There were times when the home crowd rose and applauded even when a move broke down. What was more impressive was the realisation that we were outplaying Hearts despite playing with only ten men. It was one of those occasions when the ten men looked like eleven.
The result gives us a huge buffer over the chasing pack and pulls us another three points closer to Rangers. Dare we hope for a win in the midweek game against Hibs? That would put us only three points behind them just to add to their woes. The win was also a fine way to mark Stevie Hammell’s 30th birthday
An illustration of the team’s excellent league form can be seen by comparing this season’s points tally with the last few campaigns. Interesting to note that in 2007/8 we also had 45 points at this stage, we finished 3rd that season.
After 26 games :-
| Season | Points after 26 games | Final position |
| 2011/12 | 45 | ? |
| 2010/11 | 34 | 6 |
| 2009/10 | 38 | 5 |
| 2008/9 | 33 | 7 |
| 2007/8 | 45 | 3 |
Even more impressive is that we are only one point short of last season’s final total with twelve games remaining!
The next big game rolls along on Wednesday when our rescheduled game against Hibs kicks off at Fir Park. We can expect a bigger than usual crowd given our form and the inevitable swelling of numbers as the town seems awash with vouchers. We’ll miss Lasley but on paper we should be strong enough to overcome the Leith team and stretch our lead over the pack.