CLARE MAKES A POINT FOR HEARTS
SEAN CLARE swapped his right-back role for that of hitman to deny St Johnstone after they had come from behind to largely dominate a McDiarmid Park thriller.
The Londoner struck in the first minute of stoppage-time to lift Hearts off the bottom of the Premiership by the slimmest of margins.
Hearts, fresh from their shock home win over Rangers a week ago, had appeared set to continue their revival with their first league victory in Perth since 2010 when they led at half-time.
Goals from Liam Boyce and Steven Naismith had edged the Jambos in front after Stevie May had struck for St Johnstone. But Hearts’ flaws were once again exposed when exciting young Saints midfielder Ali McCann levelled early in the second half and May bagged his first brace since scoring a double for Aberdeen against Dundee three years ago.
This was a different St Johnstone team to the one ruthlessly exposed by Celtic for 45 minutes in midweek before getting their act together in the second half to partially save face.
There was no shortage of effort and commitment and they had more than enough chances to get the job done.
But in Naismith and Boyce, Hearts look to have a potentially exciting partnership.
Boyce, who eared instant legend status with the Tynecastle faithful by scoring on his debut in the 2-1 win over Rangers, was on the mark again.
And, at £150,000 from Burton Albion, he may turn out to be the bargain buy of the season, especially if he helps keep Hearts in the Premiership.
St Johnstone will feel they should have won on the strength of their second-half dominance, but they have a six-point cushion over Hearts, having also played a match fewer, and the character to stay out of trouble.
Hearts’ early superiority was not reflected in the score after 17 minutes. Having enjoying the lion’s share of possession, they took their eye off the ball for a split second when Saints broke quickly.
Chris Kane won a high ball wide right and played it to McCann, who cut inside before producing a cut-back for May to strike with a right-foot shot from the centre of the penalty box.
The Hearts players were initially stunned at conceding the opening goal but quickly regrouped to pose a threat to the home side five minutes later.
Only a perfectly timed tackle by Jason Kerr on Naismith prevented the Hearts captain from getting in a shot after he had combined with Ewan Henderson to create the opening.
But it was poor defending rather than clever build-up play that led to the visitors’ equaliser in the 26th minute.
Saints failed to deal properly with Naismith’s cross and the ball eventually fell for new arrival Toby Sibbick to set up Boyce, whose shot from close range may have brushed against Jamie McCart on the way in.
If the equaliser was untidy,
Hearts’ second goal after 31 minutes was almost comical, with St Johnstone keeper Zander Clark left feeling like a chump.
For reasons best known to himself, Clark appeared to attempt to control Andy Irving’s free-kick with his chest and succeeded only in sending it straight to opponent John Souttar.
The central defender, spotting Naismtih lurking menacingly, flicked the ball up for his team-mate to head the visitors in front.
Saints should have been level again two minutes later but Kane’s free hit was aimed straight at Joel Pereira and Tony Ralston sent the rebound wide.
St Johnstone were dealt a blow coming up to half-time when they had to send on Michael O’Halloran in place of Liam Gordon after the defender had been concussed as a result of an accidental clash of heads with Boyce.
But the enforced substitution did not have a noticeably detrimental effect on the home side.
Within seven minutes of the restart, St Johnstone had drawn level, with the game’s fourth goal proving to be the pick of the bunch.
Liam Craig judged a through pass to May to perfection and the striker crossed for McCann in turn.
The much-vaunted 20-year-old, who is likely to be a top transfer target in the summer, took a quick touch before producing a cool finish, albeit the keeper got a hand to the ball on its way in.
After appearing to be in control at one stage, Hearts suddenly looked dishevelled and panic-stricken.
Indeed, they were very lucky not to conced a third goal almost immediately.
O’Halloran could certainly have inflicted damage on the visitors had he composed himself before shooting and then Kane missed the target by a foot or so.
Hearts were also extremely fortunate not to concede when Ralston tried his luck with a clever attempt from distance only to be denied by the width of the crossbar.
But the away team’s luck ran out after 61 minutes when they were punished for being caught off guard by Kerr at the back post.
Centre-half Craig Halkett reacted by pulling the striker back and paid the price by conceding a penalty kick.
Hearts did not even offer a mild protest over the decision before May stepped up to send his spot-kick straight down the middle after keeper Pereira had opted to dive to his left.
Following a further period of uncertainty and hesitancy, Hearts eventually discovered a measure of composure and began to offer their fans in the stadium some hope of a comeback.
And, with the match one minute into stoppage-time, Clare struck to salvage a point after Naismith’s long ball fell nicely for him to unleash a blockbuster of a shot from all of 25 yards out.