Hearts dismantle County to boost third-place hopes

Josh Ginnelly doubled Hearts' lead and was a pest to the County defence

Lawrence Shankland scored a hat-trick as Hearts boosted their hopes of finishing third in the Scottish Premiership by thrashing Ross County and giving Steven Naismith a first win as interim boss.

Ginnelly added another and Shankland chipped in the hosts' sixth as they moved to within two points of Aberdeen.

Bottom side Ross County, who replied through Owura Edwards' late penalty, now face the prospect of falling further behind Kilmarnock and Dundee United. Both are a point ahead and play later on Saturday.

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Hearts, who had lost six in a row in all competitions, seized control shortly after Barrie McKay had volleyed over the County bar.

Shankland and Ginnelly combined to set up Cochrane, who struck diagonally from the inside right channel to beat Ross Laidlaw.

Ginnelly then ran on to Cammy Devlin's intelligent through ball down the same channel, progressed into the box and turned back to finish well into the left corner. The forward was flagged offside but the goal was awarded after a VAR check.

And it got worse for the visitors when Cochrane clipped from the left for Shankland to head back across Laidlaw into the net.

Shankland was inches away from a spectacular second moments later, his lob from the right edge of the box beating the goalkeeper but smacking the crossbar.

Laidlaw kept out Devlin's low shot, Peter Haring fired over, Nathaniel Atkinson should have finished from Shankland's delightful backheel, and McKay and Shankland had further efforts blocked.

But the domination did yield a fourth goal before half-time. Dylan Smith's trailing leg tripped Shankland and, though play continued, a VAR review resulted in a penalty. Shankland made no mistake.

Hearts were hungry for more goals after the break with Ginnelly getting away from Alex Iacovitti too easily and burying from 20 yards.

Yutaro Oda then looked in line for his first Hearts goal but was blocked, the ball falling for Shankland to dink the ball into the net for his treble and a 25th goal of the season.

Edwards won County's spot-kick when he teased Cochrane on the right and the substitute converted the penalty well.

Player of the match - Lawrence Shankland

Hearts' recent malaise coincided with the striker's own dip in form but he was back to his best

Hearts back on song as County struggles continue - analysis

Hearts played with a freedom that belied their recent downturn in form. This was the Hearts of earlier in the season with Ginnelly and Shankland in full flow and Haring and Devlin providing solidity in midfield.

And they were not satisfied with six. Ginnelly was denied by Laidlaw; Devlin's rebound was touched on to the bar; Kye Rowles headed narrowly wide at a corner; Shankland forced another Laidlaw save; and substitute Stephen Humphrys went close twice. There was no respite for the visitors.

The challenge for Naismith's side is whether they can replicate this level of performance against top-six sides next month, with Aberdeen playing their game in hand against Rangers on Sunday.

County could take heart from their performances in recent losses to Aberdeen and Celtic but their visit to Tynecastle offered no solace at all.

They were passive, disjointed and square in defence, making it difficult for their attacking players to really affect the game. That said, Jordan White's header and George Harmon's cross hit the bar in the second half.

But, with five defeats from six since February, a daunting few weeks await Mackay and his players.

What's next?

Both sides begin their post-split games over the first weekend in May, with the fixtures expected to be confirmed early next week.