Difficult day in the capital as Saints concede five in loss to Hearts

The Buddies' return from the extended international break ended in disappointing fashion as we were well beaten by Hearts at Tynecastle.

Laurent Mendy gave Hearts the lead before Calvin Miller netted a brace, both from the penalty spot, either side of half-time. Claudio Braga scored the hosts' fourth before James McPake added a fifth on a tough afternoon for the Saints.

Craig McLeish's men were forced into a change in the warm-up as Nikolas Agrafiotis picked up an injury and had to drop out. The striker, due to make a return from injury after missing out against Dundee United, was replaced by Killian Phillips who came in from the start, while Jake Young came onto the bench.

The home side started the match on top with Miller having the first sight of goal on five minutes with thhe attacker dragging into the side netting.

Saints' first-half opportunities were limited. Phillips tried to catch Beau Reus off his line and had a go from the centre circle, but puts too much on it and sends over.

A minute later Harry Milne drove into the St Mirren box and forced a big one-handed save from Jacob Chapman. The Saints stopper had to be at full-stretch to turn over the powerful hit from the Hearts full-back.

Hearts took the lead on 20 minutes through Mendy. The midfielder headed a Miller free-kick back across the box. It fell to Mochrie who saw the ball bounce off him and fall back to the Hearts man who fired into the top corner to break the deadlock.

Hearts doubled their lead from the penalty spot just after the half-hour mark. Alex Gogic was penalised for a trip on James McPake and the Cypriot defender was shown a yellow card. Miller sent Chapman the wrong way to make it 2-0.

McLeish responded to a disappointing first-half showing by making three changes at the break. Liam Donnelly, Luke Thomas and Jake Young all came on in place of Ryan Carr, Fraser Taylor and Mochrie.

But the second-half was barely even five minutes old when Hearts were awarded their second penalty of the afternoon. James Wilson was tripped by Donnelly and Miller stepped up to score his second goal.

Hearts added a fourth on 54 minutes when Claudio Braga put his name on the scoresheet. The forward was slipped in and rounded Chapman before slotting onto the empty net.

Saints should have pulled one back almost immediately but Thomas sent over from close range after sliding in to meet Declan John's low ball from the left. Calvin Ramsay then had a chance to get the Buddies on the scoresheet on 77 minutes when he met Thomas' pass. The full-back saw his shot saved brilliantly by the strong hand of Reus.

It was Hearts who would further stretch their advantage on 80 minutes. McPake outmuscled Donnelly and lashed into the net to make it 5-0 and round off a day to forget for Saints.

Full-Time: Hearts 5-0 St Mirren