JONNY Hayes last night scored a well-deserved second-half winner as Aberdeen moved two points behind Rangers in the Ladbrokes Premiership table following a victory at Tynecastle.

The Pittodrie winger converted Niall McGinn’s driven cross after 66 minutes to earn a 1-0 win in Edinburgh, a result which allowed the third-placed Dons to open up a six-point lead over Hearts in the Ladbrokes Premiership.

Ian Cathro, the Tynecastle head coach, had managed his first victory in charge of the Edinburgh club in midweek, but the 4-0 triumph over Kilmarnock came at the cost of a serious knee injury to Callum Paterson and they missed the Scotland right-back at both ends of the park.

Aberdeen could afford to miss a handful of chances, while visiting goalkeeper Joe Lewis was only called into serious action in the latter stages of the match as the Pittodrie side smuggled all three points back to Aberdeen.

While Liam Smith and Don Cowie came in for the home side in place of the injured Paterson and Prince Buaben, Aberdeen manager Derek McInnes could name the same starting line-up that recorded back-to-back wins over Motherwell and Hamilton Academical.

The ball was in the air for much of a frantic opening 15 minutes and that was the route Aberdeen took to carve out the first chance of the evening. Defender Mark Reynolds was unable to put his side ahead when he directed a free header over from eight yards following McGinn’s corner.

Most of the early play was in the Hearts half but Aberdeen defenders Shay Logan and Ash Taylor were booked for illegally halting two Hearts breaks. But the home side were unable to make the most of those injudicious moments.

Instead Aberdeen gradually began to turn their territorial advantage into chances from open play. McGinn got space to run at Smith and crossed for Kenny McLean but goalkeeper Jack Hamilton made an excellent stop.

The visitors again carved out a chance down the left when Graeme Shinnie overlapped Hayes and sent in a low cross but Hamilton blocked McGinn’s shot with his feet.

Shinnie came closer just before the break when his 25-yard strike hit the post and Adam Rooney could not readjust his body quickly enough to steer the rebound on target.

Hearts got closer to target man Bjorn Johnsen after the interval and Smith was not far away with a header from a corner, but Aberdeen remained the likelier team to grab a goal and all three points to end the year. Rooney failed to make the most of two half chances and Aberdeen could not trouble Hamilton from some decent positions.

But that all changed when McLean sent McGinn racing down the right wing. The Northern Ireland internationalist fired a cross from the bye-line and Hayes flew in to volley home in mid-air from six yards.

Aberdeen generally managed their lead well after that, but Lewis was called up on to make a decent stop from Jamie Walker with five minutes left after good footwork from the Hearts midfielde. Cowie then headed over as Hearts succumbed to defeat.