Hearts ensured they kicked off the Neil Critchley era with three points as they defeated St Mirren 4-0 at Tynecastle Park on Saturday.
Kenneth Vargas had the Jambos in front after 15 minutes before Dan Oyegoke’s wonder-strike early in the second half doubled the lead, with late strikes from James Wilson and Blair Spittal adding further gloss to the scoreline.
The new head coach made two changes to the side that lined up at Pittodrie prior to the international break as James Penrice and Beni Baningime replaced Stephen Kingsley and the suspended Jorge Grant.
The Tynecastle crowd was up for this one and the men in maroon started with plenty of energy in their play. They were seeing virtually all of the ball in the opening ten minutes with wingers Yan Dhanda and Blair Spittal tucking in and allowing full backs Daniel Oyegoke and James Penrice to get round on overlaps.
Dhanda was heavily involved in the early stages out on the right flank and Buddies left back Scott Tanser was very narrow, in an attempt to help his two central defenders against Hearts’ two central strikers, allowing more space for Dhanda, and it was he who had the Jambos’ first effort of the afternoon, a well-struck volley back across goal which was knocked away from goal by Alex Gogic.
The Jambos’ early season struggles had saw them falling behind in many games so far this season, but their start in this one deserved the opening goal and it arrived on 15 minutes, in truly excellent fashion.
More than a few maroon jerseys were involved as Hearts played their way inside from the left and when Blair Spittal found Kenneth Vargas, he executed a perfect one-two with Lawrence Shankland, his first time pass sent the Costa-Rican in behind and he kept his cool to beat Ellery Balcombe from a narrow angle.
St Mirren were really struggling to get a foothold in the match, and they were perhaps fortunate not to fall two goals behind on 19 minutes as Hearts broke forward through Shankland. He had Dhanda round on the overlap, but went himself, dragging his shot wide of the far corner.
The game became a bit stop-start as we passed the half hour mark, but it continued in a similar fashion with Hearts forcing the issue in search of that second goal, Kye Rowles was next to go close ten minutes before the break. Shankland flicked on Dhanda’s free kick and the Aussie defender came steaming in at the back post but could only fire into the side netting.
Half-time: Hearts 1-0 St Mirren
Stephen Robinson made a double change at the break but before Dennis Adeniran and Elvis Bwomono had the chance to make an impact, Hearts doubled their lead with a goal of the season contender from Daniel Oyegoke.
The defender strode forward down the right before chopping inside and curling the ball expertly into the far corner and off the inside of the post to provide the men in maroon with some breathing space.
St Mirren had a bit of territory following that second Hearts goal and despite swinging plenty of balls into the box, Craig Gordon remained untroubled between the sticks.
Chances were few and far between after the interval, but Hearts should’ve added a third, ten minutes from time after a brilliant tackle from substitute Cammy Devlin got the maroon jerseys flooding forward. Alan Forrest slipped in Dhanda, but he fired into the side netting.
That third goal did arrive five minutes later as academy graduate James Wilson bagged his first goal in maroon, turning the ball home from close range after a bit of a scramble in the penalty box following a free kick from the right.
The men in maroon weren't done there either, as Blair Spittal put the icing on the cake in stoppage time, curling the ball home exquisitely from the edge of the area to round off a wonderful afternoon in Gorgie.
Hearts: Gordon, Kent, Oyegoke (Forrester, 65), Baningime (Devlin, 77), Shankland © (Forrest, 65), Rowles, Spittal, Boateng, Dhanda (McKay, 86), Penrice, Vargas (Wilson, 77)
Subs: Clark, Kingsley, Halkett, McKay, Devlin, Forrest, Wilson, Boyce, Forrester
St Mirren: Balcombe, Tanser, O’Hara, Smyth (Bwomono, 46), Kiltie (Mandron, 60), Gogic, Dunne, Olusanya (Mooney, 60), Fraser, Phillips (Adeniran, 46), van Veen (Idowu, 60)
Subs: Urminsky, Mandron, Idowu, Scott, Boyd-Munce, Brown, Adeniran, Mooney, Bwomono
