Neilson praises the decisive instant impact of McEneff
ROBBIE NEILSON last night hailed substitute Aaron McEneff for the instant impact that fired Hearts into the Scottish Cup semi-finals.
The Irishman instigated and ended the move that nudged the Tynecastle side into a 3-2 lead, his improvised knee finish coming just 26 after his introduction from the bench.
After a fast start, Hearts had been pegged back by wonder-strikes from St Mirren’s Eamonn Brophy and Connor Ronan but McEneff’s goal killed the comeback from Stephen Robinson’s side before Ellis Simms rounded off the scoring.
Neilson (pictured) said: ‘Credit to Aaron because he’s not had the opportunities he’s probably deserved.
‘But he trains well every day and it’s credit to him that when he does get a chance like tonight, he comes and changes the game for us.
‘I’m delighted for him because he’s a great kid. He hasn’t had the opportunity his training has merited.’
Depleted by injuries to five key players, Neilson revealed that McEneff had originally been pencilled in to start the game.
He added: ‘We didn’t have many options today. I was going to start McEneff but it would only have given us Haring, Sibbick and Moore on the bench.
‘We wouldn’t have had anyone to go and try and win the game, so we started Peter Haring, which allowed us to get McEneff on.’
Neilson reserved special praise for Ronan’s strike, a dipping and swerving 25-yard effort that he described as being as good as he had witnessed at Tynecastle. He added: ‘It was a good reaction from us at 2-2. It was an unbelievable strike from Ronan.
‘I was standing behind it and was actually delighted that he hit it from that angle. But I ended up clapping it because it was a sensational goal.
‘It took that to get them equal to us. But we then made the change and we dominated after that.’
The win made Hearts the first side into the competition’s last four but, even with his team also sat comfortably in third place in the league, Neilson insists there is much work still to be done this term.
He added: ‘So far it’s been a good season. But those are the key words: so far.
‘I’ve got a good group here and for the injured players this gives them a carrot to try and get back — not just for Saturday but for a Scottish Cup semi-final.’
Saints boss Robinson had a gripe surrounding referee Bobby Madden’s decision not to award a penalty after an Andy Halliday challenge on Greg Kiltie.
He said: ‘Ultimately if you concede four goals you are going to lose the game but I’m not sure 4-2 tells the true story.
‘We scored two wonder goals but didn’t hold the 2-2 long enough, that ownership of the game would have allowed the crowd to get on top of them a little bit.
‘I think there was a penalty and when I see it back it’s quite blatant.
‘But these are things you can’t control. I think we ran out of steam the last 15 minutes, which is something we need to rectify. We’ve now got three games to go to the split and I’m confident we can get into the top six.’