Neil Critchley era at Hearts up and running with trio of achievemnts

There was plenty of intrigue and anticipation ahead of the Englishman's first match in charge following his appointment by the club earlier in the week.

It was the ideal opening match for Critchley with Hearts putting in their tidiest performance of the campaign. Craig Gordon was rarely troubled in between the sticks and there was a clinical edge when Kenneth Vargas opened the scoring. Daniel Oyegoke doubled the lead after the break with a stunning effort.

The second came two minutes after the break. Following that, the game drifted with little of note happening but importantly little trouble for the home side. That was until James Wilson scored his first goal for the club late on.

Craig Cairns looks back at the afternoon's action from Tynecastle Park.

Critchley era up and running

Forget the discussion and debate around the appointment of Critchley which surprised, Hearts simply needed to win. They came into the match sitting bottom of the table without a league win. In fact, they had yet to take the lead in the first half of a fixture this season. And their scoring troubles meant they had yet to open a two-goal lead at any point. All of those were finally achieved with what was a professional performance in front of nearly 19,000 in Gorgie. Getting the 'new era' up and running with a positive result should do wonders for both the new management, the fans and also the confidence of the players who went into the international break on a downer after losing to Aberdeen despite playing really well. Now off the bottom of the league, thanks to Hibs (who else)and replaced by Hibs, the next run of fixtures presents a great opportunity to build on that confidence, build momentum and motor up the table while doing well in Europe. Plenty of eyes will be on the Edinburgh derby - after all, there was a late and understandable chant of 'Bring on the Hibees' - next Sunday but for now simply savour Hearts' first league win and the new manager's tenure starting well.

New shape

After being announced on Tuesday, there was plenty of interest in the new head coach's first line-up. There were to be no drastic changes, though, with consistency in team selection: two changes from the Aberdeen defeat, one enforced, Beni Baningime coming in for the suspended Jorge Grant and the unenforced saw James Penrice replace Stephen Kingsley as he did in the first half of that match. Hearts set up in a different shape, however. In the recent friendly versus Raith Rovers, Blair Spittal and Yan Dhanda played as the No.8s in Liam Fox’s 4-3-3. They played similar roles here, though with a double pivot behind them in Beni Baningime and Malachi Boateng. Full-backs Daniel Oyegoke and James Penrice provided the width. Hearts passed the ball around well in the first half, looking to and succeeding in getting down the sides of St Mirren’s narrow 4-3-3 and it was from one of these moves that Critchley’s side took the lead around 15 minutes in. There were also options to release Penrice down the left or find Kenneth Vargas – playing as part of a front two with Lawrence Shankland – in behind the Buddies backline.

Vargas on target

It has been quite the week for the Costa Rican after a frustrating start to the campaign. Vargas, sporting a black eye, has played more football than most in the squad and was yet to score going into Saturday, only highlighting his profligacy in front of goal with a horrendous miss against Aberdeen. He had his shooting boots on on Wednesday when he netted versus Guatemala and he was on target once more against St Mirren. Finding himself one-on-one with the goalkeeper once again, this time at an angle, Vargas slid the ball past the on-rushing Ellery Balacome to make it 1-0,  sparking a celebration that was equal parts joy and relief. It followed a brilliant build-up, showcasing the benefit of a strike partnership with Vargas finding Shankland with a great flick and then vice versa with a fine pass. Playing as part of the front two meant he was able to stretch the Buddies defence with runs in behind, it also gave Shankland more licence to drop deep and link play.

St Mirren struggles with high press and Spittal

The away side had very few chances and found it difficult to beat the Hearts press. St Mirren manager Stephen Robinson was getting increasingly frustrated with his side, especially forward Toyosi Olusanya who had been caught in possession for the opener. At one point, Spittal earned a loud roar of appreciation for his aggressive pressing. It was he who had earlier won the 50-50 before setting in motion the attack to open the scoring. The former Motherwell star was the best player in maroon. And he would cap off a fine display with an excellent low effort with his left foot into the bottom corner in stoppage time.

(Image: Mark Scates - SNS Group)

There was one threatening moment, late in the second half as St Mirren enjoyed a period of pressure. Kalvin Phillips had been left wide open at the back post for a corner but Frankie Kent got across in time to put him off. Spittal almost forced a comedy moment in the second half, again through pressing, when on the edge of the opposition box, the St Mirren keeper kicked it off the Hearts midfielder before scrambling back to prevent a total embarrassment.

Oye-dancer

The start to the second half could hardly have been better. St Mirren had barely had the chance to get a feel for their half-time double-substitution or change of shape before Oyegoke curled in a beautiful effort off the far post. Whereas the first was a lovely passing move, the defender collected the ball in an innocuous position before running to the edge of the box unopposed and letting fly. Overall, the defence deserves a special mention, especially the central defensive pairing of Kent and Kye Rowles, who between them cleared everything, often finding one of their own players when doing so. Robinson made another three subs on the hour before the Hearts manager made any of his own. Adam Forrester and Alan Forrest were introduced in place of Oyegoke and Shankland in a switch to 4-2-3-1. It came after St Mirren had gained a foothold with their change in formation. The two subs were involved right away in two moves down the right and carried a threat down that side for the rest of the half. By the time Hearts put a gloss on the result with their third, Wilson had replaced Vargas and the 17-year-old scored his first goal for the club – a tap-in after Kent’s header back across goal was not cleared. It was perhaps notable that it was the teenager rather than other experienced players on the bench, namely Liam Boyce, who was chosen to replace Vargas.