Hearts 2 St Johnstone 0: Caretaker manager Gary Locke dedicates victory to axed John McGlynn

6 Mar 2013 09:32

By Gary Ralston

HEARTS get back on track after five straight SPL defeats as rumours of administration are rubbished by stand-in boss.
Ryan Stevenson scores Hearts' opener Ryan Stevenson scores Hearts' opener
SNS

VLADIMIR ROMANOV may have stood down but Hearts players have finally decided to step up.

Romanov’s business empire in Lithuania is lying in ruins but Gary Locke’s charges at Tynecastle are determined they won’t crumble.

Hearts ended a miserable run of five defeats on the spin in the SPL with a hard-fought win over Saints, who missed out on the chance to go third in the table.

Interim boss Locke was quick to pay tribute to his predecessor John McGlynn and laughed off reports from earlier in the day claiming staff had been told the club’s administration was imminent.

He said: “I’m delighted to get the win and I dedicate it to John McGlynn and the supporters who turned out.

“I’d heard the rumours and it was scaremongering. The players weren’t fussed. They’re used to hearing it all.

“As far as I’m concerned it’s business as usual and we now focus on the game at Hibs this weekend. Five defeats in a row were not good enough and now we have to take this form on.”

Goals from Ryan Stevenson and John Sutton earned the Jambos their first victory since they defeated Dundee 1-0 on January 30 but only 10,080 fans were present to witness it, the lowest crowd at Tynecastle in the league this season.

SPL chief executive Neil Doncaster was given a £28,000 pay rise last year and should seriously consider dipping into his savings to compensate Hearts for at least 1000 stayaways.

Let’s face it, you don’t need Lord Nimmo Smith to conclude that whoever scheduled this game against the Man United and Real Madrid tie on the telly needs their head examined.

Mind you, Hearts will happily play at the same time as a World Cup Final if they’re guaranteed results like this one.

They were gutsy and hungry for success and the only surprise was man of the match Michael Ngoo did not get on the scoresheet as he did everything else in the game but find the net.

The game got off to a whirlwind start with Mehdi Abeid setting up Rowan Vine whose shot was blocked by Jamie MacDonald’s legs.

Sutton rose powerfully in the box after five minutes to connect with a raking diagonal from Kevin McHattie but his looping header dropped just over.

The striker then bundled the ball over the line after Ngoo and Darren Barr had split the Saints rearguard down the right but Sutton’s celebrations were cut short when he was flagged for offside.

At the other end Liam Craig slipped in Murray Davidson but the midfielder’s side-footed effort was brilliantly turned round the post by MacDonald.

Not to be outdone, Mehdi Taouil played Sutton through on the Saints goal but Alan Mannus rushed out to block the striker’s effort with his shoulder.

The pace was frantic and although six places separated these sides before kick-off you’d never have guessed as the game developed into a smashing advert for Scotland’s top flight.

The tempo was fierce, tackles were flying, ref John Beaton dared not let his whistle drop from his lips and the decibel level of the crowd rose as the temperature dived.

Something had to give and it did – for Hearts – on 32 minutes when they took the lead after a pacy counter attack that left Saints raging that a quick free-kick had been taken from the wrong place.

Arvydas Novikovas wasn’t standing around to argue the toss as he sprinted up the park and slipped a delightful low cross along the 18-yard box for Ngoo.

Mannus rushed off his line to block bravely at his feet but the ball broke to Stevenson who stroked home.

The confidence of Hearts quickly soared and Ngoo twice came close to adding to their tally soon after.

First, he shrugged off challenges from Frazer Wright and David McCracken, only for Mannus to block his shot at the front post. The on-loan Liverpool star then curled a shot narrowly wide of the post from 20 yards.

Saints boss Steve Lomas hauled off Abeid five minutes from the break and replaced him with striker Gregory Tade, much to the midfielder’s disgust.

The tactic almost instantly paid off when Tade played in Steven MacLean to unleash a shot beyond MacDonald but the assistant threw up his flag to deny St Johnstone a goal this time.

Sadly, the quality slumped in the early stages of the second half.

But with Ngoo the standout performer Hearts still looked dangerous every time they approached the final third.

St Johnstone were still dangerous on the break and Murray Davidson flashed a header wide from a Craig free-kick.

Hearts then raced up the pitch and Andy Webster narrowly failed to connect with a cross-come-shot from Ngoo.

Webster was well placed at the other end to deny Tade on the line after the striker rose at the back post to connect with a Dave Mackay cross.

However, Hearts put the game to bed eight minutes from time and Ngoo was the architect. The striker broke down the right and rode a challenge from sub Steven Anderson before rolling the ball across goal for Sutton to complete the formalities at the back post.

Saints boss Lomas said: “We let ourselves and our support down. It’s up there with the most disappointing displays since I’ve been at the club.”

But Lomas refused to use the free-kick in the build up to the opener as an excuse. He said: “A free-kick is usually taken where the foul is committed but the ref had nothing to do with how we were outmuscled and outfought.”

Taken from the Daily Record