DUNDEE picked up a momentous victory at Tynecastle as James McPake’s side leapfrogged St Johnstone in the standings with a well-earned 2-1 win over Hearts.

Sunday afternoon was a sobering one for the men from the capital as they found themselves on the receiving end of a 5-0 drubbing at Ibrox. The fixture with Dundee – without a win in their previous nine league outings – presented an excellent opportunity to make amends. Or so it seemed.

It wasn’t the most inspiring of starts from Hearts but it wasn’t long before Ian Lawlor in the visitors’ goal was being tested. Beni Baningime showed good awareness to slide the ball across to Barrie McKay and while the winger didn’t get his name on the scoresheet, he forced the keeper into a low diving save.

Minutes later, McKay would turn provider as the deadlock was broken with 21 minutes played. The former Rangers player charged menacingly at goal through the middle, drawing Liam Fontaine out of defence. He skipped past the Dundee defender before spotting the overlapping run of Ellis Simms. He slipped him through and the Everton loanee tucked home the second goal of his stint in Gorgie.

Dundee, to their credit, didn’t allow their heads to drop as they directly and with purpose. Craig Gordon was rarely called into serious action as McPake’s men worked the ball into threatening areas every so often but never capitalised on them. Off the ball, they eagerly pressed their opponents and maintained a rigorous defensive shape.

McKay looked to have doubled Hearts’ advantage around the half-hour mark when he latched onto a neat cross in the box with only Lawlor to beat. He delicately dinked the ball over the onrushing goalkeeper but Ryan Sweeney raced back quickly enough to hack it clear before it could cross the line.

McKay was really enjoying himself now. A neat one-two allowed him to drift into the area for a one-on-one that was palmed away. The rebound fell kindly to Simms, whose close-range follow-up was somehow pushed behind for a corner by Lawlor.

The first half ended with Dundee asking some questions of their own. A succession of dangerous-looking corners from Charlie Adam were successfully repelled but offered a reminder that while the Tayside club were down, they were certainly not out.

A quickly-taken Dundee free-kick around the halfway line within minutes of the restart almost caught the home side napping. Adam spotted the run of Zak Rudden, the January arrival from Partick Thistle, as the Scotland Under-21 internationalist darted beyond the Hearts defence and quickly got his shot away, but it lacked the sufficient power to truly trouble Gordon.

The equaliser arrived on 51 minutes and it was again courtesy of some lax defending from Hearts. Some good work from Paul McMullan down the right saw the ball played through to Danny Mullen, who used his body well to fashion a narrow angle. He rifled it at goal and although Gordon got a touch to it, there was too much pace on the ball as it rebounded into the roof of the net.

The home crowd were getting restless; every failed pass or move that led to nothing was met with a roar of frustration as Hearts struggled to break their opponents down.

Hearts were peppering Lawlor’s goal but struggling to work the keeper. A Liam Boyce pot-shot was comfortably kept out and the striker really should have done better when he connected with Stephen Kingsley’s inviting delivery at the back post but could only head it over the bar.

There was still time for late drama as Mullen sent the away support into ecstasy with 10 minutes to go. Niall McGinn’s whipped delivery was prodded in at the back post by the striker as Dundee sealed a momentous three points and bring their winless run to a halt.