Ross County ended their wait for a first league victory of 2017 and heaped even more pressure on Hearts head coach Ian Cathro.
Alex Schalk netted his seventh goal of the season of the season to earn the Staggies all three points and a first ever win at Tynecastle.
The Dutchman had another goal ruled out for offside, which looked to have been a harsh decision.
The Jambos have now won only four times in 15 games since Cathro replaced Robbie Neilson and the Hearts supporters voiced their displeasure at the full-time whistle.
It was an excellent display from Jim McIntyre’s side who move the Staggies five points clear of bottom of the table Caley Thistle.
This was a meeting between the Scottish Premiership’s two most unpredictable teams, both of whom had struggled for consistency in recent weeks.
Ross County had taken only one point from a possible 15 heading into this one but have tended to save their best performances for away from home this season.
The Staggies drew 0-0 at Tynecastle in September and were desperate to take something from the match after being leapfrogged by bottom side Hamilton Accies the previous night following their 1-0 victory against Aberdeen.
Hearts head coach Ian Cathro was badly in need of a victory to relieve some of the backlash he has faced since his team were knocked out of the Scottish Cup by city rivals Hibernian a week ago. A 2-0 defeat by Partick Thistle did little to silence those doubting whether the 30-year-old is up to the task of leading the Gorgie side.
The Staggies knew a promising opening to the match would only add to the tension around Tynecastle.
The game kicked off following a minute’s silence for former Hearts forward Alex Young who died earlier this week.
Hearts had forked out £250,000 to replace their pitch following their 1-1 draw with Caley Thistle just under a fortnight ago and it was the Staggies who threatened first on the new surface with a menacing cross from Alex Schalk just out of reach of Liam Boyce before a powerful strike from Marcus Fraser flew wide.
The natives were becoming restless as their side struggled to find a way past Ross County’s five-man defence with the Jambos restricted to pot-shots from outside the area with Andraz Struna and Bjorn Johnsen both failing to trouble Scott Fox.
The visitors went agonisingly close to breaking the deadlock in the 24th minute when a deep free kick from Martin Woods was nodded back across goal by Boyce to the unmarked McEveley who sliced his effort wide when he really should have found the back of the net.
A let-off for Hearts but County were growing in confidence as the game wore on and looking the more dangerous team in the final third.
The Staggies then had a strong claim for a penalty waved away in the 27 minutes when Tim Chow was bundled over by a reckless challenge from Arnaud Djoum but referee Alan Muir waved play on.
Hearts finally came to life 11 minutes before the break when a curling effort from Djoum hit the crossbar and Johnsen lacked the composure required to convert the rebound.
The Jambos upped the ante after the interval with Fox producing a smart stop to keep out Krystan Nowak’s downward header.
But it was County who grabbed the all-important opener six minutes into the second half.
Hearts defender Alexandros Tziolis made a mess of attempting to clear Jason Naismith’s cross, allowing Schalk to bury the ball into the bottom corner.
County almost doubled their lead five minutes later following another mix-up in the home defence between Hamilton and Lennard Sowah but Chow was unable to take advantage.
Disgruntled members of the home support began to vent their fury towards head coach Cathro, who cut a frustrated figure in the dugout.
County had the ball in the net soon after when Curran fed Schalk who calmly slotted home, only for the strike to be ruled out for a marginal offside decision.
County were forced to make two changes soon after with Martin Woods and McEveley both picking up injuries and replaced by Jim O’Brien and Reghan Tumilty respectively.
Fox made an excellent save to tip an Anastasios Avlonitis effort onto the bar before Hearts substitute Malaury Martin, a set-piece specialist, had a chance to level four minutes from time but his free kick from 20 yards out was too close to the County stopper.
