It allowed the Gorgie outfit to extend their advantage in third to 11 points. But the game did not come without its talking points, as Conor Ronan was sent off in the 23rd minute and Saints then had a penalty shout ignored when Alex Grieve went down in the box.

But the biggest gripe seemed to be the challenge made by Hearts striker Ellis Simms in the build up to the second goal.

“The sending off made a difference to the game but even prior to that I thought we were playing pretty well anyway,” said Neilson.

Referee Greg Aitken sent Conor Ronan off for his challenge on Beni Baningime. (Photo by Alan Harvey / SNS Group)

“The ref got the key decisions right. We’ve seen the tackle and it’s a stonewall red card. It’s not malicious but the boy has gone over the top of the ball.

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“For the penalty they thought they should have had, the player jumps into the challenge and looked for it.

“I know Stephen will probably see it differently but from our perspective I thought he [Aitken] got the key decisions right.

Ellis Simms scores to make it 1-0 to Hearts . (Photo by Alan Harvey / SNS Group)

“For our second goal, Simms has to challenge for it. The keeper dives at his feet and they come together but I don’t see an issue with that.”

Cammy Devlin followed up on that challenge to bury the rebound, doubling Hearts’ tally after Simms had opened the account minutes earlier.

“We’re delighted because it’s always tough coming here.

“The subs made a difference to us. We went with quality over quantity in the summer so we don’t have a big squad but today, we had Craig Gordon, Craig Halkett, Beni Baningime and Liam Boyce back. That’s the spine of our team, really experienced players and our best performers this season.

“That allowed us to have quality like Simms and [Josh] Ginnelly on the bench. So I’m delighted with the whole group.

“It’s good to win again but in the first half against Dundee recently we probably played better than we did today, so, the performances have been alright, it’s just the results we’ve been missing. But it’s good to win again.”

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Robbie Neilson has his say on St Mirren penalty claim, Hearts striker's challenge and referee's red card call

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