Hearts' air of invincibility evaporates

Hearts 0
Kilmarnock 2 Invincibile 29; Wales 35

POOR Robbie Neilson. A guy who rarely gets the glory he deserves or the opportunity to revel in the spotlight, even on the day of his 200th appearance and with a dinner to honour his tenth anniversary at the club scheduled for the evening, his teammates conspired to dampen the mood.

They may have emerged briskly from the tunnel to give him a guard of honour on to the pitch but once Kilmarnock joined the party, they could do nothing to offer him a milestone match worth remembering.

No wonder those who have enjoyed the highs of last season felt the need for showdown talks. That's the thing about setting high standards, you have to live up to them. Hearts have yet to do that this term.

The constant alterations to starting line ups is evident in the way the players are failing to read each other's runs or cover for each other and when things are not going smoothly, the last thing the home side needed was a couple of slips, capitalised on with two great finishes.

Those two goals, in six first-half minutes, may have come against the run of play at that time, but with Hearts devoid of the ideas or kind of goalmouth opportunities needed to redress the deficit, they were all that was needed to separate the sides at the final whistle and leave Hearts a further three points behind Celtic at the top of the table.

It had all looked more optimistic in the opening period. Gordon Greer returned to the heart of the visitors' defence, while Edgaras Jankauskas was back in the Hearts starting line up for the first time since August and it was the attack that seemed to settle quicker. But as the game progressed, Frazer Wright held Kilmarnock together at the back as the men in front of them became a more bothersome attacking force. By contrast, the Hearts attack failed to carve out enough clear-cut chances and for all the early possession and the set-piece opportunities in and around Graham Smith's box, they failed to open the scoring.

In his captain's match day column, Steven Pressley looked back at the capital derby and claimed that perseverance, attitude, resilience and spirit were four words which embodied Hearts not only in that skirmish but throughout the season thus far. By the time first he and then Mirisad Beslija had slipped to allow Kilmarnock to take a two-goal lead, there were a few other adjectives vying for a place on the list and few were flattering.

The first of those costly errors came in the 29th minute when Pressley was left grounded on the slippy surface as the tricky Steven Naismith danced by before supplying a diagonal pass to Danny Invincibile, who finished clinically on the angle.

But rather than battle back quickly, Hearts were then under more pressure as Kilmarnock attempted to turn the screw. And when they do that, even a team sitting in the top two will find it problematic given the threat Kilmarnock pose when moving forward with the courage of their convictions.

The next Hearts player left ruing the wrong studs and the ability of the visiting personnel to force quick directional changes was Beslija.

Left alone out wide left, the tracking-back midfielder lost his footing and Gary Wales in the 35th minute, allowing the former Tynecastle striker to burst into the box and unleash a shot. If Beslija's slip was fortuitous for Wales, a deflection off Christophe Berra aided him further as his effort flew past Craig Gordon.

He was still claiming it though. His first goal against his former employers, the philosophy was simple.

"If you don't shoot you don't score," he said. "Craig might have saved it but it was definitely on target."

If it was a relief for the striker, who started the match as a lone scavenger but was soon joined by David Fernandez as Kilmarnock sensed their hosts were there to be beaten, it was also a landmark result for his manager Jim Jefferies. The one-time Hearts boss had not won at Tynecastle in six years of trying and was delighted to see his side outplay and outwit a Hearts team he insists is still packed with quality.

What Hearts do seem to be lacking is the confidence and consistency they displayed this time last year. This time last year George Burley had just parted company with the club but they still looked a better bet than they did yesterday. And having been top of the table 12 months ago, they now languish eight points behind Gordon Strachan's men. They have also lost their air of invincibility on home turf.

Jefferies had sent his team out in the second half with the promise that if they kept things tight, it wouldn't be too long before the natives grew restless and pile on the pressure. That's exactly what transpired and while Paul Hartley has defended the fans' right to voice their angst, there no doubt it simply added to the desperation of the men on the pitch.

While Hearts were in the early ascendency, it was Hartley who came closest to scoring, his free kick from just outside the box dipped nicely and only a fingertip save from Smith, tipping it over the bar, denied him the opener. But it was set pieces alone which threatened Kilmarnock, who were the better passing side and more intelligent in their play.

In fact, having established their two-goal cushion, they could plumped it up further when Naismith was allowed a free header just yards from the Hearts goal-line but he was denied by the bar.

Kilmarnock had taken control, though, and there was no way back for Hearts. The fans who left miserable yesterday will be hoping the showdown talks with Ivanauskas will reap some reward and that there is still some way back in the league.

Taken from the Scotsman