Hearts 4 Dunfermline 0

From ROBERT MARTIN at Tynecastle

MARTIN HARDIE'S pre-match plan was to pile more misery on Paulo Sergio's shattered squad.

He wanted Dunfermline to make the most of Hearts' wage woes and lift themselves off the foot of the SPL.

And he hoped Andrew Driver's shock exile before the game would see the men in maroon's morale sink to a new low.

What he DIDN'T expect the Pars to do was actually HELP the Jambos put all their problems to one side for 90 minutes.

But that's exactly what he and his team-mates did as Sergio's men were handed their easiest win of the season so far.

Hearts were ahead inside just two minutes when Ryan McGowan was allowed a free header from Ian Black's corner and Stephen Elliott was on hand to turn the ball home.

More comic-cuts defending allowed Mehdi Taouil to make it two after 28 minutes with a shot that appeared to take a nick on its way past Paul Gallacher.

And just when it appeared the Fifers were getting back into the game, Hardie himself gifted Hearts their third when he was caught in possession just outside his own box.

Rudi Skacel completed the rout in injury time when Gallacher could only push out fellow sub Ryan Stevenson's long-range effort.

It was a win which temporarily lifted the gloom surrounding the cash-strapped Tynecastle club.

And afterwards a dejected Hardie admitted they'd blown a chance to boot Hearts when they were down.

He said: "We know that Hearts have had their problems and we came here determined to make it hard for them.

"Before the game our plan was to try and grab an early goal and get their fans against them.

"But that went against us and they got their tails up and their fans got behind them.

"They put in a good performance at Celtic Park last week and credit to them here because they have had to put up with an awful lot going on outside football.

"But we gave them a helping hand, myself included.

"I hold my hand up for the third goal. I was disappointed with myself because at that point we were coming back into it.

"It was always going to be hard to come here and get anything but we made it easy for them.

"A wee bit of showboating from them showed their tails were up and when that's happening against you it's not very nice.

"When we come to away grounds like Tynecastle we need to be resolute and make it as tight as we possibly can and see things out.

"We didn't do that here."

The result means Dunfermline are still bottom of the SPL by virtue of a worse goal difference than Hibs.

Inverness remain a point ahead, while Aberdeen's win over Hibs moved them away from the drop zone, leaving the other three isolated.

And with the season approaching its midway point Hardie — no stranger to a relegation battle — admits he is concerned.

On the basis of this display it's Dunfermline who look doomed. Their defending was woeful and they weren't much better going forward.

But Hardie said: "We are almost at the halfway stage of the season and we're sitting bottom.

"So I think we need to realise that while it's good we have come up from the First Division to the SPL, it's now time to get points on the board to make sure we maintain our SPL status. We need to stick together as a whole unit.

"Games are going to come thick and fast between now and the end of January. We know we are going to come up against good sides.

"We have to try and get as many points between now and then so we don't become detached because if we do it will be a long hard slog.

"I think when you first come up to the SPL there is a buzz about you because it's new. But having been here before with other teams I know you hit a wee lull.

"You go from winning three or four games a month in the First Division to losing three or four in the SPL and it's not easy.

"It's important the club try and remain in the SPL.

"It's not nice to be stuck at the bottom but we're there and we need to deal with it.

"We know that we're not going to finish third or fourth or fifth.

"There are three positions in the league we feel we can tweak slightly. And if we can pick up points in the next couple of games we can get a bit of confidence back and then start looking ahead.

"We just have to stop conceding goals, it's as simple as that.

"If we can do that and then start creating chances at the other end we'll win games. If we don't create but still keep clean sheets we'll still get draws. It's simple.

"We have just got to get stuck in as a team and start making it harder for teams to score against us. Our home form hasn't been good obviously compared to last year when we were the best team in the First Division.

"But it's different gravy when you come into the Premier League. You're up against it.

"So we've got to stop conceding soft goals like we have been.

"We have to try and use a bit of nous and make sure we don't get caught out like we have been.

"And over the next five or six weeks it's imperative that we pick up as many points as we can."