Paul Hegarty walked away from his last game as Aberdeen boss a disappointed man after his team were torn apart by Hearts.

Gary McSwegan scored a superb hat-trick to complete the misery for Hegarty.

The leaky Dons defence finished the season having let in a massive 71 goals and whoever gets the manager's job at Pittodrie he will have to make sure his first priority is to buy some quality defenders.

Dons keeper Tony Warner, whose loan spell from Liverpool officially ended after today's defeat, has conceded 17 goals in just six games.

Hegarty had hoped that his troops would give him a win for his final game in charge and after an encouraging first half performance this looked on the cards but Hearts, whose manager Jim Jefferies is one of the names in the frame for the vacant Pittodrie post, wiped Aberdeen away with four goals in a 19-minute spell in the second half.

Hearts got off to a flyer when McSwegan opened the scoring, firing a low right-foot shot past Warner with only two minutes gone.

Aberdeen clawed themselves back into the match with an equaliser five minutes later when Jamie Buchan smashed a 25-yarder past Roddy McKenzie in the Hearts goal.

Although that was the end of the scoring for the first half, Aberdeen had the lion's share of possession and had more chances with Andreas Mayer coming close on three occasions.

By half-time it looked as if Aberdeen would come out in the second half to finish the visitors off but a double by McSwegan and a Colin Cameron penalty within the opening seven minutes of the half put paid to any hopes of Hegarty getting his final day wish.

Dons striker Eoin Jess pulled a goal back in 61 minutes but this was never going to be enough and Hearts completed the scoring through Thomas Flogal in 64 minutes.

The Aberdeen board will now have a close look at who to bring in as Hegarty's replacement and with an announcement due shortly, the long-suffering Dons fans will hope that this time the club will bring in the right man.

Teams

Aberdeen: Warner, Perry, Whyte, Smith, Jess, Mayer (Young 78), Dow (Wyness 78), Anderson, Buchan, Hart, Winters.

Subs Not Used: Leighton, Pepper, Hamilton.

Goals: Buchan 7, Jess 61.

Hearts: McKenzie, Naysmith, Ritchie, Adam (Jenkinson 84), Cameron, Jackson (Makel 78), Flogel, Pressley, Murray, Severin, McSwegan (Juanjo 78).

Subs Not Used: McPherson, Strang.

Booked: Cameron.

Goals: McSwegan 2, 47, 49, Cameron 52 pen, Flogel 64.

Att: 13,042

Ref: J Rowbotham (Kirkcaldy).