Stephen Kingsley scored a last-minute winning goal as 10-man Hearts beat Kilmarnock 1-0 in a late-season William Hill Premiership match that took place amidst manager Derek McInnes' imminent move from Rugby Park to Tynecastle.
Hearts made a successful attempt to recruit Killie's manager last week, and the official confirmation of the deal is expected on Monday.
Due to this development, McInnes was not present at Rugby Park while the team he is soon to lead managed to secure a victory despite Yan Dhanda's red card in the first half against the team he has been in charge of since January 2022.
In the showdown between the interim managers on the final day, Liam Fox, who will depart Hearts after guiding them to four consecutive wins following Neil Critchley's dismissal, outsmarted Chris Burke, who was overseeing Kilmarnock for the first time coming in ninth place.
Burke made three alterations to the Killie lineup from their previous 3-0 defeat at Motherwell, with goalkeeper Robby McCrorie, Brad Lyons, and Bobby Wales – who had his transfer to Swansea confirmed on the morning of the match – all included in the starting eleven.
Hearts also made three changes from their 2-1 win over St Johnstone, with Scotland goalkeeper Zander Clark making his first appearance since August, Kingsley making his first start in over five months, and Calem Nieuwenhof making his second start of the season.
Although there were some chants in support of Derek McInnes from the away fans, the atmosphere was generally devoid of any tension or animosity that might have been expected had the 53-year-old, who was criticized by some of the Killie fans at Motherwell, stayed true to his initial plan of leading the Ayrshire side for one final match in this largely inconsequential bottom-six clash.
The home team started brightly, with both David Watson and Danny Armstrong posing a threat in the opening 15 minutes.
Hearts received a setback in the 22nd minute when Clark, whose season had been challenging after losing his starting spot to Craig Gordon, was forced off due to injury and replaced by Ryan Fulton.
In the 38th minute, Hearts were reduced to 10 men as Dhanda was shown a red card for a challenge on Stuart Findlay, who was unable to continue in the second half and was replaced by Bruce Anderson.
Despite the numerical disadvantage, Hearts handled the situation well, and Kingsley eventually scored the winning goal in the 89th minute, securing a seventh-place finish for the Jambos ahead of the new manager's arrival.