Lindsay Herron reports from Tynecastle

WALTER SMITH had predicted it would be a difficult afternoon in Edinburgh but he could have scarcely imagined the events that unfolded

Trailing at half-time, Rangers got back into the game briefly with a Daniel Cousin penalty but a penalty from Michael Stewart and a strike from Kestutis Ivaskevicius put the game beyond them..

DaMarcus Beasley scored in 74 minutes to give Rangers some hope but it was merely consolation.

Rangers found themselves two down after just 26 minutes and really they could have had little complaint.

Hearts had been the more aggressive side from the outset and Allan McGregor had to make two saves from Audrius Ksanavicius.

That pressure paid off in 12 minutes when Carlos Cuellar was forced into an error and Hearts capitalised to the full.

Cuellar gave the ball away to Andrew Driver on the left side of the box and the young midfielder wasted no time in smashing a left foot shot into the right corner.

Then in 26 minutes Cuellar was the unfortunate victim when Ibrahim Tall's shot deflected off his leg and flew over McGregor to give Hearts a two-goal lead.

It was a shocker for Rangers, whose defence had been so resilient this season but they scarcely troubled Hearts in the first half

With Barry Ferguson and Jean-Claude Darcheville on Rangers had more purpose and when they scored from the spot in 48 minutes the game was back on for them

Ferguson, on at half-time for Amdy Faye, won a penalty when he was brought down by Robbie Neilson and Cousin calmly converted from the spot.

But they were set back in 65 minutes when Mike McCurry judged that Alan Hutton had brought down substitute Kestutis Ivaskevicius and Michael Stewart made no mistake from the spot.

Then McGregor was beaten again in 70 minutes when Ivaskevicius cut in from the left and squirmed a right foot shot under his gloves.

The game seemed over but Beasley struck in 74 minutes when he took a pass from Cousin and shot past Banks. However, the damage had been done and Rangers had to accept their first defeat of the campaign.