Scottish Cup: Controversy as Hearts win replay

HEARTS last night progressed to their first Scottish Cup semi-final since they won the competition in 2006. But the Tynecastle side’s 2-0 quarter-final replay win in Paisley that will bring a last four-confrontation with Celtic did not pass without a talking point. HEARTS last night progressed to their first Scottish Cup semi-final since they won the competition in 2006. But the Tynecastle side’s 2-0 quarter-final replay win in Paisley that will bring a last four-confrontation with Celtic did not pass without a talking point. St Mirren manger Danny Lennon was left to rue referee Stevie O’Reilly’s failure to play advantage when he awarded a 13th-minute penalty to the home side for a handball by Marius Zaliukas that was immediately followed by Nigel Hasselbaink knocking the ball into the Hearts net. “I thought he was very, very quick to blow,” said Lennon, who described a blistering first 20 minutes from his side that yielded no return as “incredible”. “The referees have a wee safety net where they can give it three to five seconds to see if there is an advantage to be given. “There certainly was. I have watched it again and, from the ball hitting hand, to Nigel putting it in there is less than one second. That was a big decision and I felt a few went against us.” Yet, the incident would have been academic but for the fact that Jamie MacDonald then produced a penalty save from Graham Carey that Lennon described as “magnificent”. Hearts manager Paulo Sergio would not offer an opinion on whether St Mirren were unlucky not to see Hasselbaink’s effort stand but pointed out: “If we had lost a goal then we would have had time to change things around.” MacDonald’s save he claimed was an “important moment” with the award called an “unlucky penalty” to be given against his team, who took the lead with a sweet first-half strike from Jamie Hamill before a late clincher from peerless plunderer against the Paisley club, Rudi Skacel, who can now boast nine goals in his last five appearances against St Mirren. “St Mirren started better but not for as much time in the first tie at Tynecastle but we defended properly then,” Sergio said. “We started playing after the penalty and in the end deserved the victory. In the second half we controlled the game, controlled possession, created problems and defended well.” The Hearts manager praised the voluminous and voluble travelling Hearts fans. “They gave us great support and all are very happy to go to the semi-final. They were very pleased.” He also lavished praise on his counterpart Lennon. Dismissing any suggestions that he might have been miffed by the St Mirren manager’s pre-match comments about the possible injustice of Craig Beattie being enticed to Hearts ahead of St Mirren with a much higher wage which has not yet been forthcoming, as a result of the Tynecastle club’s latest delayed payroll transfer. “Danny is a fantastic guy, one of the most fantastic guys I have met in Scotland,” Sergio said. “I was speaking to him ahead of the game and understand what was said. He knows the reality and I shouldn’t really talk about it. It was Beattie’s decision to play for us. “I respect a lot Danny and there is nothing he has said about me that wasn’t respectful. There is nothing polemical about this.”