Livingston succumbed to another defeat despite a spirited performance at a bitterly cold Tynecastle Park. A first half goal from former Livi captain Craig Halkett was the difference as the top and bottom sides of the Premiership battled it out in their first outing of 2026.

Martindale rung the changes to the side following the 3-1 defeat to Dundee United on Tuesday, with Danny Wilson, Macaulay Tait, Lewis Smith and Jeremy Bokila dropping out of the starting eleven, replaced with Brooklyn Kabongolo who was recalled from Arbroath earlier in the week, Mo Susoho, Connor McLennan and Tete Yengi.

The first five minutes saw the Lions applying all the pressure, was Tete Yengi muscling Craig Halkett off the ball to create an opportunity, however got it wrong when it mattered. Dan Finlayson also managed to wrestle possession following good forward play, resulting in a throw in which was launched into the box, dealt with easily by the Hearts backline.

The hosts thought they had scored on ten minutes. A lovely clipped ball to the back post found Lawrence Shankland and the Hearts skipper sent the ball across the face of the goal, with Tomas Magnusson there to knock it in, although somehow he managed to steer it wide.

Two minutes later, and Hearts had a huge penalty claim turned away by VAR. Sustained pressure saw multiple blocks and saves from the Lions, with one appearing to strike the arm of Ryan McGowan, which upon review was found to be within the laws of the game.

Hearts did break the dealock on 18 minutes. A corner was initially cleared out to Jordi Altena, who crossed the ball back into the box, where former Lion Halkett sent a looping header into the top corner beyond Jerome Prior to put the league leaders in front.

21 minutes in and Prior had to be at his best to prevent an almost spectacular own goal from McGowan. The ball was crossed from the right with Shankland lurking just behind the Livi captain, forcing McGowan into a diving header towards his own goal, Prior getting down to stop the ball nestling in the net before getting cleared away.

Yengi had an effort on 26 minutes following some positive possession from the visitors. A throw in found its way to the big Australian, who used his strength to turn his man, but his effort was off target to the left, causing Alexander Schwolow no issues in the Hearts goal.

Hearts looked to have made it two on 36 minutes. A floated pass to the corner was picked up by Altena whose first touch took him passed Montano into the box. His cut back found Stuart Findlay who made good contact with the ball, but Kabongolo blocked incredibly well allowing the back line to clear. From that position Mo Sylla picked up the ball and ran 60 yards, beating Cammy Devlin for pace and into the box but Beni Baningime got back well to block.

Jerome Prior came to the Lions rescue with 3 minutes remaining in the first half. Shankland had the ball at his feet on the edge of the box. Witht he home fans screaming for him to shoot, he instead opted to clip the ball into the six-yard box where Harry Milne was waiting to nod home, but his effort forced Prior into a truly incredible save to keep the score 1-0 into half time.

Livi had a golden opportunity to level the score five minutes into the second half. Great forward play from Connor McLennan forced an opening on the right-hand side of the box. He laid up Finlayson who crossed the ball to Mo Sylla who was all alone in front of goal but got his header all wrong and it dribbled wide of the mark.

Yengi was getting into some dangerous positions and on 65 minutes almost grabbed the equaliser. A great header by Sylla found Yengi who used his touch to beat the defender, his shot looked destined for the bottom corner, but Schwolow saved well.

Despite the pressure the Lions were putting the league leaders under, they couldn’t forge any real chances to get the equaliser. Sylla was again found doing plenty of running and forced himself into the Hearts box, although wasn’t able to regain full control of the ball and his poked effort back to new signing Joshua Zimmerman didn’t reach the intended target.

Livi looked to have taken a point back to West Lothian with the last action of the game. Great play from Sammy Lawal gave the Lions a late corner. This was drilled in from Robbie Muirhead and found Yengi, however his header was straight at the Hearts keeper who gratefully took the gift allowing for Chris Graham to blow for full time.

Match report: David Hastie

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