St Johnstone suffered their third defeat inside a week as they were narrowly beaten by Hearts at Tynecastle this afternoon.
The home side created a hatful of chances and it was easy to see why they are currently sitting top of the Premiership.
St Johnstone battled away well and did have opportunities of their own, taking one late on, but ultimately they could have few complaints about the final result.
Saints boss Tommy Wright made three changes from the team that was beaten by Celtic in midweek in the League Cup with Matty Kennedy, Chris Kane and David McMillan coming in for Liam Craig, Tony Watt and David Wotherspoon who all dropped to the bench.
Former St Johnstone favourite Steven MacLean was named in Craig Levein’s starting team.
Both keepers were called into action early with Saints Zander Clark having to dive full length to keep out a Michael Smith 20-yarder in the second minute and then shortly after, the home side’s stopper Zdenek Zlamal had to look lively after his skipper John Souttar inadvertently diverted a Matty Kennedy cross towards his own goal.
There was a good ebb and flow to the game and it seemed only a matter of time before either side opened the scoring – and it was the Jam Tarts who did so in the 23rd minute.
An Olly Lee corner from the Hearts left was flicked on by Arnaud Djoum with Peter Haring reacting quickest to send a looping header into the top right-hand corner of Clark’s net.
Saints reacted to the setback with Blair Alston hitting a long-range shot that Zlamal had to turn away for a corner.
However, it was the home side who went up a gear as the half edged to a conclusion with Clark having to make saves from Smith, Lee and Demetri Mitchell in quick succession.
Hearts picked up from where they left off after the restart with Callumn Morrison sending a 22-yard curler just over Clark’s bar.
St Johnstone then had a great chance of their own in the 53rd minute with neat interplay between Ross Callachan and Drey Wright with the latter dragging a shot just wide of the goal.
It was the home side’s turn to threaten next with Steven Naismith hitting a fierce drive that Clark could only parry with the ball falling for MacLean but the veteran striker sent his shot over the bar.
However, the Hearts fans did not have long to wait to celebrate the second goal in the 65th minute.
Lee swung a corner in from the right with Jimmy Dunne rising highest to bullet a header past Clark for his first goal for the club.
The St Johnstone boss immediately brought Watt off the bench and the striker almost scored within seconds of coming on but his shot flew just inches wide of the target.
Saints did though grab a lifeline in the 77th minute when Watt turned provider for Callachan and the former Hearts player made no mistake, sending a low drive into the corner of the net.
However, the home side held on to take all three points.
