St Johnstone secured a deserved point against Hearts at McDiarmid Park this afternoon with this hard-fought 0-0 draw.
It was a game with no shortage of perspiration but missing much in the way of inspiration.
Saints went into the match looking to build on last week’s fantastic 3-1 victory over Rangers at Ibrox with Hearts also buoyed by their record-ending win against Celtic at Tynecastle 24 hours later.
However, both sides seemed to be suffering a hangover from those notable results as they cancelled each other out in the first half at McDiarmid with chances few and far between.
There was little in the way of real quality in the final third although Joe Shaughnessy did come close with a header.
The second half followed a similar pattern to the first but Saints had a close shave when Steven Anderson sliced a cross towards his own goal with keeper Zander Clark coming to his rescue with a vital save.
There were then great chances for the Jambos’ Kyle Lafferty and home sub David Wotherspoon but neither was taken.
Hearts were then reduced to 10 men in the 78th minute when 16-year-old Harry Cochrane picked up his second booking of the afternoon for a late challenge on Blair Alston.
