Hearts 2-3 Queen of the South: Leaders beaten by late own goal
- Published
Queen of the South left Tynecastle with all three points after Andy Irving's own goal
Hearts' miserable week was compounded as Queen of the South won at Tynecastle for the first time since 1963 against the Scottish Championship leaders.
Robbie Neilson's side were knocked out of the Scottish Cup by Highland League Brora Rangers on Tuesday and fans protested outside the ground pre-match.
Connor Shields scored twice for Queens, his first from a Mihai Popescu error.
Popescu's header and a strike by Armand Gnanduillet made it level but Andy Irving's own goal gave Queens victory.
Neilson's team have had their lead cut to 13 points with five games to play, while Allan Johnston's sixth-placed Queen of the South maintain their promotion play-off hopes with the side three points off second.
Hearts supporters had been urged "in the strongest possible manner" not to gather in protest by owner Ann Budge after Brora's shock 2-1 win on Tuesday.
Hearts manager Robbie Neilson: "After a minute we give away an individual error for a goal. We showed a bit of spirit to fight back. Another individual error loses the game. I'm really annoyed about the taking responsibility and taking the ball and driving forward with it.
"Really disappointing. It's devastating for us. We're going through a difficult patch just now. It's been a difficult five days. We need to keep fighting."
Queen of the South manager Allan Johnston: "Absolutely delighted. We played really well, created chances, looked a goal threat and restricted them to very few options. We defended well.
"The Brora game didn't even come into it. We had to focus on ourselves. It was important we came here and put on a performance. It's great to get a result."
Hearts supporters protested before kick-off
Owner Ann Budge and manager Robbie Neilson have been criticised by fans in recent days