Defeat sees furious St Johnstone boss Steve Lomas call for consistency

Livid Saints manager Steve Lomas called for more consistency from match officials, after some crucial decisions denied his side any chance of an opening day victory at Hearts.

A first half John Sutton penalty followed by a straight red card for striker Gregory Tade after an off-the-ball incident with Andy Webster gave the Perth men an unassailable second half mountain to climb, despite their best efforts.

But while Lomas had no qualms with Tade's dismissal, the Perth boss reckons a reckless elbow by Ryan McGowan on Callum Davidson in the second minute was worthy of more than just a caution.

''I've no complaints about the sending off - you can't raise your arms, no matter what Webster did,'' the Perth boss said.

''But I just felt that McGowan should have been off, a blatant elbow from where I was at, and for me those are jawbreakers.

''In my opinion the linesman sees the one in the box but he doesn't see the one that's six yards away from him, and that worries me.

''It's a bad, bad elbow and Davidson was very lucky. The sending off is not in doubt - Gregory was stupid but we've all made stupid mistakes.

''Gregory will have to learn that the hard way and obviously it hurt us but I would rather focus on the positives. I thought we did very well second half, I thought we were the better side and made three great chances so I commend my players.''

Lomas opted to leave new signing Rowan Vine on the bench and field fellow new faces Tade and Nigel Hasselbaink up front, while Hearts had largely the same line-up that recorded impressive pre-season wins over Raith, Dunfermline and Rotherham.

If there's one thing Tynecastle is renowned for, it is atmosphere and there was plenty of that ahead of kick-off on Saturday, although both sets of fans were incensed two minutes in when referee Stevie O'Reilly flashed a yellow card at McGowan as he collided with Davidson contesting a high ball.

The visitors had a big let-off eight minutes later when Andy Driver's deep corner was headed goalwards at the back post by McGowan, only for Davidson for somehow acrobatically keep the ball from crossing the line.

Three minutes later it was Saints' turn to attack as Liam Craig made a surging run down the left to whip in a superb cross.

Had Nigel Hasselbaink got a fraction more on his glancing header it probably would have sneaked in at the far post instead of staying out.

It was end-to-end stuff at this point and after David Templeton's cut back found Driver, the latter looked destined to score but for the presence of Davidson, who made yet another goal-saving intervention.

After Liam Craig blazed over the bar in 20 minutes, a Paddy Cregg foul on McGowan at the edge of the area gave Hearts a free-kick, with Callum Paterson seeing his effort crash off the crossbar following Driver's lay off.

Then on the half hour came the first of two massive calls by the officials. Templeton's mesmerising run in the area was brought to a halt by Dave Mackay and Sutton coolly slotted home the resulting spot kick, sending Saints keeper Alan Mannus the wrong way.

Seven minutes later, Saints' bid to claw back the deficit was made all the harder. After Craig's free-kick proved to be far too deep, referee O'Reilly called over both Tade and Webster over after the pair tangled in the box.

Following a lengthy discussion, Tade was then shown a straight red card, apparently for raising his hand during the altercation, which provoked a furious reaction from the Saints bench.

Lomas, who was visibly seething with assistant referee Stuart Macaulay in particular, was angered again three minutes before the break when Webster's apparent elbow on Murray Davidson went unpunished, although that prompted O'Reilly to have a quiet word with the visiting boss.

With the game slipping away, Lomas introduced Vine up front in the final minute of the half to try and stem the tide and the visitors certainly began the second period strongly.

Craig had the Saints fans on their feet just before the hour mark when he sent a drive from fully 30 yards inches over the bar.

Seconds later the same player tested Jamie MacDonald after a free-flowing Saints move, before two minutes later Hearts failed to clear a corner and Hasselbaink saw his left-foot effort kicked off the line by Sutton.

In 66 minutes, Driver headed over from Paterson's cross before Templeton's low drive failed to hit the target but in truth it was Saints who looked the more threatening.

Hasselbaink then earned himself a decent chance with 20 minutes remaining, latching on to Craig's long ball and getting the better of Paterson, only to see MacDonald get down well to his shot.

Sub Arvydas Novikovas forced Mannus into a good save in 75 minutes before sub Jamie Adams earned himself a booking for a foul on Templeton.

That almost proved costly as Templeton's low drive from the free-kick looked like it was heading for the bottom corner, but Mannus was equal to it to keep the scoreline 1-0.

However, Mannus was helpless nine minutes from time as Hearts effectively sealed the points. Sub Medhi Taouil's ball over the top found Templeton and the forward kept his composure to curl his right-foot shot beyond the Saints keeper.

Mannus was called into action again five minutes from time to keep out Paterson's header and young Dale Carrick had a late chance over the bar, but it was academic as Hearts' second had effectively killed off the game.

Taken from The Courier