THERE wasn’t much good about this Friday at Rugby Park.

One of the main advertisers with Kilmarnock is the locally-based Cook School of Scotland and, if football matches were rated in the same manner as restaurants, then this was as far from a three Michelin feast as you could find.

More like a greasy spoon with questionable hygiene offering up mince that’s on the turn.

And speaking of adverts, this wasn’t one of the better ones for Scottish football. Rows of empty seats, no goals and lots of mistakes do not make good live telly.

Brendan Rodgers claimed he had never seen a good game played on an artificial surface and while the pitch at Rugby Park is one of the better ones, it does nothing to help the players produce close to their best stuff.

Passes were over-hit, under-hit, the ball bounced up all the time meaning a first touch quickly became a second. Why Kilmarnock have passed on grass is understandable but when the ball skids about as much as it did here then classic football is a truly impossible task.

Neither team have had great seasons; however, they are better than this. The surface has to be ripped up.

Kilmarnock are a young bunch and the best you can say about them is that Lee McCulloch has instilled discipline and organisation into a side that now won’t be relegated.

As for Hearts, the owner, Ann Budge, clearly has a plan for her football club. It is less clear what the manager’s is thus far, however. Ian Cathro must feel like the bullied kid at school right now but he has not yet given any evidence of improving the team.

“We are in a situation in that we haven’t been on a good run,” he said. “There is a wee bit of vulnerability in there, a wee bit of low confidence. We maybe saw some of those things towards the end of the game against Dundee and we saw some them toward the end of tonight. If we are going to talk about a positive thing it’s that we have got through both of those situations and not conceded any goals. That is important for the group but the feeling is disappointment and frustration that we haven’t taken three points.

“How do we get confident? By winning. It is honestly that simple. By doing the right things, but having yourself on top in the game, that gives you a sense you have confidence but when that whistle goes it can be taken away from you.

“It’s when the results come. That is just one of the stories of football I suppose.”

As for McCulloch, a point is a point. He said: “We possibly should have taken more with the way we finished the game but the way we started wasn’t good enough. The first 40 minutes was the worst we have played since I have been interim manager.

“It was frustrating and I don’t know what was up. We weren’t getting close to the ball, we gave them too much respect and we gave them a bit of a go at half-time. The character their showed after that was good. I don’t know if it’s a good or bad point. But I am pleased with a point and another clean sheet.”

The clock had gone past the 26th minute mark before there was a decent move. It came from the home side – they had been marginally better – as they managed to get the ball down and play some passes around maroon shirts, the ball eventually falling to the feet of Sean Longstaff who at least took on a shot from outside the box, although it never threatened to stay low enough.

There was a moment on 34 minutes which summed up the conditions. Jordan Jones got the ball inside his own half and ran with pace and determination at the Hearts defence. As he was about to make his way into the box, the ball stuck under his feet and he fell over.

And that was it for the first 45 minutes. An early shot from Esmael Goncalves which he dragged well across the goal was the only “chance” Hearts created. It did get slightly better to be fair. Kilmarnock carved out a decent opportunity three minutes after the break when a clever back-heel on the touchline from Dean Hawkshaw allowed Callum Roberts the chance to take on a shot which wasn’t far wide.

This sparked something inside those wearing blue and white. Kilmarnock found another level. They also found their passing range and the Hearts defenders could do nothing more than clear their lines. The home side should have taken a 58th-minute lead when Gary Dicker’s knockdown from a corner fell perfectly, or so it seemed, for Kris Boyd who sent his half volley into the stand. He was far from happy with himself.

Hearts had done nothing, but then on 68 minutes created and missed a great chance. A cross from Alexandros Tziolis found Goncalves free in front of goal but he did nothing with a straightforward header.

Both sides carved out some half chances, Hearts’ Liam Smith should have probably done better with a header after 74 minutes from a corner, and Goncalves might have scored with six minutes remaining had Iain Wilson not made a decent block. Then Boyd, at the death, was unfortunate to see his free-kick fly low past the goal.

Kilmarnock: Woodman; Hendrie, Dicker, Ajer, Taylor, Jones; Roberts (Frizzell 82), Longstaff (Kiltie 69), Smith (Hawkshaw 33), Wilson; Boyd

Substitutes not used: MacDonald, Osborne, Graham, Cameron

Hearts: Hamilton; Smith, Bauben (Currie 52), Nowak. Struna; Tziolis, Kitchen; Djoum, Cowie (Choulay 69), Walker (Martin 80); Goncalves

Substitutes not used: Noring, Avlonitis, El Ouriachi, Johnsen, Beith

Referee: Euan Anderson

Attendance: 4110