Kilmarnock 3-0 Hearts: Killie thump Jambos at Rugby Park

Kilmarnock turned in their finest performance at home this season, after thumping Hearts 3-0 in a Rugby Park rout.

An unstoppable Chris Burke scored twice and created Eamonn Brophy’s goal as Killie put the Tynecastle outfit to the sword for the second time this season.

It didn’t take long for Killie to make their mark on proceedings, Chris Burke converting a slick El Makrini pass: picking up the ball deep in the area before he blasted high and proud beyond Joel Pereira in the Jambos’ net

With the momentum well and truly in Killie hands, we flew at Hearts with rapid intensity – hitting them with short, sharp jabs as we looked to open up their defence.

That pressure resulted in yet another goal, Burke was again the man of the moment, skipping down the wing before unleashing a fine ball into the box that found the head of Eamonn Brophy perfectly: the Wolf converting to make it two after just thirteen minutes.

You wouldn’t think it would get any better than that. But yeah, it did.

It was one-way traffic by this point, and just three minutes later – Burkey was at it again,  ruthlessly turning a helpless Aaron Hickey inside and out before curling the ball home to send Rugby Park wild at a magnificent third.

Hearts wilted under relentless Killie heat, and went back to their dressing room at half-time with a massive mountain to climb.

The Gorgie boys emerged with slightly more steel around them, but as Angelo Alessio’s men enjoyed the lion’s share of possession – they struggled to turn that into anything meaningful.

Burke was still the chief creative force, twisting and turning as he pulled the strings in our attacking outlets, even seeing a penalty claim denied after 61 minutes.

It wasn’t to be the same furious flurry of Killie goals, but even into the final ten minutes, you never felt as though Hearts were going to do any serious damage as they attempted to salvage the situation.

And as the clock ran down, Killie held on to secure a massive three points – and send Hearts back to Edinburgh empty-handed.

Kilmarnock: Branescu, O’Donnell, Bruce, Del Fabro, Hamalainen, Dicker, Power, El Makrini, Burke (Thomas, 87′), Brophy (Sow, 84′), McKenzie (Millar, 84′)

Subs: Koprivec, Hendrie, Johnson, Jackson, Millar, Thomas, Sow

Subs not used: Koprivec, Hendrie, Johnson, Jackson

Attendance: 6,278