St Mirren 0 Hearts 2
Roddy Forsyth

Rudi Skacel, with his obligatory goal against St Mirren – in this case, his 10th against the Paisley side – guaranteed that Paulo Sergio’s team will face Celtic in the semi-finals of the William Hill Scottish Cup on April 15.

The Czech striker’s latest contribution supplemented a spectacular first-half opener from Jamie Hamill and there was a redeeming intervention from Jamie MacDonald, who had been criticised for his positioning when Graham Carey beat him with a free-kick when the teams first met at Tynecastle on March 10.

Carey and MacDonald squared off again, this time at a penalty kick, but the goalkeeper’s anticipation kept his side from falling behind as he pulled off a first-class save from the former Celtic defender.

The first half resembled proceedings in the first leg to a remarkable extent, but with one crucial difference. In the game at Tynecastle,

St Mirren bolted from the traps and were a goal to the good from Carey before Hearts awoke to the fact that there was a cup tie to be negotiated.
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So it was last night, as Danny Lennon’s players swept forward from the start, their momentum denying Hearts an opportunity to come on to the front foot. Carey came close to opening the scoring when he whipped a dipping cross which bounced on the six-yard line with such vigour that it would have gone in but for MacDonald’s reflex fingertip save to turn the ricochet over for a corner kick.

Such was the power of Saints’ attacks that it was no surprise when they had the ball in the net through Nigel Hasselbaink on the quarter hour. Unfortunately for the home side and their frustrated supporters, Marius Zaliukas clearly handled as he made an aerial challenge against Steve Thompson and Stevie O’Reilly had blown for the penalty kick as Hasselbaink forced the ball across over the line.

Carey, whose scoring set piece at Tynecastle embarrassed MacDonald – who had left a gap in his wall so that he could see the delivery, only to be beaten to his left – went for same again with a powerful left-foot effort from the spot. This time, though, MacDonald guessed correctly and dived low to divert the ball around the base of his left-hand post.

This was the wake-up call Hearts needed and they responded with a break that saw Andy Driver go one on one with Craig Samson but push his drive wide of the far post. Now that they had the target on their sights, Hearts made tracks towards it and Hamill uncorked a venomous effort which beat Samson but cracked back off the post and out of play on the opposite side of the goal.

There were vehement claims for a second St Mirren penalty kick when Andy Webster wrapped his arms around Thompson and the Paisley fans were incensed, not only by the referee’s refusal to allow the claim but also because Hearts promptly took the lead. Given Hamill’s prior attempt from distance, Saints could not plead surprise when he gathered possession and strode forward to strike another fierce angled drive that found its mark in the far corner of Samson’s net.

The second half was closely contested but with a scarcity of scoring opportunities. There was, however, sufficient time for Skacel to get his customary goal to guarantee that Hearts will make their way to Hampden Park next month.

Match details

St Mirren (4-1-3-1): Samson; Van Zanten, McAusland, Mair, Carey; Goodwin; Teale (Mooy 78), Thomson, Murray (Tesselaar 70); Thompson, Hasselbaink. Subs: Smith (g), McGregor, Barron. Booked: Thompson, Mair, Goodwin

Hearts (4-4-2): MacDonald; McGowan, Webster, Zaliukas, Grainger; Hammill, Black (Robinson 89), Barr, Grainger; Skacel (Santana 87), Beattie (Glen 90). Subs: Ridgers (g), Novikovas. Booked: Zaliukas.

Referee: S O’Reilly.

Taken from telegraph.co.uk