Stephen Kingsley scored a late winner as 10-man Hearts defeated Kilmarnock 1-0 in an end-of-season William Hill Premiership match played against the backdrop of manager Derek McInnes’ impending switch from Rugby Park to Tynecastle.
The Jambos made their move to land Killie’s boss last week, and the deal is set to be officially confirmed on Monday.
As a result, McInnes was absent from Rugby Park as the side he is about to take charge of overcame the first-half dismissal of Yan Dhanda to beat the team he has managed since January 2022.
In what became a final-day battle of the interim bosses, Liam Fox, who will leave the Jambos after overseeing four consecutive victories since taking the reins from the sacked Neil Critchley, got the better of Chris Burke, who took charge of ninth-placed Killie for the first time.
Burke made three changes to the Killie side that crashed to a 3-0 defeat at Motherwell in McInnes’ last game on Wednesday, with goalkeeper Robby McCrorie, Brad Lyons and Bobby Wales – whose summer transfer to Swansea was confirmed on the morning of the game – all added to the starting line-up.
There were also three changes to the Hearts side from their 2-1 victory over St Johnstone as Scotland keeper Zander Clark was given his first appearance since August, while Kingsley made his first start in five and a half months and Calem Nieuwenhof his second start of the season.
There were a few chants of “oh, Derek McInnes” from the travelling fans but generally there was none of the awkwardness and acrimony there might have been had the 53-year-old – heckled by sections of the Killie support at Motherwell in midweek – stuck to his initial stated intention of taking charge of the Ayrshire side for one final time in this largely meaningless bottom-six fixture.
The hosts started brightly, with both David Watson and Danny Armstrong threatening in the opening quarter of an hour.
Hearts suffered a blow in the 22nd minute as Clark’s miserable campaign, in which he lost his first-choice status to Craig Gordon after going to Euro 2024 with Scotland last summer, ended with him being forced off injured and replaced by Ryan Fulton.
The visitors suffered a more significant setback in the 38th minute when they were reduced to 10 men after Dhanda was deemed to have raised his studs on to the ankle of Stuart Findlay as he tried to go past the Killie defender after hurdling a challenge from Watson.
Findlay – who looked laboured after the incident – did not re-emerge for the second half, with Bruce Anderson on in his place and the substitute headed straight at Fulton within seconds of the restart.
Hearts generally coped well with their numerical disadvantage, however, and Alan Forrest and Cammy Devlin both tested McCrorie as they started to get a grip of the game.
Kingsley eventually broke the deadlock in the 89th minute when he rifled home a low shot after Adam Forrester’s free-kick broke to him just inside the box, ensuring the Jambos ended a largely dispiriting campaign on a relative high note by securing a seventh-placed finish ahead of the arrival of their new boss.
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