Kilmarnock 1-0 Heart of Midlothian

Liam Kelly's first half penalty condemned Hearts to a 1-0 defeat at Rugby Park on Boxing Day.

Despite more than matching their opponents throughout, the Jambos were undone when Andy Webster brought down James Dayton midway through the first half. Kelly buried his penalty into the bottom left corner and Killie duly hung on to secure the three points.

Hearts made just one change to the side that beat Dundee United on Sunday, with Medhi Taouil replacing Dylan McGowan in central midfield.

Sticking to their 4-4-2 formation, The Jambos looked settled as they made a decent start to the game, with Andy Driver sending a shot over the bar inside the first two minutes. Up the other end, Ryan McGowan produced a superb block to deny Dayton on six yards after some fine play down the right by Cillian Sheridan.

It was the visitors, however, who carved out the majority of chances and John Sutton came within inches of connecting with a loose ball on ten yards after keeper Cammy Bell had pushed a Ryan Stevenson shot into his path.

The home side then got their break midway through the half as Dayton raced down the left channel, resulting in Webster pulling him down inside the box. Liam Kelly calmly stepped up to the mark and slotted the penalty into the bottom left corner to put the Ayrshire team 1-0 up.

The Gorgie side continued to pin back the hosts in the second half, with Driver in particular causing problems down the left wing. A fine run saw him cut inside his man before curling a shot inches wide of the far post.

Clear cut chances were few and far between, however, with the ball often bouncing away from Maroon feet as soon as it entered the box. Sutton nearly converted a Smith cross on the hour mark, but instead picked up a booking after colliding with keeper Cammy Bell's head as he looked to poke the ball over the line.

With fifteen minutes remaining, susbtitute Callum Paterson raced clear of the home defence and found himself with just the keeper to beat. His decision to hit an early shot backfired, however, as it rolled into the arms of a relieved Bell just as the youngster looked odds on to score.

John McGlynn moved Marius Zaliukas up front in the dying minutes as Hearts laid siege on the Killie goal, but bar a couple of long distance shots, the Jambos were unable to put the keeper to the test.

The home side survived the four minutes of injury time to seal the three win, and Hearts must now set their eyes on securing three points in Dingwall on Saturday.

Kilmarnock: Bell; McKeown, Nelson, Fowler, Sissoko; Dayton (McKenzie 81), Pascali, Kelly, Perez (Johnson 37); Sheridan, Heffernan (O'Leary 89). Subs not used: Letheren, Tesselaar, Harkins, O'Hara.

Hearts: Macdonald; R.McGowan, Webster, Zaliukas, McHattie; Stevenson, Barr (Novikovas 69), Taouil (Robinson 85), Driver; G.Smith (Paterson 63), Sutton. Subs not used: Enckelman, Carrick, Holt, D.McGowan.

Referee: Steven McLean

Top man: Andy Driver

Hearts World