Steve Lomas has questioned referee Brian Winter’s decision to award Hearts a last-gasp penalty in their Scottish Cup tie.

Jamie Hamill found the net to force extra time from the spot in the dying seconds of Tuesday night’s match, after Suso Santana was adjudged to have been fouled by Alan Maybury.

Marius Zaliukas then netted to send Hearts through to the last eight, where they will face St Mirren.

Lomas though was left to rue the decision of Winter to give his side’s opponents a lifeline, but was proud nonetheless of the performance of his team.

"We asked the players for a performance and we got that for sure, the lads were 10 seconds from having the match won," said Lomas.

"We didn't get the luck, whether you say it's opportunistic from Santana, I don't know, but it's a very soft penalty.

"I'm not going down the line of saying players cheat, but what I would say is Alan Maybury can't move and he falls right into him.

"It's an unbelievable call by the referee and he must have been 100% sure he got it right, but I would like to see him watch it again on television."

IN DETAIL

• Match report: St Johnstone 1-2 Hearts (AET)