St Johnstone 2-1 Heart of Midlothian

A Fransisco Sandaza penalty condemned Hearts to a 2-1 defeat against St Johnstone in Saturday's Clydesdale Bank Premier League clash at McDiarmid Park.

Jason Holt, making his first start for the club, gave the Jambos the lead on the half hour mark. They were pegged back five minutes later as Murray Davidson grabbed the equaliser.

Sandaza was then fouled by Marius Zaliukas with fifteen minutes remaining, and the Spaniard duly converted the penalty to seal the three points for Steve Lomas's men.

With Hearts facing their third game in six days, Paulo Sergio opted to make four changes to the side that beat St Mirren in the Scottish Cup Quarter Final on Wednesday. Gary Glen and Arvydas Novikovas formed an attacking partnership, whilst Scott Robinson and Jason Holt were given the nod in midfield.

Craig Beattie missed out altogether following a late fitness test, whilst Rudi Skacel, Jamie Hamill and Ian Black were among the substitutes. Mehdi Taouil, David Templeton, Adrian Mrowiec and Stephen Elliott again missed out through injury.

Holt made his mark after just three minutes as he fired a looping volley over the bar from the edge of the area, whilst Jody Morris forced a save from MacDonald after letting fly from 25 yards out in an evenly matched opening fifteen minutes.

Andy Driver and Novikovas looked lively down their respective flanks, with Hearts particularly dangerous on the counter attack. The delivery, however, was somewhat lacking as they all too often failed with the final decisive pass.

Fransisco Sandaza was then handed a chance out of nothing as Marius Zaliukas scoffed a seemingly straight forward clearance, leaving Sandaza to chase down the ball against MacDonald. The keeper beat him to it, but he too miscued his clearance as it spun out for a corner.

The Jambos continued to push down the flanks however and were rewarded shortly before the half hour mark as Ryan McGowan received the ball wide on the right. His cross evaded two blue jerseys before finding the feet of Jason Holt who slammed the ball into the bottom right corner to mark a goal on his first senior start.

The goal failed to deter the home side, however, as they instantly pushed forward in search of the equaliser. They were level within five minutes as Sandaza's cross from the right found an unmarked Murray Davidson on ten yards. The midfielder measured his shot before calmly sweeping the ball into the bottom right corner past the outstretched MacDonald.

The latter picked up a knock towards the end of the half, forcing Sergio to bring on young Mark Ridgers for the second half.

The Saints poured forward immediately after the interval as Sandaza broke free down the left before cutting inside past two Maroon jerseys; a last ditch block from McGowan preventing his shot from finding the net.

Both sides suffered from a lack of precision in their passing game, a Danny Grainger free kick going close just before the hour mark after taking a deflection.

Sergio decided to freshen things up with just over twenty minutes to play as Hamill and Suso replaced Novikovas and goal scorer Holt.

The change nearly made an instant impact as Glen picked up a loose ball and released Suso behind the back four, but the linesman flagged for offside just as the Spaniard looked to be clean through on goal.

With fifteen minutes remaining, however, Sandaza weaved his way into the box from the right before being clipped by Zaliukas. Referee Steven McLean pointed to the spot and Sandaza duly stepped up to slam the ball straight down the middle to give the Saints a 2-1 lead.

The home side continued to look dangerous on the break, with substitute Chris Millar heading over from eight yards after some fine play by Sandaza down the left flank. The latter was on hand again minutes later as he fired wide from the edge of the box after Millar had dispossessed Hamill in midfield.

Hearts looked short of ideas as the clock edged towards the 90 minute mark, prompting Sergio to move Zaliukas up front alongside Glen and Suso in a bid to find the equaliser.

With four minutes of added time, the Jambos poured forward and so nearly grabbed the leveller on two occasions through Glen. He latched on to a ball at the back post which he rattled off the near post, then soon after he was sent clean through on goal. He lifted the ball past the out rushing Mannus but it trickled inches wide of the post.

In between the two chances, Craig had squandered a chance to put the game to bed after being played through by Sandaza.

The game was brought to a close soon after, as Hearts failed to add to their winning run of games. They now have some much needed recovery time following their busy week as they return to action at home to Aberdeen next Saturday.

St. Johnstone: Mannus; Mackay, Maybury, Morris, Wright; McCracken, Davidson (Millar 80), Croft, Craig; Sheridan, Sandaza. Subs not used: Enckelman, Anderson, Compton, Oyenuga, Keatings, Gray.

Hearts MacDonald (Ridgers 45); McGowan, Webster, Zaliukas, Grainger; Robinson, Barr, Holt (Hamill 66), Driver; Glen, Novikovas (Suso 66). Subs not used: Black, Skacel, Morton, Smith.

Top man: Danny Grainger

Referee: Steven McLean

Hearts World