Rarely has the famous old Hearts ditty been sung with such gusto.

The home fans revelled in their side's status as newly-crowned Championship winners. And so they should.

At this point last year, Hearts - ravaged by the devastating effects of administration - were facing down the barrel at the humiliating prospect of being officially condemned to relegation by Hibernian.

Victory over their city rivals was only a stay of execution but, with Robbie Neilson as head coach and Ann Budge in the boardroom, what a renaissance this has been.

With the title being wrapped up last Sunday when Rangers won at second place Hibs, Saturday's result was effectively irrelevant.

But like they have done all season in cantering to the chequered flag, Robbie Neilson's charges swept past the Doonhamers with minimum effort.

Goals either side of the break from Osman Sow and Alim Ozturk saw off Queens at the weekend to keep the Edinburgh club on course to set a new points record in the second tier.

Sound planning and hard work have been central factors in Hearts' serene march towards the title.

Soaked in champagne following a dressing room party, Neilson disclosed the personal sacrifices he has made.

"It is 24/7," declared the former club captain, who was described as the hardest working manager in Scotland by director of football Craig Levein at Hearts' Annual General Meeting.

"I don't see a lot of the family, but I'll get a wee bit of time in the summer to spend with them.

"It just keeps going on and I enjoy doing what I'm doing. I was at the academy on Saturday before I came to the game to watch the under-14s play.

"I like going to see them because it allows me to see who's going to be coming in the next couple of years. It's also about giving a little bit back to the academy as well, spending time seeing kids.

"There has to be a togetherness. Previously at Hearts, it was always the academy and then professional.

"Now, we're trying to unite everything together. There's a big togetherness about us all."

Neilson had vowed pre-match that Hearts would not down tools despite realising their target.

Against a Queens side that are desperate to maintain their push for the play-offs, Sow - who's making up for lost time after being sidelined for three months earlier in the season - notched his 12th of the campaign after six minutes.

Taking in a Jamie Walker pass some distance from goal, the Swede spun away from Chris Higgins, drove towards the box and struck a low left-footed shot beyond Zander Clark.

Alim Ozturk, another player who was recruited last summer, completed the scoring in the 67th minute when his deflected free-kick wrong-footed Clark.

The Dumfries club's trip to Tynecastle was the first of a four-game run against their top-half Championship rivals.

The fourth placed outfit travel to Hibs next weekend before welcoming Rangers and Falkirk.

Queens goalkeeper Clark said: "It's time to stand up and counted, and get the results we need to make the play-offs.

"We have got a hard run of games coming up. It's not going to be easy but we are confident in ourselves and we know what this team is capable of.

"Hibs have gone to Raith Rovers and they've lost so they are there for the taking.

"We've also beaten them earlier in the season and every game with them has been relatively close.

"But we just have to focus on what team is in front of us and take every game at a time - and hope we need to get the right results."

Heart of Midlothian (4-2-3-1): Alexander; Paterson, Ozturk, Wilson, Eckersley; Pallardo, Gomis; King (Nicholson 59), Walker, Sow (El Hassnaoui 77); Zeefuik (Keatings 69)

Substitutes not used: Gallacher, McHattie, Anderson, McKay

Queen of the South (4-4-2): Clark; Higgins, Durnan, Dowie, Holt; Carmichael, Millar (Kidd 69), McKenna (McShane 64), Paton; Reilly, Lyle (A Smith 81)

Substitutes not used: Atkinson, D Smith, Pickard, Hooper

Booked: Higgins, Carmichael

Referee: Craig Thomson

Attendance: 16,855

ends

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291028 GMT MAR 15