GLASGOW: Hearts were promoted to the Scottish Premiership on Sunday at the first time of asking as Rangers' 2-0 win at Hibernian ensured the Edinburgh club will finish second tier champions.
Robbie Neilson's side knew their victory over Falkirk on Saturday had moved them within touching distance of a return to the top-flight following last season's relegation and they were able to celebrate promotion with seven games to spare following a defeat for their hated local rivals at Easter Road.
Fittingly, it was Lee Wallace, a former Hearts players, who opened the scoring for Rangers and the wing-back also played a role in Kenny Miller's late second that sealed a vital win for Stuart McCall's team.
Wallace fired home in the 44th minute following a quick break and then appeared to impede Paul Hanlon in a challenge that went unpunished and led to Miller scoring with 10 minutes left.
The victory was McCall's first in his three games in charge and ended a five-match winning run for Rangers.
More significantly for Neilson and company, it meant that Hearts' 23-point lead at the top is unassailable.
Hearts have romped to the title, suffering just one defeat in the Championship this season and winning 25 of their 29 league games.
Sunday's match also had a major impact on the race for play-off places as Rangers cut the gap on second-placed Hibs to three points going into the final weeks of the season.
Comments
Comments are closed.