Hamilton Academical 1-2 Heart of Midlothian

Ross Callachan (left) opened the scoring with his first Hearts goal

Two first-half goals were enough for Hearts to beat Hamilton Accies and give Craig Levein the first win of his second spell as manager.

Ross Callachan scored his first goal for Hearts early by tapping in Michael Smith's low cross.

Kyle Lafferty's sixth of the season extended the lead after Giannis Skondras fouled Isma in the box.

Accies had their fair share of chances and pulled one back through Rakish Bingham from close-range.

Further stand-out attempts by the hosts to equalise were foiled by last ditch defending or good goalkeeping.

And the visitors secured their first win at New Douglas Park in four visits - and ended a run of three games without a win - to leapfrog the home side into seventh spot.

• Hearts' Callachan and Walker earn praise

Accies have now gone three games without a win - and six in the league against Hearts.

Hearts have hardly been potent in front of goal this season, but it only took them three minutes to take the lead in South Lanarkshire.

Jamie Walker surged from midfield and released Smith down the right-hand side, with the Northern Irishman supplying a quick low cross for the onrushing Callachan to bundle into the back of the net.

Kyle Lafferty (left) put Hearts 2-0 ahead from the penalty spot

It will have been a dream come true for the 24-year-old, who is a Hearts fan and made his debut against Aberdeen last week after signing from Raith Rovers.

He converted his close-range effort right in front of a 2,000-strong Hearts visiting support and shared with them a special fist-pump moment of celebration.

Bingham should have done better when he watched his low shot diverted wide by Hearts goalkeeper Jon McLaughlin and Martin Canning's men regretted that profligacy almost immediately when they went further behind through Lafferty's spot-kick.

Isma was knocked off the ball just inside the area by Skondras and, although it was heavily disputed by Accies' players, Lafferty confidently put it in the bottom left corner.

Skondras nearly reduced the deficit before Bingham atoned for his earlier miss. Great work by former Hearts winger David Templeton to get free of a couple of defenders was followed by a low cross-come-shot to the back post and Bingham was there to divert it into the net.

Templeton's overhead kick was blocked two yards from goal by John Souttar as Accies tried to equalise before the break.

The second half was not as laden with chances as the first, but the highlight was a wonderful free-kick by Ali Crawford that was destined for the top right corner only for an equally wonderful diving save by goalkeeper Jon McLaughlin to push it wide.