St Mirren-Hearts verdict: No Shankland, no problem as Jambos hit perfect ten and everyone celebrates Hibs' loss

Naismith’s men are worthy winners and despite loss, Buddies secure place in the top six

No Shankland, no problem. For the first time in the league this season, Hearts fielded a team without their talismanic striker in the line-up and still found a way to prosper as they ran up a tenth away victory of an increasingly impressive campaign.

Illness kept both Lawrence Shankland and Beni Baningime out of the line-up for this trip to Paisley and, although Hearts struggled to get into any real rhythm due to an unyielding wind, they still proved too good for a St Mirren side rarely beaten at home in recent seasons under Stephen Robinson, as a second successive top six finish demonstrates.

Hearts’ stomach for the fight in contests like this has been questioned in the past but they stepped up here, snapping into tackles and showing an eagerness to win every second ball. For a team with relatively little to play for – only the mother of all collapses will prevent them from finishing third – their spirit was commendable, the sort of response Naismith had called for pre-match when he warned that coasting through to the summer wouldn’t be acceptable.

Hearts' Jorge Grant celebrates with Kenneth Vargas and Alan Forrest after scoring to make it 1-0.

Hearts round off their pre-split fixtures at home to Livingston next weekend before that Scottish Cup semi-final with Rangers that will define the remainder of their season. They required a bit of a helping hand from St Mirren to land this victory, Marcus Fraser conceding a first-half penalty that was knocked in by Jorge Grant before Mikael Mandron was credited with an unfortunate own goal to send Hearts two in front. St Mirren got a goal back through Toyosi Olusanya but it was Hearts who looked more likely to score again, with the impressive Kenneth Vargas – leading the line in Shankland’s absence – and Cammy Devlin among those who passed up decent chances to score.

News that Hibs had been beaten at home was greeted warmly by both sets of supporters in the closing stages. A sell-out home crowd had filled three stands hoping to see their team clinch a top-six finish on their own merits but, just like last year, they needed help from others to make it a reality. St Mirren rarely got going here but they have rarely slipped out of the top half of the table at any point in another impressive campaign that will again have covetous eyes looking at the job Robinson is doing in Paisley and wondering what he might be capable of with greater resources behind him.

Robinson’s greatest strength has been recruiting workaday journeymen like Richard Taylor, Olusanya and Mandron and drawing something far greater from them than had seemed possible. European football will be the next target although this defeat – compounded by another Kilmarnock win – means they will likely need to claim fifth place and hope Aberdeen don’t win the cup final.

This was an afternoon ruined by the weather. The sight of corner flags bending to the horizontal spoke to the extent with which Storm Kathleen shaped proceedings. Neither side could get any productive passages of play going, with every high ball swaying this way and that and passes regularly scooting away beyond their intended target and out of play. It was entertainment but only for those with a predilection for schadenfreude.

Vargas led the Hearts line well in Lawrence Shankland's absence.

Neither side had created anything even remotely resembling a goal-threatening chance when Hearts were awarded a penalty after 32 minutes. Fraser slid in with his arm raised to block a Vargas shot and it wasn’t long before VAR was instructing referee Alan Muir to come over to take another look for himself. Muir didn’t need to watch too many replays to decide it was indeed worthy of a spot kick and Grant calmly deposited his shot in the centre of the net.

The teams coped marginally better with the conditions after the turnaround, although both managers would have been pulling their hair out with the number of hopeful high balls still being launched forward with little restraint. Just as with their opener, Hearts’ second goal owed a lot to St Mirren misfortune. Alex Cochrane’s corner was knocked back across goal by Alan Forrest before being turned in by Mandron under pressure from several Hearts predators.

Olusanya’s terrific solo effort – running from the halfway line before finishing well under pressure – gave St Mirren a lifeline and they thought they had earned themselves a late penalty when Aidan Denholm brought down Conor McMenamin. VAR again sent Muir to the screen but this time he stuck with his on-field decision. The full-time whistle from Easter Road, however, helped put this loss into perspective.

• Hearts reaction: Steven Naismith says stereotypical question was answered, fantastic win, St Mirren can breathe