Match report

Saturday, 30 January 2010
Saints stay unbeaten against Hearts

Clydesdale Bank Premier League
Saints (1) v Hearts (0)
Attendance [4,752]

ABOVE: Murray Davidson and Michael Stewart battle for the ball.

It was probably an acknowledgement of the tough schedule of fixtures that the team are in the midst of that Derek McInnes saw fit to make five changes to the starting line-up from the side that drew at Tannadice on Wednesday.

Out went Steven Anderson, Liam Craig, Peter MacDonald, Cillian Sheridan and Jody Morris and into the side came Graham Gartland, Murray Davidson, Filipe Morais, Steven Milne and Kenny Deuchar.

It was a sunny winter’s day as the teams kicked off in this latest instalment of SPL action and Saints - captained by Dave Mackay in the absence of Jody Morris and Kevin Rutkiewicz - were shooting towards the North Stand which housed a larger contingent of away supporters than would have been anticipated 24 hours earlier before their managerial changes.

Saints enjoyed the best of the play in the opening half hour of what proved to be a strangely subdued first half. As riveting and atmospheric as it had been from the word go at Tannadice three days earlier, this one was a tepid affair for the first half.

That said, Saints were the more incisive side and four times in the opening spell they got a bit of joy down the left hand side but were unable to overly trouble Hearts keeper Marian Kello.

The Slovakian did need to keep an eye on a rising shot from Chris Millar from just outside the box after Steven Milne had squared the ball to the midfielder and then, after Filipe Morais and Danny Grainger had curled efforts wide of goal, Steven Milne had the best of the chances in 13 minutes - Filipe Morais played the ball square across goal to Chris Millar and he quickly fed Milne in but his parting effort was woefully wide of goal.

The remainder of the half followed a pretty familiar pattern with Saints looking the better of the two sides going forward but too often there was one pass too many, a wrong decision or a misplaced pass.

Hearts rarely threatened and Graeme Smith had a comfortable 45 minutes compared to his exertions in the past two games.

New Hearts boss Jim Jefferies brought Andy Driver on at half-time in place of Zaliukas in a bid to pep things up and they had a great chance to get ahead in the opening seconds of the half. It came when a Jason Thomson cross bounced over Graham Gartland and fell to Gary Glen but the Hearts youngster hit it first time over the bar.

The breakthrough finally came in the 51st minute and to the relief of the Saints fans it was at the Ormond Stand end. Chris Millar took possession and put it wide to Danny Grainger and when his low cross came in, Kenny Deuchar got ahead of his marker to side foot it past Kello and into the net.

The celebration from the big striker showed just what his first SPL goal for Saints meant to him.

It was ‘more of the same’ for much of what followed with Saints enjoying plenty of possession and knocking it around well but there was frustration from the stands that a greater level of decisiveness wasn’t shown on occasions in terms of final passes and opportunities to score.

Steven Milne and substitute Cillian Sheridan were the main culprits – the loan player striking the post from a tight angle when set up by Milne.

Hearts forays upfield were mostly mopped up by a tight Perth defence, within which Gary Irvine had a fine game, and only occasionally did they see the whites of Graeme Smith’s eyes – Hearts sub Gordon Smith had a shot charged down and Danny Grainger did well to boot a great Andy Driver cross behind his own goal for a corner kick.

Saints looked reasonably comfortable as the game drifted to its conclusion but there was one late moment of drama two minutes into injury time. The ball came into the Saints box and Nade nudged it on to Gordon Smith and it looked like the youngster would undo all the good Saints work but somehow Gary Irvine managed to get his body in front of the close range shot and as the danger was cleared referee Euan Norris blew for fulltime.

A thoroughly deserved win for Saints and a more emphatic scoreline would not have flattered the players. Chris Millar, Graham Gartland and Murray Davidson were booked.

SAINTS: Smith, Irvine, Grainger, Mackay, Gartland, Millar, Moon (Sheerin), Davidson, Morais (Craig), Milne, Deuchar (Sheridan)
Subs not used: Main, Anderson, MacDonald, Reynolds

HEARTS: Kello, Kucharski, Jonsson, Obua, Nade, Thomson, Bouzid, Stewart, Zaliukas (Driver), Visconte (Cinikas), Glen (Smith)
Subs not used: Balogh, Witteveen, Wallace, Mulrooney,

Att: 4, 752

PHOTOS:

Top: Kenny Deuchar gets ahead of his marker to score
Bottom: Graham Gartland and David Obua challenge for a high ball