Hearts v St Mirren report and player ratings: Formation change, brilliant Vargas, outstanding Oyegoke, spirits lifted

The dawn of a new beginning. A fresh start in Gorgie. Neil Critchley promised in his first programme notes to give “everything for this club”.

And the Englishman will have been thrilled to get his managerial reign off to a flying start as Hearts recorded a long-overdue first Premiership win of the season at the ninth time of asking in convincing fashion.

An expectant home crowd packed out Tynecastle in their numbers and gave their new head coach a warm reception as he emerged from the tunnel before kick-off. You could sense this was very much the start of a new era.

A winning start was all that Critchley had asked for from his players just a day after celebrating his 46th birthday. He made two changes from the side that started the 3-2 defeat to Aberdeen prior to the international break with James Penrice and Beni Baningime coming in for Stephen Kingsley and the suspended Jorge Grant.

Most notably, the Englishman opted for an intriguing change of formation from a 4-1-4-1 to a more attack-minded 4-4-2, with Kenneth Vargas starting alongside talisman Lawrence Shankland up front. St Mirren were the opposition in the capital sunshine - a team notoriously difficult to break down under Stephen Robinson. However, both clubs had one thing in common heading into this clash. A poor run of domestic form, so the stakes were at an all-time high in Edinburgh.

The Jambos kick started Critchley’s tenure with an almighty bang to move off the foot of the table. They looked sharp from the outset, moving the Buddies backline around every time they broke forward.

After a positive opening ten minutes from the hosts in which there was plenty of encouraging combination play around the edge of the visitors penalty box, the deadlock was broken following a well-worked, intricate team goal. Baningime drove through the middle of the park and rolled the ball into Shankland’s path. With his back to goal, the Scotland international took a smart first touch to flick the ball over the retreating Saints defence with the outside of his boot for Vargas to latch onto and slide low under the keeper from six yards out.

It marked the first time Hearts had led in a domestic game from the outset this season. And it was almost 2-0 minutes later when Shankland rather selfishly dragged an effort wide of the target, with Yan Dhanda available to receive a pass as he raced into the box on the overlap.

Matter not. The home side continued to dominate proceedings. A teasing Dhanda free-kick from wide on the right was deflected across the box and was met by the unmarked Kye Rowles at the back post. The Aussie defender wasn’t able to get the cleanest connection on the ball, firing into the side-netting after 35 minutes.

St Mirren had plenty of ball possession but did very little with it, rarely posing a threat in the final third. Their best chance of the first-half came from a corner when Scott Tanser’s delivery was headed narrowly wide of the mark by Crystal Palace loanee Killian Phillips at the back post.

Vargas’ goal would prove the difference at the interval, but Hearts looked in the mood to increase their slender lead. And it didn’t take long for that to happen. Less than two minutes into the second half, Daniel Oyegoke received the ball on the right midway inside the visitors half. With plenty of time and space to weigh up his options, the full-back checked inside before curling a magnificent 25-yard strike beyond the outstretched Ellery Balcombe in off the left-hand post for his first goal in a maroon jersey. An early goal of the season contender.

St Mirren then almost conceded a quickfire third goal when stopper Balcombe’s blunder saw him fire the ball into Blair Spittal’s midriff before deflecting it himself towards his own goal. But he managed to recover in the nick of time to clear the danger.

The visitors had offered next to nothing in the final third and never looked like staging a comeback, despite a raft of substitutions made by visiting boss Stephen Robinson. Hearts also rang the changes with academy product Adam Forrester showing up well after entering the fray just beyond the hour mark for goal scorer Oyegoke.

Craig Gordon - fresh from starting both games for Scotland during the break - was eventually called into action with 15 minutes remaining. Brave goalkeeping saw the 41-year-old dive towards the edge of his six-yard box to stop a low delivery from reaching Roland Idowu, but he took a sore one in the process and required from treatment before getting back to his feet.

Things went from bad to worse for Saints when another dangerous Dhanda’s free-kick was nodded back across goal by Frankie Kent. A goalmouth scramble ensued before 17-year-old James Wilson found himself in the right place to tap home with four minutes left to play.

And a five-star performance from Critchley’s men was topped off deep into stoppage time. Playmaker Spittal collected a pass from substitute Cammy Devlin, looked up to see Balcombe off his line picked his spot with a sumptuous curling effort from the edge of the box to complete the rout and consign the Paisley out to their third straight Premiership defeat. This result will undoubtedly give Hearts fans a much-needed lift ahead of a crucial Europa Conference League tie on Thursday as they leapfrogged rivals Hibs in the table on goal difference. That fabled new manager bounce is already having the desired effect.