NEIL Critchley suffered his first defeat as Hearts boss in a frustrating 2-1 loss against Kilmarnock in the Scottish Premiership on Wednesday evening.
Hearts opened the scoring through Alan Forrest before the break, but two goals in five minutes in the second half from Kyle Vassell and Matty Kennedy sealed the victory for Derek McInnes’ Kilmarnock side.
Hearts now find themselves in the unenviable position of rock bottom in the Scottish Premiership table.
Prior to kick-off, a minute’s silence was held in what was Hearts’ final home league match before Remembrance Day on November 11.
It will mark 110 years since the start of World War I and McCrae’s Battalion, which famously included 13 Hearts players.
The two captains, Hearts’ Lawrence Shankland and Kilmarnock’s Kyle Vassell, laid wreaths in the centre circle to show their respect.
It was a scrappy first half with not a great deal of quality shown from either side in the opening exchanges.
The away side had a golden opportunity to open the scoring on 18 minutes.
After a great ball from Killie winger Daniel Armstrong in behind the Hearts defence, striker Kyle Vassell pounced and poked the ball past Craig Gordon in goal – which forced a last ditch clearance from Kye Rowles.
Minutes later, Hearts midfielder Cameron Devlin tried his luck from 30 yards out. His effort took a wicked deflection off a Kilmarnock defender which left Robby McCrorie flat-footed in goal. Much to the relief of Killie, it went wide of the post for a Hearts corner.
With 71% possession, Hearts dominated the ball in the first half but struggled to break down an expectedly resolute Kilmarnock defence.
But, the home side eventually managed to break the deadlock just a few minutes before half-time.
Following a quick throw-in on the right hand side from Lawrence Shankland into Kenneth Vargas, he found Blair Spittal who played a diagonal ball across the box to Alan Forrest.
The winger smashed one past Robby McCrorie at the back post for his second goal of the season for the Tynecastle outfit.
Kilmarnock had a great chance to hit back at Hearts straight away from a free kick though.
The ball was whipped into the box from Armstrong on the left, and defender Corrie Ndaba got up high to reach it- but his header went well wide of Craig Gordon’s goal in the end.
It was a quick start to the second-half for Hearts, who looked to capitalise on the momentum from their opening goal.
Shankland clipped a ball to the back post towards Vargas, who was unable to make a clean connection to get his shot off.
The away side got their equaliser on 58 minutes when a ball was lobbed into the Hearts box, which found striker Vassell.
He tried to outmuscle Frankie Kent who managed to get a block in, before the ball found its way to Kennedy in the six yard box.
His scuffed first-time effort caught out Gordon and looped into the net for 1-1.
Hearts were wide open in midfield following the equaliser, which Killie capitalised on just minutes later.
In the 63rd minute, a long-throw was launched into the Hearts box. The defence struggled to clear their lines, and the ball found its way to Vassell, who held off Kye Rowles and turned quickly to strike past Gordon into the bottom right corner for 2-1.
The two quick-fire goals stunned Hearts, who struggled to create any real chances after going behind- much to the credit of the Killie defence.
Hearts’ best opportunity to get themselves level arrived in the 81st minute. Substitute midfielder Jorge Grant drove through midfield, and got the ball onto his right foot before striking from just outside of the box, but his effort was an easy save for McCrorie in goal.
The win for Kilmarnock takes them up to 6th in the Scottish Premiership, while Hearts now sit at the bottom of the table in 12th – continuing their disastrous league campaign.
Hearts will look to get back to winning ways in their UEFA Conference League match against German league side FC Heidenheim on Thursday November 7, with an 8pm kick-off at Tynecastle Park.
Hearts: Gordon, Forrester (Oyegoke 64′), Kent, Rowles, Penrice, Forrest (Dhanda 83’), Boateng, Devlin (McKay 75’), Spittal (Wilson 75’), Shankland (C), Vargas (Grant 64′)
Kilmarnock: McCrorie, Ndaba, Deas, Wright (Burroughs 69’), Mayo, Kennedy (Bainbridge 83′), Watson, Lyons, Armstrong, Marley Watkins (McKenzie 77’), Kyle Vassell (C) (Cameron 83′)
