Kilmarnock 1-0 Hearts

Neil McCann limped off 24 minutes into his second debut for Hearts, as the first half produced plenty of crunching tackles but little football.

However, Killie took the lead 30 seconds after the restart when Invincibile blasted home from 10 yards out after good work from Colin Nish.

Nish then missed a glorious chance with minutes to go when he hit the post.

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

The home side showed their intent from the start, defender Garry Hay driving 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 in-swinging free-kick from wide on the right evaded the Killie defence but found no takers.

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.

Unfortunately, McCann's reintroduction to Scottish football was cut short by David Lilley's crunching tackle on the touchline after 20 minutes which resulted in the wide-man having to limp off.

At the interval Graham Rix replaced ineffective 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, Nish's turn and shot inside a packed Jambos penalty area was blocked but the ball fell to Invincibile, who drove home from 10 yards.

The match immediately reverted to the fervour of the first half, characterised by a series of robust and occasionally petty skirmishes.

Crucially, Hearts had yet to really test Alan Combe in the Killie goal.

In the 59th minute Elliot, just six yards out, spurned a decent chance when he failed to connect properly with Jamie 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 Craig 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.

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

Taken from the BBC