Kilmarnock 1-2 Hearts

A second-half brace by Stephen Elliott earned Hearts three vital Scottish Premier League points at Rugby Park.

The visitors looked the sharper but went behind in 19 minutes when Rui Miguel placed the ball past Marian Kello from 18 yards for the opener.

Jim Jefferies made three substitutions for Hearts and one of those, Elliott, fired in from 12 yards past Cammy Bell.

Then, with four minutes to play, Elliott's shot squirmed past Bell to maintain Hearts' fine run of form.

Hearts started the brighter of the two sides, both of whom have compiled impressive runs in the Scottish Premier League this season, though the visitors were eight points ahead of Kilmarnock going into this match.

The big news at kick-off was that Kilmarnock's top scorer, 16-goal Conor Sammon, had turned down a move to Scunthorpe.

Having travelled south for transfer talks and returned to Ayrshire, manager Mixu Paatelainen decided it best to leave him on the bench.

In his place came the Portuguese Rui Miguel, who broke 19 minutes of Hearts domination to put Killie ahead with a well-placed shot.

The provider was Kilmarnock's playmaker Alexei Eremenko, who dispossessed Ian Black to set up his team-mate.

Hearts striker Kevin Kyle was a favourite with the fans at Rugby Park during his time there but injury prevented Hearts boss Jim Jefferies from fielding him on his return.

Injured, too, was Calum Elliot while Ryan Stevenson was a sub as Lee Wallace, David Obua and David Templeton were given starts.

Templeton played in a deeper role, Jefferies no doubt hoping he could use his pace to run at Killie's back line. That tactic left Obua in a lone striking role but, although Hearts got a good grip of the game in midfield for long periods, the Ugandan was isolated.

The Jambos' best chance of the first half came in 32 minutes when Bouzid flashed a header by the post, getting in front of his marker to knock it a fraction past from an inswinging Black corner.

In a keenly contested match, Hearts duo Adrian Mrowiec and Eggert Jonsson were booked in the opening period, the latter for crunching Liam Kelly, while Killie's Mohamadou Sissoko was shown yellow for bringing down Templeton as he raced towards goal.

Black had the chance to test Bell with the free-kick from Templeton's felling but his weak effort was deflected out for a corner.

Jefferies introduced Elliott for Arvydas Novikovas at half-time and his patience had expired by the hour mark when he brought on Gary Glen and Stevenson for Obua and Black respectively.

Such boldness paid off when former Preston striker Elliott levelled the match with 17 minutes remaining, a clinical finish into the corner of the net from 12 yards that gave Bell no chance.
Rui Miguel is congratulated by his Kilmarnock team-mates for his opening goal
Rui Miguel is congratulated by his team-mates for his opening goal

As the match hung in the balance, Bell made a mess of saving a shot from Elliott and was horrified as the ball crossed the line.

Killie had one late chance to take their unbeaten record to seven, but Kello made a terrific save from Garry Hay's powerful free-kick.

Prior to kick-off, Jefferies had said he would judge his team's ability to make a serious challenge in the SPL after the game at Rugby Park and matches against the Old Firm.

Three points from their trip to Ayrshire means there are 11 points between them in third place and Killie in fourth.

Taken from the BBC