Hearts 1-1 Kilmarnock: Jambos fury, Kettlewell sack chant, Ann Budge says goodbye

Ann Budge bade farewell to Hearts fans ahead of her final game as chairwoman as Kilmarnock prised a late point from Tynecastle Park. Perhaps the best signing of Budge’s tenure in Gorgie, Lawrence Shankland, again showed his value with a quality finish to put his team ahead. However, Bruce Anderson’s 89th minute equaliser denied the home side a valuable three points.

Having taken control of Hearts as they slid into the second tier of Scottish football in 2014, the sight of them leading the Premiership is fitting payback for Budge’s years of endeavour. The nine-point lead from November has been eroded, though, and Hearts are now level at the top with Celtic ahead of Sunday’s meeting at Celtic Park. The Capital side are ahead only on goal difference.

Aged 77, Budge will formally step down as chairwoman at Tynecastle Park at Thursday’s AGM. She took to the pitch pre-match to accept gifts from Hearts officials and acclaim from supporters. Since using £2.5m of her own money to help the Edinburgh club out of administration 11 years ago, she has transformed them on and off the field and now takes the title of honorary president.

Once Budge vacated the field, Hearts laboured at times trying to break Kilmarnock down. Creating clear chances was difficult but Tomas Magnusson’s through pass was finished nicely by Shankland early in the second half. In truth, the hosts looked to have done enough to grind out victory before Anderson’s late strike following an error by goalkeeper Alexander Schwolow. Hearts appealed loudly for a penalty in stoppage-time, claiming the ball struck the arm of Kilmarnock’s Dom Thompson, but a VAR review concluded no infringement. Fans were angry at the perceived injustice and the final whistle confirmed that the Tynecastle side have won once in their last six games, while Kilmarnock are now winless in eight.

Derek McInnes made five changes to his Hearts team following Saturday’s 0-0 draw at Motherwell. Frankie Kent and Christian Borchgrevink were back in defence, Alan Forrest out wide and Tomas Magnusson in midfield. Landry Kabore returned to the attack beside captain Shankland. Kilmarnock made four alterations to their starting line-up in the hope of arresting a poor run of form following no wins in their last seven games.

After a minute’s applause in honour of former Hearts coach Gary Kirk who recently passed away, the hosts set about seizing early control of this fixture with an aggressive start. They probed at Kilmarnock’s five-man defence with through balls, crosses and set-play deliveries. McInnes wanted the ball forward quickly and demanded players adhere. On 23 minutes, he ran out of his technical area and looked to be heading down the touchline to urge right-back Borchgrevink to execute a forward pass with more urgency.

Hearts’ final ball was not quite on point when they did enter the final third. Borchgrevink advanced for a dangerous right-footed cross on the half-hour mark which Forrest and Kabore were unable to convert. Kilmarnock offered a reminder of their threat seven minutes before the interval. From Thompson’s clever pass into the home penalty area, Greg Kiltie found space to pivot and shoot, but Alexander Schwolow parried the ball and Brad Lyons could not divert the rebound goalwards with only a split-second to react.

This game had yet to properly come to life as the second period began. Hearts produced a spark on 49 minutes. Tomas Magnusson’s deft left-footed through pass went beyond Kabore for Shankland to run onto. Chased by two defenders, the striker entered the penalty area to clip a tidy finish over the advancing Kilmarnock goalkeeper Tobi Oluwayemi and into the empty net. Minutes later, a chant of “Kettlewell, Kettlewell, get to F***” emanated from the few hundred travelling fans in Tynecastle’s Roseburn Stand.

Magnusson almost added a goal to his assist with a header from Harry Milne’s corner which bounced off Oluwayemi’s right post. Killie came close at the opposite end, though, as substitute Marcus Dackers headed Kiltie’s cross powerfully off Schwolow’s crossbar after 74 minutes. The narrow advantage led to a nervous final period as Hearts tried to see the game out. Oluwayemi held substitute Claudi Braga’s shot on the turn, and Schwolow was down sharply to his left to stop Kilmarnock substitute Scott Tiffoney’s header creeping in a the near post following a throw-in.

In the 90th minute, another substitute, Liam Polworth, hit a vicious shot from distance which Schwolow couldn’t hold. Anderson raced in to plunder the rebound and force it into the net to earn a point for the visitors. That appeased some of their disgruntled fans, although possibly not all. Tynecastle then erupted in a fit of fury in stoppage-time as Hearts appealed strongly for a penalty-kick. Milne’s high cross from the left looked at first glance like it may have struck Thompson’s arm as the defender tried to control it. After a VAR check, referee John Beaton waved play on - and the match finished 1-1.

Here are the Hearts player ratings from Tynecastle: