HEARTS 4

RANGERS 2

BARRY FERGUSON sat on the bench and watched Hearts bury Rangers up to their necks in trouble in 45 stunning minutes.

By the time the Ibrox skipper got stripped for the second half he couldn't have dug them out of it with a JCB.

The resurgent Jambos swamped Gers from the first minute, bristling with an aggression and hunger they haven't shown in months. The league leaders just couldn't cope with them.

And by the time Andy Driver and Ibrahim Tall fired Hearts two up inside 26 minutes there looked to be no way back.

Ferguson - rested in favour of debut boy Amdy Faye - instantly sparked a comeback when he came on by winning a penalty for Daniel Cousin to bury. However, Hearts just upped the ante again.

Michael Stewart's penalty and Kestutis Ivaskevicius's low drive iced the cake and by the time DaMarcus Beasley grabbed a consolation second. Gers looked like a team who wanted the final whistle to go 15 minutes early.

They can only hope the prospect of a Champions League opener at home to Stuttgart on Wednesday lifts them - and that the return of their skipper to the starting line-up helps restore something like a shape to the team.

It's a Catch 22 for boss Walter Smith. He knows Ferguson only has one free midweek between now and Christmas if he plays every game for club and country.

But if this is what happens when he leaves him out? To be fair it can't all be laid at his doorstep. There was no predicting Carlos Cuellar would have his worst game in a light blue jersey or that Beasley would run a mile from the action in the middle of the park. Lee McCulloch wouldn't have done that.

Hearts were also on top of their game against a side they had only beaten twice in 37 attempts.

But the bottom line is Rangers were a disaster in the first half.

Out-fought and out-thought in every area of the park.

Hearts' 4-2-3-1 was giving them all kinds of problems in the middle of the park - and the Jambos were on the front foot from the off.

Audrius Ksanavicius started the game the way he finished against Scotland last weekend - causing huge problems floating about off the front. He cracked in a 20-yarder after 10 minutes and it brought a fine save out of Allan McGregor.

Ksanavicius was at the heart of The move that led to Hearts' opener three minutes later - although a blunder by Cuellar probably had more to do with it.

The Spaniard's attempted tackle fed Driver on the left and he sent a screamer flying across the keeper into the far corner with the help of a nick off Alan Hutton.

It sent Tynecastle tonto - and 13 minutes later the place went further into orbit when Tall made it two. The defender's shot from 18 yards flew off Cuellar's boot and looped up and over a helpless McGregor.

"Champions League? Yer having a laugh" rang round the stadium - and Stuttgart will be if Rangers play like this in the first half on Wednesday.

You could see their frustration boiling over as well. Cuellar escaped a booking twice with two bad tackles from behind while Beasley was lucky he only saw yellow in a handbags clash with Robbie Neilson.

Kevin Thomson was cautioned and Davie Weir got away with constant backchat to ref Mike McCurry in the middle of an ongoing battle with Christian Nade. You knew Rangers would never survive the break unchanged - the hard bit for Smith would have been narrowing down the targets for the hook.

Faye was a stick-on as the game passed him by. Ferguson took his spot while Kris Boyd was the other casualty. The Scotland striker made way for Jean-Claude Darcheville after one of those halfs where he contributed zilch.

For all the world it looked like the changes had worked. Within 140 seconds Ferguson was felled by Neilson and Cousin had slotted home the spot-kick.

But it was a mere bump in the road for the Jambos.

Just after the hour McCurry gave his second penalty - this time Hutton bringing down sub Ivaskevicius. The Gers full-back thought he'd taken ball before man but it was academic as Stewart's sweet spot-kick flew past McGregor.

There was nothing the keeper could have done with that but he'll be less than happy that Ivaskevicius's low 18-yarder squeezed through him for No.4.

Beasley pulled another back for Rangers in 74 minutes when his low shot from the left angle of the box flew past Stevie Banks.

But it was way too little and miles too late.

If this is what Hearts can turn in every week then they will be right up there in the mix for Europe come May. They have to prove this is their norm.

And Rangers have to prove by Wednesday it isn't theirs.

REF WATCH

MIKE McCURRY was a million miles from top form. Booked seven but still let one or two Rangers stars off easy. Rating: 5/10.