Hearts failed to increase their lead over 3rd place challengers Aberdeen and Dundee Utd today, when a well-organised St. Mirren team were able to salvage an injury-time draw.
Csaba Laszlo was forced to make one change from last week, with Hristos Karipdis missing through illness. In came Jason Thomson at right-back, with captain Robbie Neilson moving to centre-back alongside Eggert Jonsson.
The first half saw 2 “close shaves” inside a minute. First, ex-Jambo Jim Hamilton powered a header inches wide (with Balogh beaten). Then almost immediately Nade had a surging run and shot, resulting a corner at the Roseburn End. From Aguiar`s delivery from the left, the ball canoned off someone on to the inside of the post before bouncing across the goal and behind for a goal kick.
I feel that the outcome of this game was significantly influenced by a couple of injuries and a substitution – all for Hearts !! Firstly, Gary Glen picked up a head knock late in the 1st half which clearly left him in some pain, and he was replaced at half-time by Laryea Kingston. Young Glen had made some decent contributions with a couple of surging runs and some good ball control, and he was clearly a handful for the St. Mirren defence whenever he linked up with Nade and Aguiar. His replacement looked set to play just behind Nade at the start of the 2nd half, and I was looking forward to seeing how these 2 would work at unlocking a good St. Mirren defence. Unfortunately we never got to find out, because Mr Kingston was stretchered off 3 minutes later, after he seemed to twist his ankle in a run-of-the-mill incident.
Either this guy is incredibly unlucky when it comes to injuries, or else it`s all part of his plan to get a nice rest before Ghana`s next international match !! It will be interesting to see what Csaba recommends that Vladimir does with Mr Kingston in the summer.
Hearts final substitution unluckily worked against us too. Saulius Mikoluinas came on after 75 minutes with the score still 0-0 to replace Michael Stewart (who I felt was doing very good job as a defensive midfielder) – an honest attempt to increase our attacking options. Within 30 seconds, Eggert Jonsson had fired Hearts into a deserved lead following good work by Obua inside the box. The balance of the game then immediately changed, as St. Mirren put us under pressure – but Miko isn`t known for his defensive qualities, and the absence of Stewart assisted the visitors in their efforts.
Ac tually, the points should have been sewn up when another good pass from Obua on the left found Miko rushing into the box unmarked. Sadly, his right-foot attempt went well wide. The Lithuanian then got himself booked for impeding a St. Mirren player midway inside Hearts half in injury-time, and from the resulting free-kick Jim Hamilton headed the ball down to the unmarked Dorman who scored easily.
Although many fans seemed to be critical of Hearts performance today, I thought our team played with good spirit and tempo while showing some fine passing and possession skills. It won`t be shock news to any of our readers that it was our old failing which resulted in 2 dropped points today – namely the lack of a confident goalscorer in and around the box. Hearts enjoyed the majority of possession, with Driver and Obua managing to make some headway on the wings – just as they had done last week against Aberdeen. However their deliveries into the box were rather aimless, especially in the 2nd half when Glen was no longer on the pitch.
True to the pattern of most games in the SPL this season, there was not much between the teams – and the score reflected that. Although Hearts could count themselves a bit unlucky not to take the 3 points, games like this can go “either way” (as the pundits say) – and I just wish more fans would realise that Hearts are having to learn how to walk before they run, after 2 years of decline.
Player Ratings
Balogh – 6
Good at reading situaions when required to come out and clear 50-50 balls. An occasional poor kick out and punch.
Thomson – 6
Steady display, and provided good support going forward.
Wallace – 6
Same comments as Thomson, really
Neilson – 6
Considering he was up against battering rams Mehmet and Hamilton in a central role, he did pretty well.
Jonsson – 6
Difficult afternoon for him against the 2 big St. Mirren forwards. Got caught out of position a few times.
Aguiar – 7
Showed some lovely skills. Involved in many of the best moves.
Stewart – 6
I’ve been critical of Mr Stewart for 2 years now – but I have to admit that his current defensive role is better suited to his abilities (his poor touch and passing don’t get noticed as much there !!). Did well today, in my opinion.
Obua – 7
The games are no longer passing him by – he gets involved and shows some great skill. Probably our biggest threat going forward.
Driver – 5
Quiet first half. Saw plenty of the ball in the 2nd half, but wasn’t able to make his runs count.
Glen – 5
He was having a decent 1st half, linking up with Nade and the other midfielders well.
Nade – 7
Great ball skills and all-round effort from the big man. Although he hardly ever looks like scoring, I fear we’d be lost without him.
Kingston -…. errrr… 0
What can one say ?
Palazuelos – 4
Sub for Kingston. Contributed his normal controlled game, without much threat going forward.
Didn’t get the chance to run with the ball (which would have taken pressure off the defence). Intrigued to see the TV replay of his miss.
Poor result but not altogether unexpected. Interesting comments you have on Stewart given that most people are giving him pelters again – tend to think that he’s always everyone’s first scapegoat when things don’t go too well. Once again it would appear that our need for potency up front is glaringly apparent.