Heart of Midlothian 1-1 Hamilton Academical

Hamilton salvaged a point against 10-man Hearts with a Xavier Tomas equaliser deep into the second half at Tynecastle.

The home side suffered a setback in the opening period when young defender Jamie Brandon was sent off for two bookable offences.

Hearts scored after the break through Jamie Walker's excellent free kick.

Manager Craig Levein and assistant manager Austin MacPhee were sent to the stand in separate incidents.

• Levein unhappy with Madden decisions

Levein was dismissed after reacting to a decision by referee Bobby Madden, then applauded the match official after being sent off.

MacPhee suffered the same fate after trying to keep the ball way from Hamilton midfielder Darian MacKinnon at a throw-in. The pair tangled then fell to the ground, prompting a melee involving staff from both technical areas that also saw police officers intervene.

Hearts manager Craig Levein was sent to the stand by referee Bobby Madden in the second half at Tynecastle

On a day of off-field drama, the match was delayed by 15 minutes after a fire alarm saw the stadium evacuated before kick-off. The drama was caused by a faulty panel, although this game would provide plenty of heat all by itself on what turned out to be a combustible occasion.

Hearts dominated the early proceedings, but struggled to create any clear chances, with Hamilton content to play on the counter attack.

Accies winger David Templeton was first to threaten with an outside-of-the-boot effort, but it was an easy take for Hearts goalkeeper Jon McLaughlin.

Tynecastle was evacuated before kick-off due to a fire alarm, and the game was delayed by 15 minutes

Templeton tried his luck again, this time from a free kick. The effort flew over, but there was better to come from the former Hearts winger.

Templeton played a ball across the Hearts goal, and Mackinnon met it with a crisp shot from five yards out, but it was blocked on the line.

Hearts were struggling to create chances, and their afternoon was about to get worse.

Right back Brandon had already been booked for a foul on Dougie Imrie. He was then shown a second yellow for throwing an elbow into the face of Antonio Rojano. It should probably have been a straight red.

Hearts defender Jamie Brandon was dismissed after a second booking for catching Antonio Rojano with his arm

The home side needed some inspiration, and it came from Walker's boot right at the start of the second half.

Hearts were awarded a free kick 20 yards out, and up stepped Walker to curl an exquisite effort into the top corner.

Hamilton almost immediately hit back. Rojano's shot from just inside the area was well saved by McLaughlin down to his right.

Hearts attacker Jamie Walker opened the scoring with a superbly-struck free kick from 25 yards out

The match had been simmering and Tynecastle was about to reach boiling point. First, Levein was sent to the stand, seemingly for a comment made about a decision by the referee.

Soon after, it all kicked off in the dugout. MacPhee and Mackinnon got into an altercation before a huge melee erupted. It was an almighty brawl, with a policeman in the middle of it at one point, trying to restore order.

After it finally calmed down, MacPhee was told by the referee to join Levein in the stand.

Hearts assistant manager Austin MacPhee was sent off for tangling with Hamilton midfielder Darian Mackinnon

There was a sense that anything could happen in this match, and the next twist was Hamilton's equaliser. From Templeton's corner into the six-yard box, Tomas steered a header into the net.

In stoppage time, Tomas almost won it with another header, but McLaughlin made a fantastic save to earn his side a point.