Sheridan double sinks stale-looking Hearts

Tynecastle manager Paulo Sergio had made nine changes from the side which lost to Ayr United in midweek but, if anything, his team looked staler, not fresher, than they had in that League Cup match. Still looking for their first away win, they lost two goals in the SPL for the first time this season. The rest of the team came nowhere close to compensating for the shortcomings of the Hearts defence and Peter Enckelman in the St Johnstone goal was only rarely forced into making a save.

Saints manager Derek McInnes, whose team had themselves been knocked out of the League Cup last week, made just three changes to his starting line-up from that loss to St Mirren. A club which has more stability of selection is often seen to have an advantage, but in this case the difference in the number of alterations cannot in itself explain the disparity between the teams.

This was close to Sergio's strongest line-up. Danny Grainger and Marius Zaliukas, the only two retained from Wednesday, are part of his first-choice back four and he was able to bring back everyone who was rested for the Ayr visit. McInnes, by contrast, was without Frazer Wright and a number of longer-term absentees, notably Jody Morris and Murray Davidson - yet it was his team who were sharper and smarter.

It is a consolation for Sergio that Hearts are clearly capable of playing far better and they can still be expected to raise their game for the visit of Celtic on Sunday. But their inconsistency should be a worry for the manager, as it suggests that either his ideas about the style they should be playing have yet to sink in - or, worse, that they have sunk in but his current squad are incapable of implementing them properly.

The Portuguese boss argued afterwards that his team had been let down by a couple of defensive lapses and had otherwise been the more positive team, but his analysis was hard to share.

Hearts did press for some time once they were two goals down, as St Johnstone were able to sit back and play on the break, but the only other period in which the sides competed more or less equally was the opening ten-minute spell.

Off-target shots from Ryan Stevenson and Chris Millar were all the teams had to show for their tentative efforts in that early phase but, as the first half wore on, St Johnstone gradually got the measure of the opposing defence. Liam Craig tested Jamie MacDonald with a well-struck drive following a free-kick, and the goalkeeper did well to tip the ball over the bar. The free-kick had been awarded after Andy Webster had pulled back Francisco Sandaza, an incident for which the centre-half became the first booking of the afternoon, and which highlighted the trouble the Spaniard was beginning to cause the Hearts defence.

It was a warning which was not heeded. Ten minutes later, that defence was left exposed as Sandaza slipped a ball through to Sheridan. MacDonald came out of his goal to narrow the angle, but could not even get a hand to the ball as Sheridan shot home from just inside the area. Craig should have made it two with a first-time shot after being played in by Sheridan ten minutes before the break. Hearts played more brightly after that let-off for them, and came close to equalising just before half-time when Stevenson headed wide at the back post after a Grainger corner from the right.

David Templeton came on for the second half in place of Webster, with Adrian Mrowiec dropping back from midfield to defence. But, while the personnel had changed in the Hearts back four, their susceptibility to the thrusts of Sandaza remained unaltered, and they were soon two goals down.

Jamie Hamill was the initial culprit as Sandaza nipped in to steal the ball from him, but his fellow-defenders also looked flat-footed as they failed to track Sheridan's run. The Irishman got to his fellow striker's pass just before MacDonald, rounded the keeper, then slotted home.

Hearts had still not had a shot on target, and with Templeton doing little or nothing to stretch the St Johnstone defence, it was hard to see how Sergio's team could come close to getting back on terms. With quarter of an hour to play, Stevenson came close to pulling one goal back with a close-range header, but Enckelman, who seconds earlier had fumbled a shot, recovered well. Hearts kept pressing until the end, but without the pace or invention needed to trouble a defence which remained composed and well organised.

St Johnstone: Enckelman, Maybury, Craig, Moon, Anderson, McCracken, Millar, Mackay, Sheridan (Haber 84), Sandaza, Gibson (Robertson 72). Subs not used: Mannus, Higgins, Durnan, May, McIntosh.

Hearts: MacDonald, Hamill, Webster (Templeton 46), Zaliukas, Grainger, Black, Mrowiec, Obua (Smith 63), Stevenson, Taouil, Elliott (Robinson 71).
Subs not used: Balogh, Jonsson, Skacel, Novikovas.

Referee: S O'Reilly
Attendance: 2,770

Taken from the Scotsman