Kilmarnock 1 Hearts 0

By Ronnie Esplin, PA Sport

Hearts' fragile title hopes took another dent when they went down 1-0 to Kilmarnock in their Bank of Scotland Premier League clash at Rugby Park.

In a tempestuous, ill-tempered but compelling affair, which referee Steve Conroy struggled to control a times, Danny Invincibile's close-range strike less than a minute into the second half was enough to give the Ayrshire side the victory.

The Jambos, battling to the end, nevertheless lost the chance to close the seven-point gap on leaders Celtic who have a game in hand against Motherwell.

And on this evidence, it is unlikely now that Graham Rix's men will haul back that deficit on the Hoops

The game had began in sedate mood. There was a perfectly-observed minute's silence before match in honour of former Hearts chairman Wallace Mercer who had passed away during the week.

Killie defender Garry Hay drove his powerful 30-yard shot just over the bar with barely a minute gone.

In the fifth minute, as Hearts began to find their feet, stand-in skipper Paul Hartley's inswinging free-kick from wide on the right evaded the Killie defence but found no takers.

Neil McCann, quiet in the frenetic opening moments, made his first significant impact on the game in the 10th minute when his fine pass from the left found Calum Elliot but the youngster failed to connect from just eight yards out.

In the 17th minute Killie keeper Alan Combe pulled off a fine reaction save from Michal Pospisil's angled drive before the Ayrshire side survived a short burst of pressure.

McCann's reintroduction to Scottish football was cut short by David Lilley's crunching tackle on the touchline after 20 minutes which left the wide-man prostrate.

The former Dundee and Rangers player lasted until the 24th minute before being replaced by Jamie McAllister.

The match turned sour for a few minutes with some robust tackles by players on both sides threatening to send an already volatile match out of control.

Tynecastle defender Takis Fyssas' angled shot from 14 yards, after cleverly brushing past Invincible to go into the Killie penalty area, was easily saved by Combe.

In the 34th minute, Hay's curling free-kick from 25 yards had Jambos keeper Craig Gordon tipping over to concede a corner which the visitors defended with some ease.

As the half-time whistle sounded a clear cut chance worthy of the name had yet to arrive and neither side could claim dominance with any real conviction.

Yet, given the commitment on show, not many of the fans were disappointed.

At the interval Rix replaced ineffective wide midfielder Saulius Mikoliunas with new-boy Nerijus Barasa but the move backfired when the home side took the lead with less than a minute gone in the second half.

As the Gorgie side tried to reorganise themselves, Colin Nish's turn and shot inside a packed Jambos penalty area was blocked but the ball fell to Danny Invincibile who drove home from around 10 yards out.

The match immediately reverted back to the fervour of the first half and the eager Barasa was booked for a foul seven minutes into the second half for a foul on Hay.

The Jambos looked a rather ill-disciplined lot as the game descended further into a series of robust and occasionally petty skirmishes.

More importantly, as far as the Edinburgh side's title aspirations were concerned, they had still to properly trouble Combe in the Killie goal.

In the 59th minute Elliot, just six yards out, again spurned

a decent chance when he failed to connect properly from McAllister's free-kick and the ball went wide.

Killie raced up the other end and former Jambo Gary Wales should have done better than slice his shot from 14 yards past the post with only Gordon to beat.

However, despite the lack of composure on show, it was still compelling fare.

While Killie battled for their lives, Hearts, although dominating possession, looked no nearer to grabbing the equaliser.

In the 85th minute Invincibile came close again when he thundered a volley from the edge of the Hearts penalty area just over the bar.

Then, in another Killie counter-attack, Nish took a square pass from Wales but somehow hit the post from five yards out with the empty net at his mercy.

Fortunately for the lanky hit-man, the home side were not made to pay for that incredible miss.

Teams

Kilmarnock Combe, Ford, Wright, Lilley, Fowler, Johnston, Wales, Invincibile, Hay, Nish (McDonald 90), Naismith.

Subs Not Used: Bell, Locke, Murray, Di Giacomo, Campbell, Jamie Adams.

Booked: Naismith, Hay.

Goals: Invincibile 46.

Hearts Gordon, Neilson, Berra, Webster, Fyssas (Cesnauskis 72), Mikoliunas (Barasa 45), Brellier, Hartley, McCann (McAllister 23), Elliot, Pospisil.

Subs Not Used: Banks, Wallace, Thorarinsson, Johnson.

Booked: Neilson, Barasa, Elliot, Brellier.

Att: 8,811

Ref: S Conroy (Scotland).

Taken from sportinglife.com