Hearts' Paisley pain continues as stubborn St Mirren end drought and give Celtic and Rangers hope

Miguel Freckleton was the hero in black and white, netting on 88 minutes to finally end dogged Hearts resistance after their skipper Craig Halkett was sent off just before the half-hour mark.

Three weeks ago at Tynecastle, Hearts played even longer with ten men against St Mirren and ended up winning 2-0. There was to be no repeat for Derek McInnes' men, who had an off-night.

Paisley remains a painful part of the world for Hearts to visit. This was their third trip to the SMiSA Stadium this season and they have now lost and drawn in the league, as well as exiting the Premier Sports Cup on penalties.

Ten miles east, tucked up in Glasgow, Celtic and Rangers will have smiled at St Mirren's win. Playing Aberdeen and Kilmarnock respectively on Wednesday, they can cut the gap between them and Hearts to three points with victories. It doesn't get much easier for Hearts; their next two games are against Hibs - without the suspended Halkett - and then an appointment at Ibrox.

It also cannot be understated how important this result is for St Mirren at the other end of the table. This was their first league victory since December 20 and moved the up to ninth, six points clear of Kilmarnock in the relegation play-off position.

St Mirren had the first sniff off goal from a free-kick inside two minutes, but Alex Gogic - a scorer earlier in the season against Hearts - ballooned his header over the bar despite being completely unmarked just inside the penalty box.

The Buddies had settled better and Hearts keeper Alexander Schwolow made the first of many smart stops in the first half. Declan John's effort deflected into the path of Mikael Mandron and the German keeper leapt acrobatically to turn the rising shot away.

St Mirren were going direct to strikers Mandron and Dan Nlundulu at every opportunity, and while Hearts centre-halves Halkett and Stuart Findlay were winning most of the aerial duels, it was the duo who shot their team in the foot on 29 minutes.

Hearts’ red card

Firstly, Findlay miscontrolled the ball to the left of the penalty box and lost possession to Mandron. His pass into the box was intercepted by Halkett, but he also couldn't keep control and the ball squirted away from him. With Jacob Devaney bursting into the box, the Hearts skipper swiped in to try and clear but only succeeding in felling the Manchester United loanee. It was a clean denial of a goalscoring opportunity and a red card.

Schwolow did well to parry the resultant free-kick from Killian Phillips and Mandron could not force the rebound home. Hearts boss McInnes reacted by bringing on another centre-half in Frankie Kent for winger Alexandros Kyziridis, who did not look amused by his withdrawal.

Schwolow once again denied Phillips after his shot from distance and then on 40 minutes, St Mirren did have the ball in the net. The offside flag, however, came to Hearts' rescue after Marcus Fraser converted the rebound following a Gogic header that cracked off the post. The Cypriot has strayed too far forward.

Another close shave for Hearts came bang on 45 minutes when Jayden Richardson burst past Harry Milne and was fouled by the left-back. Referee Steven McLean pointed to the spot but a VAR check deemed that the infringement took place a smidgen outside the penalty box. John's free-kick whistled just past the post and the visitors escaped into the interval with their clean sheet in tact.

Schwolow was at it again two minutes after the restart with another save, this time throwing himself in front of a Mandron effort from close range. At the other end, Hearts had a rare sight of goal on the counter, but Claudio Braga's shot was too weak and Shamal George held comfortably enough.

It did start Hearts' best period of the match. St Mirren had grown frustrated at hammering away at the visitors - now in a back five - without success. Forwards Braga and Landry Kabore were causing consternation. The sold-out away end became noisier, perhaps sensing that there was something here for them.

Both teams turned to their bench in search of inspiration. St Mirren in particular had run out of ideas, giving away too many cheap fouls. New striker Kion Etete came on, another beanpole striker as the Buddies hoped to batter through an increasingly confident Hearts rearguard. They had another ten minutes to hold out.

Alas, the dam finally broke. The goal came on 88 minutes from a corner. Freckleton timed his run perfectly to glance a John delivery home. It was the most simple of goals to unpick what had been an impervious Hearts defence.