A nine-year unbeaten record away to Hibs may have been archived last month.
But St Johnstone still proudly hold a home one against Hearts that will stretch from an 11th to a 12th calendar year.
This was a draw that Saints can be both satisfied with and frustrated at.
Satisfied because they were back to their best in a first half that produced an opening goal for Liam Gordon.
And for the manner in which they dug in during the second period to hold on for a point after Hearts were piling on the pressure.
Frustrated because their opponents’ equaliser on 40 minutes was born of an apparent foul AND handball in the build-up.
It wasn’t the winning finish to the first quarter the McDairmid Park men were hoping for but it will suffice.
The game took 10 minutes to settle down but when it did Saints earned themselves a succession of corners.
And it was from the third of those that they took the lead.
Deadly dead-ball
Cammy MacPherson’s inswinger was aimed at the near post and after Stevie May helped it on, Gordon was in the perfect place for a far post tap-in.
It was the Perth side’s first set-piece goal in the league all season.
The high energy and pressing from the hosts had stopped Hearts from building any sort of attacking platform to work off but midway through the first half they began to gain a bit of territory.
And the shooting opportunities followed.
Within the space of four minutes Josh Ginnelly, Michael Smith and Barrie McKay all had an attempt at goal.
None of them forced a save out of Zander Clark, however.
Saints fans have longed to see their team carry more of a threat from corners and MacPherson looks like the man who will give them that much needed dead-ball danger.
Just after the half-hour he floated a ball from the East Stand side of the pitch on to the head of Jamie McCart, whose powerful header narrowly went past Craig Gordon’s left hand post.
It wasn’t just the quality of the corner delivery that had the home supporters on their feet. It was the intensity and aggression of their play as well.
That was perfectly summed up by May sprinting to charge down a Gordon clearance and then Chris Kane forcing a fine save out of the Scotland keeper from the loose ball.
Saints were certainly keeping the veteran goalie busy.
At one point he had to rush to the 18-yard line and only just managed to stop himself from handling outside the box when he got there.
Controversial equaliser
It was cruel on Saints that they didn’t go into the break ahead.
On 40 minutes Hearts won the ball in midfield but looked to have committed a clear foul on Ali Crawford in doing so (there was also a possible hand-ball) and from there Ginnelly was driving into the box in no time.
McCart could have perhaps got himself closer to the Englishman when he was about to shoot but it was a composed finish that gave Clark no chance.
It could actually have been an even more unfair half-time scoreline on Saints as two minutes into stoppage time Clark was called on to produce a stunning save to keep out an Armand Gnanduillet header.
Callum Davidson spoke about the importance of defensive stability in the build-up to this match.
He won’t be getting it anytime soon, sadly.
Both Lars Dendoncker and James Brown had to be substituted in the interval with injuries and were replaced by Efe Ambrose and Reece Devine.
The momentum was undoubtedly with Hearts now.
Early in the second half Gnanduillet was put through by Cammy Devlin and really should have scored.
It was pretty much one-way traffic at this stage and the pressing that was the hallmark of Saints’ work in the first 45 was lacking.
When they backed off John Souttar on the hour-mark he decided to shoot from distance and came close to finding Clark’s top right corner.
Any respite from the waves of Hearts attacks was welcome, especially when there was a rare Saints shot at the end of it.
Devine’s effort on 71 minutes from the edge of the box was their first of the half but Gordon dealt with it comfortably.
The last 20 minutes turned into a fairly even contest but neither side could carve out the one clear-cut chance needed for a winner.
