St Mirren were defeated by Hearts in the cinch Premiership as a Lawrence Shankland double either side of half-time saw the Buddies beaten in Gorgie.
Shankland opened the scoring not long after the half-hour mark when he headed home unmarked at the far post. He added a second quickly after the break with a stunning strike to give the hosts all the points.
Stephen Robinson made one change from the side that drew with Motherwell at The SMiSA Stadium last weekend. Alex Greive came in from the start in place of Stav Nahmani who dropped to the bench. Ryan Flynn returned to the squad after a hamstring injury and he took his place among the substitutes in place of Conor McMenamin who missed out due to illness.
The hosts were presented a decent opportunity in the opening moments of the game after breaking forward immediately after kick-off and seeing Aidan Denholm fouled by Alex Gogic. The Cypriot international was booked and Hearts awarded a free-kick in a good area 20 yards from goal. Alex Cochrane took but fired his low effort well wide of the left-hand post.
There was little between the sides in the opening exchanges and Saints look to profit from slack play in the Hearts defence on 12 minutes, Jonah Ayunga got a shot away but saw his deflected effort spin into the hands of Hearts goalkeeper Zander Clark. The forward won a free-kick 15 minutes later around 25 yards from the Hearts goal after being pulled back. Scott Tanser stepped up but sent his attempt wide.
Hearts drew first blood on 33 minutes when Shankland headed home from close-range at the far post. Saints failed to clear their lines at a corner and that allowed Cochrane to swing the ball to the back stick where the unmarked Shankland was alone in plenty of space to meet it and force over the line despite Zach Hemming getting two hands on it.
Shankland scored his and Hearts' second early into the second-half with a stunning effort from the edge of the box just four minutes after the restart. The forward picked the ball up just outside the area, spun round and sent a brilliant finish into the top corner to double the home side's advantage. He could have had his hat-trick on 57 minutes when Beni Baningime robbed Richard Taylor off the ball near the penalty area and threaded the ball through to the Hearts number nine. But Shankland poked at the effort and Hemming blocked.
The Buddies came close to pulling a goal back twice within the space of a minute just after the hour mark. Gogic saw a header well saved by Clark who, at full-stretch, managed to claw the ball behind. A scramble from the resultant corner almost saw Thierry Small force home but his effort was cleared off the line by Kye Rowles.
Saints made three changes soon after with Nahmani, Toyosi Olusanya and Lewis Jamieson introduced in place of Greg Kiltie, Ayunga and Greive. Mikael Mandron and Caolan Boyd-Munce were also brought on 10 minutes later as Small and Mark O'Hara made way. But the changes couldn't see the Buddies force a way back into the match and it was Hearts who almost rounded off their afternoon with a third when a rare Hemming mistake saw the goalkeeper pass the ball straight to Jambos substitute Macaulay Tait inside the box, but the Saints number one made amends with a good save to deny the youngster.
Full-Time: Hearts 2-0 St Mirren
St Mirren: Hemming, Fraser, Gogic, Taylor, Small (Mandron 73), O'Hara (c) (Boyd-Munce 74), Baccus, Tanser, Kiltie (Nahmani 63), Ayunga (Olusanya 63), Greive (Jamieson 63)
Subs Not Used: Urminsky, Bolton, Dunne, Flynn
Hearts: Clark, Kent, Halkett, Rowles, Atkinson (Sibbick 74), Cochrane, Denholm (Tait 84), Oda (Forrest 66), Baningime, McKay (Nieuwenhof 66), Shankland
Subs Not Used: Gordon, Kingsley, Haring, Tagawa, Vargas
Referee: Nick Walsh
Assistant Referee: David McGeachie
Assistant Referee: Douglas Ross
Fourth Official: Calum Scott
VAR: Euan Anderson
Attendance: 18,717
