LUCKY BREAK
Other results see Buddies secure place in first six despite loss
ST MIRREN are making a convenient habit of falling over the top-six threshold. Just like last year, a bumper home crowd turned up hoping to see Stephen Robinson’s side seal their own destiny only for the players to take a misstep at the most inopportune moment.
Hearts proved too strong on this occasion in a game ruined by the wind but, just as 12 months ago, salvation for Saints came from elsewhere in the country. News that Hibernian had failed to defeat St Johnstone was greeted by cheers and confirmed the Paisley Saints would again be in the top half of the table for the final five games.
Last year, sixth was the highest place they could manage after the split but Robinson hoped that European football might prove a more tangible reward this time, even if, once again, they may need favours from others to make it a reality.
‘The result is a wee bit of a dampener when you don’t win the game that gets you in,’ said the manager. ‘It was the same last season. But over the course of the season we’ve not been out of the top six, so nobody can deny that we deserve to be in there.
‘Now we want to get into Europe. That would be fantastic. Can we go and catch Kilmarnock in fourth? We’ve got a little bit of a cushion in fifth and maybe some people could do us a favour by winning the cup! So it’s all to play for.
‘It’s a fantastic time to be a St Mirren fan. We’ve no right to be where we are but we’ve allowed the people of Paisley to dream.’
Hearts’ top-six place has been assured for some time now, the real danger that they might lose their momentum with little to play for ahead of a season-defining Scottish Cup semi-final with Rangers in a fortnight.
This was a welcome result, then, all the more impressive given it was achieved without Lawrence Shankland who sat out a league game for the first time this year due to illness.
This was far from a vintage Hearts performance but a Jorge Grant penalty and a Mikael Mandron own goal meant Toyosi Olusanya’s reply was nothing more than a consolation.
Hearts have often been accused in the past of having a brittle underbelly when it comes to tough away assignments but they looked a far more robust proposition here as they claimed the 10th road win of an impressive campaign.
‘I think this is probably the stereotypical game Hearts have been questioned in over the years,’ said manager Steven Naismith. ‘Can you deal with the fight? Add to that the fact St Mirren are going for the top six, so when we take the lead, we knew they were going to go gung-ho. They brought more attacking players on and we had to deal with it — and I think we did.
‘We did it without three of our most consistent players this season and we did it in terrible conditions that both teams had to play in. So, for me, it’s a fantastic win.’
Storm Kathleen was the dominant influence throughout the contest, whipping up gusts of wind that made every high ball an exercise in experimentation. Grant needed three attempts to execute a Hearts corner, the ball escaping from his control at the first two efforts like a miscreant toddler running away from its parents.
It was little surprise, then, that the opening goal of the game came from a set-piece. Kenneth Vargas’ shot was blocked by Marcus Fraser’s raised arm, and when referee Alan Muir was sent to the VAR monitor, you suspected there would only be one outcome: penalty. Grant fired his shot down the middle as Zach Hemming dived out of reach.
Hearts’ second goal was just as messy. Alex Cochrane’s corner appeared to be almost cleared by Alan Forrest as it threatened to dip in at the back post, only for Mandron to inadvertently knock it beyond his own goalkeeper.
St Mirren replied with a terrific strike of their own, Olusanya sprinting from the halfway line before finishing well past Zander Clark, to set up a late rally. The home side felt they had won a penalty — Muir went to the VAR screen after Aiden Denholm and Conor McMenamin collided but didn’t overturn his on-field call — but ultimately it was news from Leith that proved to be the most telling intervention of the day.