Hugh Murray praised the match officials at Love Street after Hearts' Michael Stewart was sent off for a kick at the St Mirren midfielder.
Referee Mike McCurry consulted with fourth official Bobby Madden before brandishing a red card several minutes after the offence.
"You've got to applaud the fourth official for taking responsibility," Murray told BBC Sport.
"The referee said he hadn't seen it and the linesmen didn't see it either."
Stewart was sent off four minutes before the interval for lashing out at Murray but the depleted visitors manufactured a 1-0 victory thanks to a late Eggert Jonsson header.
"Michael broke away from me in his own half," explained Murray.
"I was tracking him and caught the back of his foot by accident.
"He played the ball out wide and, when I came across him, he's had a lunge; a bit of a kick out at me. There was definitely contact.
"When I got up I said that to the referee but he said he hadn't seen it and then he spoke to his linesmen.
"But the fourth official has come out and seen it."
Hearts manager Csaba Laszlo was delighted to claim three points after losing Stewart but claimed he hadn't seen the incident that led to the midfielder's dismissal.
"I didn't see the situation 100%. What's important for me is that we handled the situation," he said.
"Tomorrow, we will watch the video analysis and I will look at it."
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