Aaron McEneff shows he's worthy of more at Hearts

Suffering from a long list of injuries, Hearts still wanted to ensure they held something in reserve in case they needed extra impetus to see them over the line in their Scottish Cup match against St Mirren.

And, Aaron McEneff proved to be that special something, once again proving his worth from the bench and adding to the body of evidence that suggests he could be worthy of more.

The teams had been battling it out for 67 minutes by the time the Irishman joined an enthralling Scottish Cup tie and there was nothing to separate them at that stage.

But, in what proved an inspired substitution, the midfielder took less than 30 seconds to turn the match in Hearts’ favour and book another Hampden Scottish Cup semi-final – their third in four seasons.

“The ball has just hit off my knee and gone in the net!" he said. “What a feeling. I’m just glad I could help the team get through to the semi-finals.”

Impressing in training, he had been pencilled into start until manager Robbie Neilson considered the lack of attacking options from the bench and gave Peter Haring the start instead, aware of the attacking drive the 26 year-old could provide as a substitute. That instinct paid off.

In the first of the cup quarter-finals, Hearts had taken control of the open and competitive tie, as Beni Baningime stabbed home his first goal for the club in the 16th minute and then Haring doubled the tally on the half hour mark. But they allowed their Paisley guests to come back at them, Eammon Brophy igniting the comeback nine minutes before half-time and Connor Ronan adding a wonder goal in the 62nd minute.

But thanks to McEneff, the visitors’ joy was short-lived and then Ellis Simms added a four five minutes from the end to give Hearts the