Victory for Hearts at Rugby Park

Kilmarnock 1 Heart of Midlothian 2

Ladbrokes Premiership – Friday 1^st February
2019 – Rugby Park

Hearts recorded their second win
of the season at Rugby Park on a night when husky dogs were staying at home in
deepest Ayrshire. First half goals from Sean Clare and Steven Naismith gave the
visitors a two-goal cushion before Killie pulled a goal back with a penalty.

Hearts
manager Craig Levein made two changes from the side that defeated St Johnstone
last Saturday. Conor Shaughnessy and Callumn Morrison came in at the expense of
Marcus Godinho and Olly Lee.

There
was a heavy snowfall in Ayrshire prior to kick-off but the artificial surface
at Rugby Park meant such an inconvenience was literally brushed aside. Nearly
800 Hearts fans headed through on a freezing cold first evening of February and
they deserve enormous credit for their magnificent support.

Kilmarnock
have been mightily impressive under Steve Clarke and Rangers were the latest
team to succumb when they lost 2-1 nine days ago. However, Hearts made a bright
start and Michael Smith had the ball in the Killie net in the 11^th
minute only for his ‘goal’ to be rightly disallowed for offside.

Hearts
took the lead seven minutes from half-time and it was a superb goal from Sean
Clare. The Englishman collected the ball in midfield, strode forward, shrugged
off a couple of challenges before drilling home a sweet shot with his right
foot which went into the net off the post. It was a brilliant finish from the
22-year-old.

Remarkably,
just five minutes later, Hearts were two goals ahead with a move straight from
the training ground. The visitors were awarded a free-kick just outside the
Killie penalty box. It was taken quickly by Clare who passed to Jake Mulraney.
The winger raced down the left before cutting the ball back for Steven Naismith
who steered it past Killie keeper Bachmann to score against the team for where
it all started for the on-loan Norwich City forward.

Hearts
looked in easy street at a ground where few teams have won in recent months,
but it isn’t the Gorgie way to do things easily. A minute before half-time, captain
Christophe Berra fouled Power in the Hearts penalty box. There was little
protest from the Maroons at the award of a penalty and Jones duly converted the
spot kick.

Levein
made a tactical switch at half-time, taking off Callumn Morrison and replacing
him with Olly Lee. It stiffened up the midfield and made Hearts harder to break
down.

As
you might expect Killie dominated possession in the second half as they chased
the equaliser but other than a cross which had Hearts keeper Colin Doyle
flapping somewhat, they never seriously threatened to draw parity.

A
brilliant result for Hearts, if not perhaps the most stylish of performances.
But the team did something they failed to do in defeats from Livingston, St
Mirren and Dundee this season – they dug out a result. And now Hearts are just
three points off second place.

Something
that will warm those Hearts supporters travelling back from darkest frozen Ayrshire.

Kilmarnock: Bachmann, O’Donnell, S.
Boyd, Findlay, Taylor (McKenzie, 78′), Power, Dicker, Tshibola, Jones, Burke
(Millar, 78′), Ndjoli.

Hearts: Doyle, Smith (Dikamona,
85′), Shaughnessy, Souttar, Berra, Bozanic, Clare, Djoum, Naismith, Mulraney
(Mitchell, 68′), Morrison (Lee, 46′).

Referee: Steven McLean

Attendance: 5,552

Top man: Sean Clare – a fine goal and he’s beginning to look more confident with every game that passes.