Raith Against The Machine

Looked like it. Charlie Adam got away with a yellow for a very similar one against Arbroath, I'm sure.

Halliday's was particularly egregious. He had enough time to change his jersey before picking his spot but went for the pirrouette volley. Some players might be able to pick a ball out the sky, on the spin, and stick it in the top him, but Andy Halliday ain't one of them. Something drastic is going to have to happen to prevent Boyce getting a hat-trick here. Hearts have got the goal they needed to settle them and to knock the Rovers' belief. The rest of the first half played out exactly as you'd expect, with Hendry's red card maybe escalating things a little. It'll finish somewhere between 4 and 7-0. Hearts have a point to prove after the weekend, the Rovers just need to get through it without any further injuries or suspensions.

Tonight's a write-off, but Vaughan will bring a different sort of dynamism to the midfield. It'll change the way we play out, moving the creative force forward 20 yards. Really need Matthews back for that to work too, though.

No chance of seeing that properly from this angle. Hendry's trying to free himself, but with the uproar from the bench, I can well believe that he's had a kick out. This could be a cricket score, but missing Hendry for the next game or two is much worse. Stupidity.

The South Stand would be going absolutely tonto at this playing out from the back. I'm going full heart-eyes watching it, cos I'm one of these cultured European types. It's definitely going to cost us shortly, but I'm no' carin'.

I'll be surprised if it makes a difference to the outcome of the game, but I'm relieved to see Ginnelly go off. He's looked excellent any time I've seen him, and that cross for the goal on Saturday was nearly undefendable. Hopefully not a serious injury.

Popescu and Halkett have swapped sides from Saturday, haven't they? Unusual for a pair of centre halfs.

Incredible news. Just delighted to see him back on the pitch at Stark's again.

People who can't let an Ann Budge reference go by without sexualising it are really baring their arses in public.

Not that it makes much difference, but presumably Robbie Neilson will be in the stand for this own, given his red card on Saturday. Did he get any kind of punishment for his comments about Don Robertson after losing to Dundee and Dunfermline? I don't remember reading about any, but at the time his comments seemed like exactly the sort that attract disciplinary action.

Yeah, I agree. By the time of the third goal there's a clear justification for Ginnelly hanging back, in case the ball is turned over again. I think the issue, though, is that Neilson took that attitude even at 1-0. A more pragmatic manager would look at the pattern of the game up til that point and make the change, but I think Neilson looked at it and thought "f**k, we're getting beat, we definitely need the boys forward now". But that just let the Rovers continue and left the door open at the back for the remainder of the game.

Just to illustrate this point, with the first penalty... It's the Rovers' right-back, Reghan Tumilty, who starts on the ball. Mackay-Steven appears about half-way through to come and cover the winger, Dan Armstrong, who's hanging in support, which gives a good idea of just how uninterested (by instruction, I'm sure, as above) the Hearts' wingers were in tracking back. GMS must start about 40 yards away from "his man". And then once he gets there, and Kingsley hands Tumilty off to cover Armstrong with the ball, Mackay-Steven half-heartedly steps out to cover the ball back up the line, then switches off as Tumilty goes into the box. If Armstrong isn't fouled and finds the cutback, Tumilty has acres of space for a shot at goal. It feels like a real abdication of sensible management by Neilson. He seems (from the limited exposure I've had to Hearts this season) to be keen on letting his attacking players off the leash, without defensive responsibilities, in order to maximise their impact. But that seems totally backwards to me. If Hearts spent just a little more effort keeping it tight at the back, the attacking quality they've got would absolutely shine through more often than not when they do have the ball. Particularly at Tynecastle, Hearts are always going to have a lot of the ball, and they'll create a lot of chances. They don't need to get into these situations like this, and the Ayr Utd game, where they're trying to outgun teams. Especially with the Rovers well-publicised lack of training, they were never going to have the legs to keep it tight defensively all afternoon. If Hearts were just a wee bit more conservative, they'd have had a much, much better chance of keeping a clean sheet in the first half and then turning the screw in the second. You can see the same thing with the third. When the ball is turned over in midfield, Tumilty and Ginnelly are side-by-side in the top right hand corner here, albeit Tumilty is on his toes because he's going to close down Kingsley. By the time the ball goes into the goal, Tumilty is on the goal-line and Ginnelly isn't in shot, eventually appearing at the edge of the D complaining to the linesman about the alleged handball. When you look at this Rovers team and where they're going to damage you, it's going to come down the wings. Kennedy adds an extra dimension because he's happy to go outside or inside, but broadly speaking we've got inverted wingers and full-backs who are keen to push on. You can't expect your full-backs to defend that on their own, they need support. Neilson totally failing to give his own full-backs any extra protection is naivety in the extreme. If he asks Mackay-Steven and Frear (and later, Ginnelly) to play ten yards deeper and keep an eye on the overlap, Hearts probably still score at least twice - but there's no way the Rovers score three.

Nine fucking minutes, by the way!? More reaction to follow once I get myself down off the ceiling.

What's the story with Ginnelly? He looks by far and away Hearts best creative attacker, but every time I've seen him this season he's been "building fitness". Has he had a couple of different injuries or is he on the long way back from a brutal one?

That's the best save I've seen in years.

Thought that was in all the way. What a save that is. Has he thrown his shoulder out stretching his fingertips to it? Phenomenal.

Bearing in mind Manny Duku can't get through a game under normal circumstances, too. He looks absolutely done already.

Do we have anyone to even do an impression of a striker if Duku has to go off? Tait on? Or Armstrong to go and be the nominal point man?

Last half hour is going to be very tough for the Rovers, on the back of no activity for the last fortnight. We'll need to keep up the quality and get a fair helping of luck, too.

Kennedy making Halkett and Smith look Lowland League at best in the last five minutes. Unbelievable.

If Manny's fit enough for a flat out 45 minutes, this could get very interesting. If he was only on the bench because we don't have any other strikers and now Ugwu's picked up a knock... not so much. Kennedy! What a run! I thought Smith might've got a toe on the ball when I saw it live, and the replay looks like he might too. Hard to tell for sure.

Robbie Neilson either didn't think we'd push our fullbacks on or, more likely, decided to let Frear and Mackay-Steven not track back to create an overload on the counter, but it hasn't worked at all. Particularly in the early stages, Kingsley and Smith had to deal with their wide player and a Rovers fullback pushing on. There are going to be plenty chances for both teams as this game goes on.

Armstrong making Kingsley look like he's been dragged out of League Two to win the penalty. Brilliant save, though. As much as Hearts have had a pile of corners, the Rovers look much more dangerous when the ball's in open play.

Did the boy on co-comms, in the middle of a comment about Hearts' inability to keep a clean sheet, just refer to the back four and goalkeeper as "the best in the land"?