THE clouds of relegation which hung over Tynecastle have dispersed this season, leaving only the promise of a silver lining.
The pursuit of a league title at first appeared ambitious for a team 14 points adrift at the foot of the Premiership this time last year and beset by administration, but Hearts continue to motor towards Championship silverware. Alloa Athletic were left behind yesterday, a reflection in the rear-view mirror for the Edinburgh side.
Victories such as this have come to be considered a formality in a division Hearts continue to lead by nine points. Results in the league have instead formed footnotes in an increasingly buoyant narrative at Tynecastle which last week included settling debts to former players and an encouraging agm. There was acknowledgement, too, that head coach Robbie Neilson could soon be courted by higher-level clubs.
He will have earned that interest. Neilson was installed as head coach after the contentious decision to lever Gary Locke out of the club, but the 34-year-old has led his side as though unfettered by any sense of controversy. Neilson was typically impressive yesterday, surveying Tynecastle calmly as his side delivered their 16th win of the campaign.
"We changed our style of play a wee bit today to see if we could get Alloa to come out - I've seen a few of their games and they can sit and make life difficult," said the Hearts head coach, whose side face Cowdenbeath in a rearranged match on Tuesday. "We worked it quite well and it's important that we have other ways of winning games. This was another way."
Neilson would betray his stoicism on the touchline just twice in the first half, on both occasions to acclaim goals. The first arrived after 16 minutes.
Miguel Pallardo retrieved the ball on the halfway line before starting a swift passing move which left James Keatings poking a low shot into the net. Callum Paterson added the second after 29 minutes when he nudged the ball over the line from Jamie Walker's low cross.
That was sufficient for Hearts to stay unbeaten in the league - their only defeats this season have come in cup competition - but they are not invulnerable. When Danny Wilson was ushered down the tunnel for treatment for a cut forehead his side seemed less composed in defence. Alim Ozturk and goalkeeper Neil Alexander bickered about an Alloa cross and it took Scott Robinson to flick another over the crossbar.
With four minutes left in the first half Alloa had a more tangible chance. A corner into the penalty area broke to Daryll Meggatt, whose shot trundled against a post and was cleared.
That moment was significant given how fleetingly Alloa threatened, the part-time team frustrated in efforts to get Liam Buchanan or Greig Spence into positions to trouble Alexander. Instead, Alloa keeper Craig McDowall was unsettled in the second half as Walker struck a fierce shot wide. Billy King bundled another effort past a post and Pallardo hit the underside of the bar before the hour mark.
Alloa manager Barry Smith said: "Credit should go to my boys, it is easy to crumble at a place like Tynecastle, but they competed in that second half."
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