"AWAY up in Gorgie at Tynecastle Park, there's a wee fitba' team that will aye make its mark ..." goes the famous Gorgie song. And, boy, did Hearts make their mark on Dunfermline.
The home side rattled in seven goals – then their highest tally since a resounding 7-0 league defeat of Hamilton Accies in November, 1986 – and without exaggeration they could easily have notched double figures as the Fifers failed to cope with their
attacking football.
The home side were breathtaking in the way they ripped apart a hapless Dunfermline side which was always on the back foot following Stephane Adam's fourth-minute opener – the Frenchman's first goal since December 1999.
There had been genuine fears in the run-up to the clash that the game could be in doubt due to the blizzard which engulfed Tynecastle an hour before kick-off.
But thanks to the undersoil heating and the clearing skies, there was never any real doubt that the game would go ahead.
And after just 37 minutes of the encounter it was equally clear that the three points would be staying in the Capital, the hosts having raced into a 4-0 lead.
In the weeks leading up to the game Hearts had been guilty of missing the majority of chances they created but there was to be no repeat against the Pars with three goals in the space of 12 minutes making the game safe.
Andy Kirk, restored to the attack, bundled the ball home on the 25-minute mark after a chip from Adam had been partly blocked by the overworked Marco Ruitenbeek.
Skipper Colin Cameron finished from a tight angle to net the third, while the rejuvenated Adam then showed his class with a volley from 12 yards after he had been picked out by Steven Boyack's cross.
Given a choice, the Fifers probably would have preferred to stay in the dressing-room for the second half and Hearts were quick to twist the knife even deeper after the restart, Cameron slotting home No.5 from close range in the 46th minute after Ruitenbeek had failed to hold an Adam shot.
The Pars managed to get on the scoresheet through Dair four minutes later, but the demeanour of the Pars players as they jogged back to their own half proved they knew it was all over, even at that early stage.
Kirk bagged No.6 on the hour mark to make up for a glaring miss moments before when he somehow managed to drag the ball wide from inside the six-yard box.
Slovakian ace Robert Tomaschek put the home fans in seventh heaven with 67 minutes gone when he poked the ball under the advancing Ruitenbeek.
Despite the pummelling they took, the Pars made Antti Niemi work for his money, the Finn producing a couple of stunning saves to deny Stevie Crawford and Andrius Skerla in the second period. With Tomaschek also being denied by the woodwork and Kieran McAnespie seeing a shot come crashing back off a post, it is easy to see why Pars boss Jimmy Calderwood was relieved to hear the final whistle.
"It started badly for us and just got worse," he said.
The result was all the more astonishing given Dunfermline's record in the build-up to the match – they had lost just once, to Rangers at Ibrox, in their previous 11 matches, but they were brought crashing back to earth in no uncertain fashion by Hearts.
Craig Levein said: "I thought we played exceptionally well. We worked hard, created chances and scored goals. And it is difficult to beat that. Our all-round performance was excellent and it has to be the best since I came here."
