CHRISTOPHE BERRA, one of the finest footballers to roll off the Riccarton production line in recent years, may have cemented the victory last night, however it was Hearts’ newest graduate who stole the show against Dundee. Remember the name: Anthony McDonald.

At the tender age of 16 years and nine months, the precocious playmaker was handed his first start for the Gorgie outfit, lining up on the right of midfield and showing no fear up against Dundee’s Premiership regulars. 

He left the field after 90 minutes having claimed two assists – a delightful clipped pass for Isma Goncalves’ opener and a fine late corner-kick for Berra – as Hearts secured a hard-fought 2-0 win. It was a second successive victory as momentum gradually builds at Tynecastle. 

Indeed, Hearts are now five matches unbeaten and displaying the resilience and efficacy demanded by Craig Levein. The minor only downside to this outing was that the majority of fans will have left the stadium feeling mighty old – when Harry Cochrane replaced Arnaud Djoum after half an hour, the Jambos had two 16-year-olds in midfield; an almost unheard of feat in the top flight. 

For all McDonald shone, displaying the technique and confidence which has seen him pulling up trees for the under-20s, Berra, at the other end of his Hearts career, was gargantuan in the heart of defence. The duo - Hearts’ past, present and future – fittingly shared the two man of the match awards at full-time. 

Amid the freezing temperatures and driving rain of Gorgie, there was little by the way of fluent football to raise the spirits of the chilly locals in the opening stages, with the only moments of mild threat coming from distance. 

Djoum, Conor Randall and Goncalves all took turns to fire speculative efforts off target. The Portuguese striker’s drive was particularly woeful, trickling out for a throw in to a soundtrack of mocking jeers from the travelling support.

The home side found an incisive touch mid-way through the first period when Djoum slipped a neat pass into the box for Cole Stockton, with the towering Liverpudlian showing super strength to get his shot away from a tight-angle, only to be denied by the sprawling legs of Elliott Parish.

Dundee did not sting the palms of Hearts goalkeeper Jon McLaughlin until the clock hit 29 minutes, with Allan’s free-kick easily fielded. 

Of Hearts’ starting XI, only Goncalves had scored a league goal for the club this season, so there was little surprise about the source when the deadlock was broken. McDonald showed poise and precision to clip a pass into the path of the former St Mirren man and he kept his cool to slide his finish beyond Parish.

As supporters and players alike celebrated Goncalves’ seventh goal of the campaign, Djoum was toiling on the turf. An apparent recurrence of his troublesome knee problems saw the Cameroon internationalist replaced by Cochrane. Two of Hearts’ midfield four were now born in 2001. 

Dundee almost restored parity on the cusp of half-time in fortuitous fashion when a scuffed shot by Roarie Deacon found Sofien Moussa at point-blank range, however the striker could not get the ball out of his feet and McLaughlin bravely made the block. 

Neil McCann replaced Jack Hendry with Cammy Kerr at the interval and switched to a 4-2-3-1, and Deacon – freed higher up the field by the change – who rippled the side-netting from inside the box. Hearts assistant head coach Austin MacPhee immediately roared for the Jambos to match formations with the Dee as an interesting tactical tussle ensued. 

Hearts had the ball in the net when Stockton converted a magnificent Randall delivery, only for the flag of assistant referee Paul O’Neill to deny the former Tranmere marksman his first league goal for the club.

That should have been rendered moot on 65 minutes when the excellent Stockton delivered a fine pass into the path of second-half substitute Ross Callachan, who hared through on goal. However, his finish lacked accuracy, lashing the ball into the chest of Parish.

However, Hearts did finally out the contest out of sight when Berra reacted swiftly to a McDonald corner-kick which deflected kindly into his path via Kerr, with the Scotland internationalist lashing home from close range.

Faissal El Bakhtaoui sent a late drive wide, but the hosts are making strangling the life out of games an art-form at the moment, and they saw the game out admirably. They ascended into fifth spot as they gradually recover a stuttering, nomadic start to the season, six points behind city rivals Hibernian. 

The ultimate challenge of their resurgence will come on Sunday, however, when Brendan Rodgers’ Invincible Celtic side come to town.