St Johnstone 2 Hearts 3 – Happy ‘homecoming’ for Zander Clark as Perth record overturned by Jambos in five-goal thriller
ZANDER CLARK made his Hearts debut in place of stricken Craig Gordon.
And there were more happy McDiarmid Park memories for the keeper as the Jambos saw off St Johnstone to record their first Premiership win in Perth for 12 years.
The ex-Saints stopper, instrumental in their double cup success back in 2021, was beaten by a Stevie May penalty and a late Jamie Murphy strike but his new team-mates did enough at the other end to secure three points - and move above stuttering Aberdeen into third place.
Lawrence Shankland’s penalty, his 16th goal of the season, put them on their way, before strikes from Alan Forrest and sub Barrie McKay secured the victory.
Saints, who saw Graham Carey miss a penalty before May scored his early in the second half made the Jambos sweat with a goal from sub Murphy ten minutes from time.
But the capital side clung on to get the job done and can now look forward to the New Year derby with Hibs.
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Hearts were left counting the cost of last weekend’s 2-2 draw with Dundee United as, in addition to Gordon, Stephen Kingsley and Craig Halkett were absent.
That meant recalls for Toby Sibbick and Kye Rowles to take their places in a re-jigged back line.
Hearts should have taken the lead after just five minutes - but Jorge Grant missed an absolute sitter.
St Johnstone had been all over the place in the opening stages and allowed Shankland, Hearts’ skipper for the night, to test keeper Remi Matthews with an angled drive.
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He did enough to stop it going in, but it rebounded for the unmarked Grant six yards out only for him to stab his effort off the base of the post and away.
Hearts then got a chance to test Matthews from the edge of the box with a free kick, awarded for Graham Carey’s sliding trip on Devlin.
That earned the Saints man a booking but he wasn’t punished twice as Alan Forrest blazed over.
But their luck ended on 11 minutes when Grant’s flick struck McGowan’s arm and despite Collum initially signalling for a corner kick, the video refs intervened.
After what seemed like an age listening to his earpiece, the whistler ventured over to look at the monitor and immediately overturned his initial decision.
Shankland stepped up to take the award and despite Matthews going the correct way to his right, there was enough power on it to send it home.
The start had been worrying for Saints, who had been so open the Jambos were able to slice through them at will.
And it should have been two on 20 minutes when more hesitant defending allowed space for Andy Halliday to turn inside Wright for a sight of goal.
He did the first part well but leaned back too much on the shot, blazing over from 14 yards.
Davidson’s night got worse on 22 minutes when Melker Hallberg crumpled to the turf with a hamstring problem and despite trying to play on, he was eventually replaced with Alex Mitchell four minutes later.
The Londoner slotted in at the back, with McGowan moving forward into the centre of the pitch.
And Mitchell did well within minutes to block a Ginnelly effort from hitting the target as Hearts launched another breakaway.
The Verdict
How the players rated...
SAINTS: Matthews 6, McGowan 5 (Wotherspoon 70, 3), Gordon 5, Considine 5, Wright 6, Hallberg 3 (Mitchell 26, 5), Carey 5 (MacPherson 70, 3), Crawford 4 (Murphy 65, 4), Montgomery 6, Clark 6 (McLennan 65, 3), May 7.
Unused subs: Parish, Brown, Phillips, O’Halloran.
HEARTS: Clark 7, Rowles 7, Sibbick 6, Halliday 7, Cochrane 6, Grant 6 (McKay 63, 4), Snodgrass 7, Devlin ,6 Forrest 6 (Smith 63, 5), Ginnelly 6 (Kio 77, 3), Shankland 7.
Unused subs: Stewart, Atkinson, Neilson, Pollock, McLuckie.
But Hearts soon doubled their lead, once again taking advantage of a huge hole in Saints midfield, to get the ball to Forrest who rode a challenge before sliding a low shot into the bottom right.
Saints could have halved the deficit following good play between Wright and May to set the striker up, but he blasted high over the bar from inside the area.
And they certainly should have with six minutes of the first-half to play as Collum and his team of officials spotted a handball by Devlin.
The Aussie went to make a block but allowed it to hit his raised arm, resulting in a spot-kick award.
But in keeping with how their night was going, Carey sent his left foot effort high, Harry Kane-style into the Hearts fans behind the goal.
That wakened the hosts up and May then broke in behind the Hearts defence but instead of shooting, opted to play in Nicky Clark and allowed the defence to clear.
The hitman got his goal in the second half, though, as he elbowed Carey off penalty kick duty.
May was the man who won it, going down under a tug by Robert Snodgrass and with Collum right beside it, there was no hesitation from the ref.
This time Saints made it count, May slamming it down the middle past his old team-mate.
They could have levelled soon after through Clark, who swivelled inside the box on a May pass but thrashed over.
That moment proved costly as Hearts extended their lead on 64 minutes through McKay, on the pitch for less than a minute.
It was his first involvement, breezing past McGowan to get a shooting angle before hammering a low drove past Matthews from 20 yards.
Saints hit back again through sub Murphy, who found space inside the area before sending a low shot past Clark into his far corner.
Robbie Neilson hailed Zander Clark's display after he came in from the cold to replace crocked Craig Gordon.
The Scotland No1 underwent surgery at the weekend after his horror leg break and Clark deputised against his old club and is in line for a derby appearance next weekend.
Neilson said: “In the summer we spoke about bringing someone in as number two who was capable of challenging.
“So when the chance to sign Zander came up we took that and he’s now got a chance to play.
"When you go into a derby it doesn't matter what the score was in the game before. It's all about who turns up on the day.
"I'm sure it will be 200 miles an hour, the place will be rocking. We have to make sure we are at it and bring our best game.
"We are [in a strong position] but it's a massive game no matter what position you're in. We have to make sure we are bang at it.
"The place will be absolutely rocking with a full house, a three o'clock kick-off which is unusual. It will be a great game and it's one that we are really looking forward to now.
"It's just about getting the players 100 per cent fit."
Neilson may have Stephen Kingsley back but will follow the concussion protocol before making a decision on the defender.
Opposite number Callum Davidson added: "It was maybe a little lesson for us tonight. I thought we were really poor for the first 25 minutes.
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"Against a team like Hearts you can’t give them a two goal head start then you decide to start playing.
"After that it was an entertaining game but we can’t play like we did in the first 25 minutes against the third team in the league and expect to win the match."
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