Heart of Midlothian 1-3 Kilmarnock

From Hearts Media at Tynecastle.

A Cillian Sheridan hat-trick condemned Hearts to a 3-1 defeat against Kilmarnock on Saturday afternoon, denying the Jambos a third win in the space of a week.

John McGlynn refrained from making any changes to his side following their midweek cup win against Livingston, as young Callum Paterson once again lead the attacking line, with Scott Robinson deployed in the attacking midfield role.

Kilmarnock had enjoyed rich pickings at Tynecastle in recent years, but found themselves under pressure for the first half hour as the home side pushed forward in numbers.

Ryan McGowan cut inside from the left on 17 minutes before teeing up Novikovas inside the box, but the Lithuanian failed to connect properly as he swept the ball high over the bar. The latter was involved again minutes later, this time delivering a pin-point cross for Paterson, but the youngster failed to connect from close range.

Instead it was the visitors who proved clinical in front of goal, taking the lead against the run of play on 31 minutes. The Gorgie side found themselves temporarily down to ten men as McGowan received treatment on the side lines, allowing James Dayton to swing in an inviting cross from the left which was steered into the bottom right corner by Cillian Sheridan.

The Irishman was on hand again five minutes after the restart as he beat the offside trap to race clear on the right. With Danny Grainger trailing behind him, he cut inside the box before calmly rolling the ball past Macdonald into the far corner.

His hat-trick was completed on the hour mark as a seemingly harmless free-kick from Dayton was spilled by Macdonald, leaving Sheridan with the easy task of poking the ball over the line from a couple of yards out.

The Jambos continued to push forward, but were unable to find their rhythm as the Ayrshire side comfortably protected their lead.

With minutes remaining, however, Captain Marius Zaliukas leapt to head a corner into the bottom right corner, but the Jambos failed to add to their tally as Killie saw out the remaining minutes to claim yet another victory at Tynecastle.

Hearts: Macdonald; R.McGowan, Zaliukas, Barr, Grainger; Driver (Carrick 73), Taouil, Stevenson, Novikovas, Robinson (Sutton 56); Paterson. Subs not used: Enckelman, D.McGowan, McHattie, Webster, G.Smith.

Kilmarnock: Letheren; Fowler, O'Leary, Nelson, McKeown; Racchi (Johnson 86), Kelly (Winchester 86), Pascali, Dayton (Johnston 75); Harkins, Sheridan. Subs not used: Jaakkola, Boulding, McKenzie, Pursehouse.

Referee: Bobby Madden

Top man: Mehdi Taouil

Taken from the Scotsman