St Johnstone 1-2 Hearts

Mark Atkinson reports from Hearts’ win over St Johnstone at McDiarmid Park.

Transcript

00:00Good afternoon from McDermott Park, Perth, where it's finished. St Johnstone have won

00:06Hearts 2 in the William Hill Premiership. Big win for the Jambos, given that Hibs, Aberdeen,

00:12Dundee United and St Mary had all won the previous day, the teams who are directly above

00:17them in the fight for European football on top six places. They needed a response against

00:22a St Johnstone team fighting for their lives at the bottom of the table, and after a pretty

00:25miserable start to the game, they provided it. The key players at both ends of the pitch,

00:30Elton Kabangu, their own lone striker from USG, scoring twice, and Craig Gordon, the

00:34veteran 42-year-old goalkeeper. Continuing an excellent season with a really important

00:40save when the game was finally poised at 1-1, he made himself very big and stopped Sam Curtis

00:45from five yards out. Kabangu, seventh of the season now, missed a lot of chances last time

00:51out against Rangers, but he was far more clinical here. His opener in the 36th minute,

00:56a really good example of good timing, running into the box and converting Lawrence Shankland's

01:00cross shot. And then his winner, a really nice, crisp, left-footed finish after more

01:05good work from Shankland, only six seconds after Gordon had made that important save.

01:11St Johnstone huffed and puffed, but to be honest, they really looked like getting a

01:15leveller towards the end. Their best moment came when Dre Wright hit it in off the inside

01:20of the bar with about 15 minutes to go, but it was correctly chopped off for offside.

01:25Hartz didn't have too many issues seeing the game out. And it sets them up nicely for a

01:29really big week. They take on Samirin on Wednesday at Tyne Castle. If they win that, they go

01:33above them and into the top six before they head across the city to take on Hibbs, who

01:38currently are in fifth place and are in excellent running form themselves. They really are at

01:43the business end of the season, and Hartz head coach Neil Critchley, who has done so

01:47well to rejuvenate Fortunes, will now hope for an extra push as they try and get into

01:52those coveted spots above them. Simo Balacarri, St Johnstone manager, his team are still six

01:57points adrift at the bottom of the table and will really hope to get some important victories

02:02out of Ross County and Dudley, the teams who are above them in the next couple of matches.

02:07Two teams, you feel, going in slightly different directions. It finished here. I'm Ed Devon

02:11Park, St Johnstone 1, Hartz 2.