Neil Critchley got life as the new Hearts boss off to a flier as his side swept aside a poor St Mirren team. From minute one the home side looked dominant with the Paisley side looking shaken. Charles Dunne made a number of clearances along with a block in the six-yard box by Alex Gogic keeping the Jambos at bay for the opening stages of the half. It wasn’t long until the Edinburgh side opened the scoring with some fine interplay between Lawrence Shankland and Kenneth Vargas with the latter, who was a threat throughout, poking the ball past Balcombe. St Mirren looked like a side void of confidence as Hearts continued to pile the pressure on with Kye Rowles hitting the side netting from a corner. St Mirren returned this fate as Killian Phillips followed in a corner where the side netting came calling yet again. The home crowd roared their side on, and the new manager bounce looked in full flow, but they just couldn’t find a 2 nd goal before the referee drew the half to a close.
Half Time: Hearts 1-0 St Mirren
“Start as you mean to go on” must have been the message for the Jambos as it took less than 5 minutes for them to double their lead. 2 half time changes from St Mirren saw them revert to a familiar 3-5-2 but this didn’t stop Oyegoke firing a spectacular shot past Ellery Balcombe to open his Hearts account. The right back received the ball at the edge of the box after a positive pattern of play from the home side and his effort came off the post and, to his delight, into the back of the net. Hearts kept knocking at the door with Yan Dhanda causing havoc for the St Mirren defence with seemingly every attack coming through him. Robinson decided to twist on the hour mark and used the remainder of his changes, including 16-year-old Evan Mooney making his debut, who would be the only positive to take away from the Paisley side today. The youngster looked bright and linked play well, but the ball just wouldn’t fall in a positive position to a player in sky blue. St Mirren ended the game with no shots on target and with 4 minutes to go, Hearts academy graduate James Wilson bundled the ball home after Balcombe was caught in no man’s land from a free kick. 3 became 4 in added time with Blair Spittal getting his second of the campaign.
Full Time: Hearts 4-0 St Mirren
Hearts look ahead to a Conference League clash against Omonia on Thursday after finally coming off the foot of the table. They swap places with their Edinburgh rivals Hibernian ahead of the sides’ clash next weekend. Meanwhile, it is now a run of 1 win in 11 games for Stephen Robinson’s men who go to Ibrox next week in search of a change in fortunes.
Standout Performances
Yan Dhanda- the ex-County man produced a fine performance and drove the home side forward. His pace and trickery caused problems for the St Mirren back line. James Penrice- the full back was solid in nullifying any threat from Greg Kiltie and Toyosi Olusanya. He looked a threat going forward and put in several dangerous crosses for the front line to get on the end of. As the weeks go on the 25-year-old looks like a steal for the Jambos as he continues to impress in maroon.
Tactical Analysis
Stephen Robinson continued with a 4-3-3 but it was apparent some players didn’t suit this system. An animated Robinson was met by a puzzled Olusanya who just didn’t look comfortable in his role as a right winger. The striker was promptly moved out to the left-hand side where he got slightly more joy, but it was no surprise to see the away side go back to to their trusted 3-5-2 for the 2nd half.
Neil Critchley countered the 4-3-3 with a narrow 4-4-2. This exposed St Mirren’s full backs with the home side able to overload in the wide areas 2v1. This was effective in giving Vargas and Dhanda freedom to roam and create attacking opportunities.