Hearts 1 Rangers 1:  Hearts maintained their six-point advantage over Rangers in the fight for second place in the Bank of Scotland Premier League after a 1-1 draw against the Light Blues at Tynecastle

In a compelling encounter which threatened to boil over on several occasions, Edgaras Jankauskas’ ninth-minute opener for the Jambos had separated the sides until after the interval when Thomas Buffel converted a Chris Burke cross at the back post.

It was a fair result, although the point will be welcomed more by the home side who must see their first Champions League spot looming ever closer on the horizon.

Hearts’ advantage over the third-placed Light Blues, which had been 16 points at one stage, had been whittled away to just six points over the past few weeks.

And on Friday Hearts chairman and acting chief executive Roman Romanov, son of majority shareholder Vladimir Romanov, had, curiously, held a press conference to announce that second place could be perceived as failure this season.

What purpose that had served other than to put more pressure on head coach Graham Rix was debatable, but the Gorgie players seemed unaffected in what was a fighting performance.