Dundee claimed a priceless 1-0 Scottish Premiership win at Tynecastle, Hearts boss Neil Critchley’s final game in charge of the club.
Simon Murray netted the only goal of the game seven minutes before half-time to lift the Dens Park men above Ross County in the relegation play-off spot.
After narrowly missing out on a place in the top six in the final game before the split, Hearts now find themselves just five points above the play-off place -having picked up just one point in their last four league matches.
The mood of the home supporters was reflected in the number of empty seats around Tynecastle at kick-off.
A tedious opening brought little in the way of goalmouth action at either end, though Elton Kabangu came close in the 17th minute when he steered the ball just wide after picking up Jamie McCart’s pass.
The visitors had offered very little going forward but they almost took the lead when Ryan Astley robbed Blair Spittal and surged towards goal. Luckily for Spittal, McCart was able to get across to make a crucial block to divert the ball behind to safety.
It took a fantastic point-blank stop from Trevor Carson to keep out Jorge Grant’s volley with 32 minutes played, then at the other end Seb Palmer-Houlden should have done better when headed Josh Mulligan’s pin-point delivery off target.
Dundee had the woodwork to thank in the 36th minute. Cammy Devlin’s shot cannoned off the post and into the path of Grant, who again was denied by more heroics by Carson.
The deadlock was broken two minutes later. The home defence failed to deal with Scott Tiffoney’s cross and when the ball broke the way of Murray, he made no mistake – drilling low into the net.
On the stroke of half-time, James Penrice did well to tee-up Kabangu, though he fired straight at the keeper.
The Hearts players trudged off at the interval with the sound of boos from the home fans ringing in their ears.
Critchley was clearly unimpressed with his side’s performance too, introducing Stephen Kingsley and Musa Drammeh ahead of the restart. However, the changes did little to change the mood.
Frankie Kent powered a header over the top as the hosts continued to struggle to lift the negativity around the ground.
With 12 minutes remaining, Kent headed Clark Robertson’s effort behind for a corner and from the resulting set-piece Finlay Robertson slashed his strike past the post.
Time was running out for Critchley’s men, Devlin failed to work Carson with a low drive, before Adam Forrester lashed well over the bar.
Six minutes of added time provided some hope for the home supporters who had seen an abject display from their team.
It looked they had found an unlikely leveller when Forrester bundled home in the dying seconds but Craig Gordon was adjudged to have fouled Carson in the build-up.
What the managers said…
Hearts boss Neil Critchley [speaking before his departure]:
“I totally understand frustration when you lose at home. There’s an expectation at this football club which I’ve said I’m more than comfortable with – I believe in the next four games we can prove that and I’ll prove that.
“I’m confident in my ability to move the team and group forward, which will hopefully take the club where we want it next season.
“We lacked quality, composure and a bit of belief in the second half. We’ve got four games to go and we’re in a fight. We need to show the right level of application and fight to get ourselves out of the situation we’re in.”
Dundee boss Tony Docherty:
“To come here and get that performance and result, I’m hugely proud of them.
“I asked the players to leave everything on the pitch and to make sure they went over and above for their team-mates, I think you saw a team that did that.
“I’m on record as saying that this season we’ve had a lot of adversity in terms of injuries and particularly injuries to senior players.
“Joe [Shaughnessy] has missed 31 games for me this season, though once they are back, you see the level of performance we get in a defensive sense.”
