Tonight's match was being played at the second time of
asking after Saturday's fixture was postponed due to a lorry fire which
caused chaos along the M8.
The additional recovery time allowed Killie captain
Kevin Kyle to be named among the substitutes following the knee injury
which forced him out of the Scotland squad.
The game was also taking place under reduced lighting
following a blaze in one of the floodlight towers at Tynecastle last
month.
After a slow start, Killie began to take a grip on the
midfield.
They created a good chance in the 14th minute when an
unmarked Gavin Skelton headed Mehdi Taouil's cross over from 12 yards.
Despite their reputation as a big, physical side,
Hearts being overpowered.
Conor Sammon sent an angled shot straight at Kello
after a mistake in the home defence before Suso Santana almost caught out
Brown with a swerving effort at the other end.
Craig Thomson almost picked out Jose Goncalves with a
corner but a Killie defender got a vital touch.
The visitors were playing some nice stuff at times but
got caught committing too many men forward in the 31st minute.
Palazuelos broke and although Killie initially looked
to have survived, Driver pounced on a poor clearance to score a stunning
half-volley on his weaker right foot.
Gary Glen could have doubled the lead eight minutes
before half-time but he could not direct his header from Lee Wallace's
whipped cross.
Thomson then tried his luck from long range before
Driver had the ball in the net again only to be hauled back for a foul on
Taouil.
Killie should have levelled on the stroke of half-time
when David Fernandez headed a long thrown-in over from six yards.
The home side's lead looked fragile again at the start of the second
half as
Fernandez's
back-heel created space for Bryson but the midfielder's low shot was
pushed onto the post and wide by Kello, who was starting in place of
illness victim Janos Balogh.
Sammon then miscued after getting behind the Hearts defence.
Hearts went back on the offensive and Thomson's excellent back-post
cross was headed towards goal by Suso only for Brown to make a terrific
save.
Kyle came on for Fernandez and the tall striker headed narrowly wide
from Garry Hay's free-kick before Suso and missed the target at the end
of a meandering run.
The Ayrshire side finished the match strongly and Wright's goal-bound
header was clawed to safety by Kello, who collided with the post in the
process.
A long ball by Taouil then put Kyle in on goal but the substitute
fired into the side-netting.
And Kyle was at the heart of Kilmarnock's last clear chance of the
game as he chested the ball down to his team-mates but Sammon and
substitute Danny Invincibile appeared to get in each other's way as the
latter fired over to keep Hearts' lead intact.
