Partick Thistle's woes deepened as Hearts won 4-1 at Firhill.
The play was pretty scrappy in the early exchanges and we had to wait eight minutes for the first shot at goal when Ken Milne fired a 25-yard free-kick well over the Hearts bar.
Hearts took the lead with their first real attack after 13 minutes when Mark De Vries knocked on a throughball to Andy Kirk who ran unchallenged in on Kenny Arthur in the Thistle goal and passed the ball into the far corner.
At this point Thistle were trying hard but were unable to create any chances.
Hearts doubled their lead after 27 minutes when Paul Hartley took advantage of hesitant defending and his cross was met by De Vries, who volleyed home at the back post.
Hearts' next goal came only three minutes later with Thistle again unable to defend correctly and Kirk scored his second with a header from close range.
Thistle were now in disarray and it appeared Hearts could score at will.
The second half began with two good chances at each end and De Vries should have done better than miss his kick completely from close range and Thistle's David Rowson and Ricky Waddell managed to tackle each other with an empty goal ahead of them.
Hearts appeared satisfied with their efforts and were punished after 63 minutes when Waddell connected with a poor clearance to volley home from 25 yards into the top corner.
This was little more than a consolation. However, it was a reward from an improved Thistle performance in the second half.
Hearts completed the rout on 73 minutes with substitute Stephen Simmons scored from close range following another defence-splitting run by Kirk.
Thistle continued to press, but were unable to threaten although Jamie Mitchell saw a header go just the wrong side of the far post after 84 minutes.
Hearts will be well-pleased with the comfortable if unspectacular victory. Thistle fans must be wondering if their poor run will ever come to an end.