3 talking points as Hearts hammer Auchinleck Talbot with five star show to banish Brora Scottish Cup ghosts

dailyrecord.co.uk:

Ruthless Hearts crushed Auchinleck Talbot’s Scottish Cup dream with a jitter-free display at a packed Beechwood Park. The eyes of Scottish football descended on one of its most magical venues but found little in the way of romance as the Jambos made light work of Tommy Sloan’s giant-killing specialists.

First-half goals from Andy Halliday and Liam Boyce put the Premiership side in control, despite a further two finishes from the latter being wrongly denied by the offside flag.

Boyce added another after the interval, Peter Haring lashed home following a slick move and finally Alex Cochrane tapped home to sign off a dominant 5-0 victory.Burned by a cup horror show against Brora Rangers not even a year past, Neilson’s side were in no mood to risk a repeat of such ignominy, shutting down Talbot’s hopes of springing the biggest shock of them all.Not even the 3,500-plus packed inside Beechwood, as buoyant as they were throughout, could summon the spirit that spurred the West of Scotland League side to previous victories over Hamilton Accies and Ayr United on this very venue.

Pre-match, an ankle injury kept John Souttar out of what could well have been his final Hearts appearance - though Neilson remained tight lipped on that situation - while it was a first for Nathaniel Atkinson.