Heart of Midlothian 0-1 Kilmarnock: Killie move into third with late strike

Stuart Findlay's late strike hauled Kilmarnock into third in the Scottish Premiership as they defeated Hearts at Tynecastle.

The centre-half lashed the ball into the net as the home defence failed to clear to make the difference in a feisty encounter.

Killie are now in pole position to clinch a European spot with two games remaining.

Hearts' misery was compounded as Uche Ikpeazu was forced off injured.

Steve Clarke's side have also ensured a record points total for the club.

• Reaction & as it happened

Europe calling?

The carrot of leapfrogging above Aberdeen into third place in the table was undoubtedly the message from Steve Clarke to his players and it was evident from the start they were out for a victory.

Rory McKenzie set up Eamonn Brophy early on and warmed the palms of Zdenek Zlamal in the home goal.

That was quickly followed by some wonderful play by Stephen O'Donnell down the right hand side, and his cut back brought a timely interception from John Souttar with Liam Miller waiting at the back post for what would have been a tap in.

As much as the visitors had the bulk of play, a mix up in the Killie defence almost handed Hearts the lead.

As Alex Bruce and Daniel Bachmann deliberated on who should make a clearance from a through ball, Ikpeazu nipped in between the pair and found himself with a clear-cut opportunity only for Bruce to track back and clear the effort off the line.

Kilmarnock responded with another excellent effort and Miller's cutback was met by Brophy on the volley but the ball clipped the outside of the post with Zlamal rooted on his line.

Within 30 seconds of the restart there was a major blow for the home side, with Ikpeazu limping off the pitch with what looks like a hamstring injury.

Youssouf Mulumbu, on loan from Celtic, was another Killie player who was up for the task. Some wonderful footwork gave him space to set up McKenzie for the cross which Bruce nodded narrowly over.

Despite their dominance Killie had to wait until four minutes from the end for the winner.

Mulumbu played the ball back to Gary Dicker and with the Hearts defence failing to clear Findlay hammered home from eight yards out with the near 1,400 Killie fans bursting into full voice as the grabbed all three points before heading back to Ayrshire.

The visitors 'were relentless' - Analysis

For long stages off the game it was Kilmarnock who looked the hungrier of the two teams. The midfield duo of Alan Power and Dicker made sure their was little room for creativity with Hearts teenager Harry Cochrane struggling to get a foothold in the game.

Clarke's players were relentless in their desire to find the net and Findlay's winning goal was no less than they deserved.

On this evidence they are more than worthy of a third-place finish and and with just two games left a guaranteed European spot is now clearly within their grasp.

It is only three weeks until Hearts travel to Hampden to tackle Celtic in the Scottish Cup final and Craig Levein has already said places are still up for grabs.

Ryan Edwards made his first competitive start for the Jambos and did himself no harm with a performance full of energy and passion.

But other than losing the game the news that Ikpeazu suffered what looked like a hamstring injury will be a huge cause for concern for Levein.

'No pressure on Kilmarnock' - reaction

Kilmarnock manager Steve Clarke: "In the first half we had some really good opportunities and were unlucky not to be in front. Second half, I think when Ikpeazu went off the change of shape helped them. It took us a little bit longer to get a grip of the game.

"The task was to stay in the league, the second to be top six. After that we spoke about beating the points tally from last season, so we've done that on 61.

"I'll go home, chill out a bit and then we'll decide what the next target is.

"There's no pressure on us - if we finish fourth, no problem. If we finish third, great. The pressure is on Hibs and Aberdeen, clubs that expect to be fighting for European places."

Hearts manager Craig Levein: "It was very much like the other three matches we've played against Kilmarnock this season - there's been nothing in it and felt that game was like that today, end to end. Very few chances though, unfortunately for us Kilmarnock managed to take one of theirs and we didn't take ours.

"They're good at what they do. They keep the game tight, are good on the counter and also at set pieces - and we succumbed to a set piece which we failed to clear.

"We've played worse than that and managed to come away with wins or draws. So I can't be too critical of them."