corner on the right. Grainger's cross found the head of Beattie on the near post who steered the ball into the bottom right corner to register his first goal for the club.

Sergio then replaced Adrian Mrowiec with Rudi Skacel immediately after the goal, safe in the knowledge that the Czech midfielder had notched up eight goals in his last three home games against Danny Lennon's men.

Hearts then appeared to take the lead on the stroke of the half as Beattie slotted home a Andy Driver cross on the back post. His celebrations were short lived however as he was ruled offside, despite television replays suggesting otherwise.

Hearts were clearly lifted by their late rally as they came flying out the traps after the restart. Elliott was gifted a double chance inside sixty seconds, first firing a volley across goal before latching on to the rebound from a McGowan effort, but his low drive narrowly missed the left post.

It was a sign of things to come, however, as Beattie raced down the left flank minutes later before delivering a pin point cross into the box. It was met by the head of Skacel who guided the ball into the bottom right corner to continue his magnificent scoring record against the Saints, which now reads nine in four home games.

The Gorgie side looked far more comfortable in the second period and looked dangereous on the break as St Mirren increasingly looked to push forward. McGowan cut inside from the right before feeding Beattie just inside the box; the big striker swivelled on the ball before slamming his shot over the crossbar.

Hasselbaink and Teale both went close with respective attempts soon after, but the Maroon defence was looking far more compact as they restricted their opponents to long range efforts.

The visitors turned up the pressure in the remaining fifteen minutes, however, and were rewarded amidst controversial circumstances. Ian Black was adamant he had been fouled in midfield, but instead Hasselbaink was allowed to race down the flank and square the ball for Teale who forced a spectacular save from MacDonald.

Hasselbaink, however, remained alert and tapped the rebound in, via the foot of Marius Zaliukas, to level the scores.

Paul McGowan could have sealed the win in the 89th minute as he received the ball unmarked to the left of the box, but his volley lacked the necessary conviction to beat the keeper.

Referee Stevie O'Reilly brought proceedings to an end a few minutes later after a late Maroon surge on goal proved fruitless.
The Jambos now face a replay in Paisley on Wednesday March 21st to determine who goes through to the Semi Final at Hampden.

Hearts: MacDonald; McGowan, Zaliukas, Webster, Grainger; Taouil, Black, Mrowiec (Skacel 37), Driver; Elliott, Beattie. Subs not used: Ridgers, Barr, Glen, Morton.

St. Mirren: Samson; Van Zanten, Mair, Goodwin, Carey; McGowan, Thomson, McLean (Murray 56), Teale; Hasselbaink, Thompson. Subs not used: Smith, McAusland, Mooy, Barron.

Referee: Stevie O'Reilly

Top man: Craig Beattie

Hearts World