Against the backdrop of an empty Wheatfield stand, Hearts struggled to match their recent performances – with St. Johnstone looking stronger as the game wore on, and snatching the winner with a few minutes left through substitute Peter McDonald.
The dispute between the clubs about the ticket prices to be charged led to Hearts taking the risky measure of closing the Wheatfield stand to prevent having to charge the top-level prices (as demanded by the visitors). Consequently, the atmosphere was flat and quite strange, which definitely suited the visitors on the night. Interestingly, a similar dispute had occurred between Rangers and Kilmarnock, resulting in the home team closing sections of their ground too.
Sadly, Hearts early promise and pressure fizzled out before half-time. Good moves and chances for Kyle, Stevenson and Novikovas were matched by decent chances for Parkin and Samuel.
Hearts missed the drive of Skacel and Templeton so the visitors were able to make their own regular forays up field. Obua and Templeton replaced Kyle and Black in the 2nd half and the Ugandan made a complete hash of an excellent chance after 63 minutes when he somehow managed to blast the ball over the bar from 5 yards after good work from Elliott.
After a goal-saving tackle by Eggert Jonsson, we were reminded of what it means to follow Hearts when the visitors scored the only goal of the game with 4 minutes left, as the home team were caught out at the back by the strong running of McDonald who managed to slide a shot past his namesake. Then in injury time, the Saints keeper Enckelman won the tie by making a wonderful close save from Stephen Elliott.
OK – so that us out for another year ?but just what has happened to good old Scottish Cup fever ? It looks like fans everywhere don`t take much interest until the quarter-finals these days. The 4th round matches with an SPL team at home these last few days have all produced extremely poor attendances –
Dundee Utd ..v .. Ross Co ?????.. 4,041
Hibernian ? v .. Ayr United ????.. 6,056
Aberdeen ?. v .. East Fife ?????. 6,918
Inverness ?. v .. Elgin City ????? 2,808
St.Mirren ?. v .. Peterhead ????? 2,312
Hamilton ?. v .. Alloa ???????1,054
Rangers ??v .. Kilmarnock ????13,215
Hearts ??. v .. St.Johnstone ????6,261
As the SPL argue about how to re-organise the league format to improve things, it is quite ironic that the competition which offers the best chance for glory for everyone outwith the Old Firm seems to be failing to ignite much excitement among fans in the early rounds.
Up until recent years, most fans longed for a home tie for their team each January, so that they could savour the anticipation of a decent Cup run – after all, 4 wins would take you to the Final !! Attendances at most grounds used to enjoy a healthy boost, regardless of the weather.
Sadly, these attendance figures suggest that other factors are having an negative effect. Various reasons have been put forward by media commentators for this apathy – such as the freezing weather and post-Xmas debt among fans. I`d certainly agree that ticket prices have a lot to do with this. However, surely a lot of the blame here lies with the clubs themselves – and not just the actual ticket price being set for these games. Not so long ago, a season ticket meant exactly that – entrance to EVERY match was included in the price. Then the marketeers got to work and persuaded clubs that they could fleece their own fans by restricting season tickets to just league matches, enabling them to earn extra money from Cup games.
As ground capacities got smaller and prices went up, the percentage of season ticket holders at most clubs (out of the total number of home fans) increased – and it is that “ease of use” culture which I believe is now back-firing on clubs like Hearts. Quite simply, the hassle and expense of having to buy a single match-day ticket (and co-ordinate it with obtaining tickets for friends you sit with) goes against the concept of being a season-ticket holder. Clubs are now reaping what they`ve sowed.
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Unlucky lads. Now ye can concentrate on the league and overtake Rangers into second, good luck with the rest of the season(except against Celtic of course)
You’re bang on the money with your comments regarding the Scottish Cup, mate. The 3rd round used to be one of THE dates in the diary, but greed has gradually chipped away at this over the years and these crowds are what we’re left with. Total apathy. Get these games back included in the ST price and we’ll take it from there. Will it happen? What do you think?!
The run was always going to come to an end, perhaps its good it was in the cup. fingers crossed we get a reaction in a good way, infront of a big crowd this weekend!