Hearts secured their sixth win in seven matches at Tynecastle this afternoon, where first-half goals from Audrius Ksanavicius and Marius Zaliukas and second half strikes from Andrius Velicka and Christian Nade had the home side on easy street, before Falkirk's late rally caused some edgy moments both on and off the pitch,

Sporting four changes from the team that started the win in Paisley, Hearts put their opponents to the sword with some sublime counter-attacking football in the first three quarters of the match, football which John Hughes's men found it impossible to figure out until it was far too late. When they did, they scored a couple of goals with more than a hint of offside about them, but which were probably a fitting reward for their considerable contribution to the overall spectacle.

Steve Banks, Marius Zaliukas and Andrius Velicka were all recalled, while there was a rare start for Tomas Kancelskis, filling in at left back for Jose Goncalves. Despite the personnel changes Hearts made a blistering start to the match. Within the first sixty seconds, Andy Driver had found space and pace on the left touchline, skinning the Falkirk right-back Dean Holden before cutting the ball back into the middle from the byline. With the visitors' defence stretched, Michael Stewart had timed his run to perfection to meet the ball just on the six-yard line. Unfortunately his effort on goal was far from perfect, the midfielder poking an effort well over the crossbar.

Hearts continued to press, and after again ripping open the Bairns' defence on the left, they then did so from the other side of the pitch to open the scoring. Eggert Jonsson started the move, turning on halfway before slipping a neat pass inside left-back Tom Scobbie for Laryea Kingston to chase. The Ghanaian reached the ball easily and played a sublime pass across the area where the inrushing Audrius Ksanavicius had the simplest of tasks to roll the ball beyond Tim Krul and into the net.

The 4-4-1-1 formation which had flummoxed Rangers three weeks earlier appeared to be having the same effect on John Hughes's side, although the visitors did fashion some neat play of their own which allowed Pedro Moutinho to cut in from the right and test Steve Banks with a vicious, rising effort from a tight angle. The Englishman was equal to it though, tipping the effort over the crossbar for the visitors' first corner of the game

Moutinho's next effort from the right rose too quickly and did not trouble the keeper, while Holden's pile driver, again from the right, did have Banks clawing in mid air even as the ball sailed a foot over the crossbar. But while the visitors made pretty patterns and buzzed intently around the Hearts' box, it was the home side that displayed the cutting edge with a second goal just before the half-hour mark.

Andrius Velicka's persistence earned a booking for Darren Barr and a free-kick for Hearts, which Stewart played high into the area. The clearance from the defence was woefully short, falling for Zaliukas at the edge of the area, and he returned it with some interest, hitting a right-footed shot into the ground and beyond Krul to put Hearts two goals to the good.

The home side remained content to contain their visitors and hit to devastating effect on the break and should maybe have scored twice more before the break. First Velicka created space midway inside the Falkirk half before releasing Driver through the inside left channel, but a heavy first touch prevented the Englishman from getting away an early shot and by the time he had regained control of the ball, the chance was lost.

Then another chance went a-begging when Velicka outfoxed Scobbie on the right before beetling into the area and attempting to pick out the unmarked Driver with a lofted pass. Unfortunately from the Hearts' point of view Ksanavicius intercepted the pass with an ambitious-looking stab from ten yards, an effort that looped harmlessly into Krul's gloves.

Pedro Moutinho was booked for diving just before the break, the second opposing player to fall foul of officialdom against Hearts in successive matches, and then Arnau Riera was cautioned for a foul just after the break as the Bairns looked to hoist themselves back into the game.

But it was a lost cause for Hughes's men, who were finding it impossible to make any sort of headway against the midfield bulwark of Stewart and Jonsson. The latter in particular was in imperious form, a proper central midfielder, constantly on the move, never on his backside and always on the spot to break up play and move his team forward.

And it was his industry which led to Hearts securing a soothing third with just under an hour played, Jonsson dispossessing Latapy on half-way and feeding the ball simply to Kancelskis on the left. The full back stroked it forward to Velicka in his favourite position, bearing down on goal through the inside-left channel. And just as he did last week, he profited fully, rifling his shot beyond Krul to give the home side an unassailable lead.

Calum Elliot appeared soon afterwards to replace Ksanavicius and, had he actually connected, would have scored with his first touch as he dived full length to meet a cross from Kingston. Sadly he didn't connect and it was left to Driver to screw a shot unconvincingly wide.

Christian Nade was then introduced for the tiring Velicka, and he DID manage to score with what must have been close to his first touch on 68 minutes. Stewart and Kingston carved out the opening on the right hand side of the Falkirk area, and when the ball was shuttled inside to Nade, he made no mistake with a low shot to the keeper's left from fifteen yards.

The visitors had committed all three of their subs by this time as well and the newcomers added a little bit of zest to the final twenty minutes as they beavered hard for some sort of consolation. From the press box, it did not look as if they had a goal in them, and evidently that was the view among those in maroon on the pitch as well as Hearts switched off completely in the final two minutes to allow their visitors two needless goals.

First substitute Graham Barrett scored with a neat flick over Banks from what looked a suspiciously offside position and then, with Christophe Berra and co again appealing in vain for some imagined infraction, Holden's driven cross from the right was turned firmly home by Moutinho from sixteen yards.

That heralded a nervy two minutes of injury time for the home side, never more so than when Moutinho's low shot forced Banks into an untidy scramble low at his right hand post. Happily for Hearts, their jitters were soon eased as they regained their composure and saw out the final minutes of the match in relative comfort.

Hearts: Banks; Neilson, Zaliukas, Berra, Kancelskis; Kingston, Stewart (Palazuelos 75), Jonsson, Driver; Ksnavicius (Elliot 62); Velicka (Nade 67). Booked: Nade. Subs not used: Basso, Karipidis, Tall, Ivaskevicius.

Falkirk: Krul; Holden, Barr, Milne, Scobie; Moutinho, Arnau (Finnigan 67), Cregg, Arfield; Latapy (Thomson 67), Higdon (Barratt 67). Booked: Barr, Moutinho, Arnau. Subs not used: Olejnik, Allison, Thomson, Barrett, Finnigan, Wallner, Craig.

Referee: Stuart Dougal

Top man: Eggert Jonsson