Two former Hearts men combined to send Hibernian packing at Kilmarnock.
Former Tynecastle striker Gary McSwegan opened the scoring in the 63rd minute
before Hibs substitute Francisco Luna grabbed an equaliser seven minutes from
time.
But the Rugby Park side again showed a never-say-die attitude as former Jambos
midfielder Steve Fulton struck the winner with only two minutes left.
Kilmarnock had shown a battling spirit to hold Celtic to a draw on Sunday just
days after Martin O'Neill's men had dumped Spanish side Celta Vigo out of the
UEFA Cup.
Add that to the point they gained against Rangers on the opening day of the
season and it's no surprise that the Rugby Park faithful had high hopes of
Killie taking three points from Hibs.
But, as the frost descended on the Ayrshire stadium, both sides took some time
to warm to the game and it was only midway through the half that the game
sparked into life.
It was Killie who looked most likely to deliver the goods and they came close
when Peter Canero unleashed the shot from the corner of the 18-yard box.
But the effort took a deflection off Hibs midfielder John O'Neil and was
easily scooped up by goalkeeper Nick Colgan.
The home side were threatening again after 26 minutes when McSwegan burst down
the right flank, with Andy McLaren screaming for the ball in the middle as he
surged into the box.
McSwegan dutifully supplied the cross but McLaren made the mistake of trying
to control the ball - instead of firing with his first touch - and Colgan
pounced off his line to block.
A few minutes later, Killie were unlucky when Fulton played the ball into the
path of Canero and his cross was met by McSwegan only for the former Hearts star
to watch in agony as his header crashed off the crossbar.
Five minutes before the break, Alan Mahood picked out McLaren who looked set
to open the scoring with a diving header.
But the Hibs goalkeeper managed to produce a good save to deny the home side.
Neither side opted to make any changes during the interval but, as the second
half got underway, Kilmarnock appeared to have lost some of their momentum.
They still looked the stronger side, and enjoyed most of the possession after
the re-start but chances in front of goal were not as forthcoming.
They did manage to put Hibs under pressure after 53 minutes when James Fowler
flighted a cross into the box but McSwegan's volley was well wide of the post.
McLaren had another decent opportunity when he managed to outpace Yannick
Zambernardi and made it all the way to the six-yard line only to screw the ball
wide of the post.
The breakthrough eventually came when Dargo supplied the cross from the right
which was met by a great volley from McSwegan 15 yards out after 63 minutes.
Hibs had the chance to draw level a few minutes later when Jarkko Wiss' corner
was knocked down by Derek Townsley into the path of Mixi Paatelainen but he
fired wide.
With 15 minutes remaining, Hibs squandered a great chance to pull themselves
back into the game.
Townsley burst down the right wing before squaring the ball into the path of
O'Neil just eight yards out but he somehow managed to pull the shot wide.
But substitute Luna was more successful in the 83rd minute.
Ian Murray's deep cross was met by the Spaniard at the back post and he
managed to loop a header over Gordon Marshall.
But their joy was short-lived when Killie surged back into the lead four
minutes later.
Ally Mitchell played the ball through and Shaun Dillon touched onto Fulton who
grabbed the three points for Killie when he bulleted past Colgan.
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