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Hearts produced a slick display to cruise past struggling Hamilton and snap a five-game winless run.

Accies keeper Gary Woods was inspired for 40-odd minutes but his resistance was broken just before the break by Arnaud Djoum.

Isma Goncalves made it 2-0 from an indirect free-kick in the Hamilton box.

Jamie Walker scored a delightful curling free-kick from outside the box before substitute Malaury Martin made it 4-0, also from a free-kick.

The result means fourth-placed Hearts, who had gone five games in all competitions without a win, are now just five points behind third-placed Rangers in the Premiership table.

Hamilton remain second-bottom, one point above Inverness Caledonian Thistle.

Wonderful Woods

Woods' performance for much of this match has surely got to be one of the best seen in the Premiership this season.

Arnaud Djoum blasts home to finally beat Hamilton keeper Gary Woods.

First he saved well from a Walker header, before denying Goncalves who was clean through on goal. The Hearts striker should have done better but Woods still spread himself well to make the block.

Sam Nicholson then cut inside to fire in a shot from 25 yards, but Woods was there to tip the ball past the post.

The best was yet to come. A header from Goncalves looked to all the world like it was heading for the bottom corner of the net but somehow Woods got his outstretched hand to it. It was an outstanding save.

Woods had to look lively again on the half hour mark when Alexandros Tziolis cracked in a volley from the edge of the box. The shot took a deflection on the way through and the keeper did superbly well to adjust his footing and make yet another save.

Isma Goncalves doubled Hearts' advantage following an indirect free-kick in the Hamilton box

In the 33rd minute Walker made space in the box for another crack at goal but Woods again denied the hosts.

Accies' attacking woes

Having weathered the early Hearts storm, Hamilton managed to establish something of a foothold in the match. For parts of the first-half their five man midfield enjoyed some possession during lulls in Hearts' dominance.

But chances were few. A deflected effort from Eamonn Brophy from the edge of the area the best they could muster in the first-half. It would not get much better in the second-half as Hearts took control. Ali Crawford's free-kick from 30 yards - comfortably saved by Jack Hamilton - was their only effort on target.

There are concerns in both defence and attack for Hamilton. These will have to be quickly addressed if the Accies are to preserve their Premiership status.

Hero to villain

Woods went from hero to villain for Hamilton after handling a back-pass in the penalty area.

Hearts' Jamie Walker scored his 15th goal of the season

From the free-kick, Goncalves lashed a shot into the top corner.

Soon after it was 3-0 for Hearts as Walker curled in an exquisite free-kick from 20 yards, his 15th goal of the campaign.

The fourth came from another free-kick, this time substitute Martin firing home from a similar distance.

Post-match reaction

Hearts head coach Ian Cathro: "I think one of the biggest positives throughout the first-half was the character of our players to keep pushing.

"We created a lot of chances, we were dominant in the game early, we played with good possession, mixed our attacks as well.

"There were a lot of good stops from him [Hamilton goalkeeper Gary Woods], but the fact we never felt any stress, we stayed calm, we stayed patient, we kept doing the right things and we very much deserved the goal before half-time.

"When you suffer a bad week and three unacceptable results, which was the case, the focus day-to-day has to be on making improvements and making sure you give the maximum every day.

"That's not changed because of this performance and this result. What it means is that everything we had to do today we have done and we will also work again very, very hard tomorrow."

Hamilton manager Martin Canning: "Your job is to go and win games and get enough points to stay in the league and, at the minute, performing like that, we won't.

"That's not good enough, but we're not bottom of the league at the minute. The teams above us both lost today - we're still three points off of those two.

"The fixture list at the moment we have had Celtic, Aberdeen, Rangers, Hearts and Rangers again next weekend, so that's five games against the top teams in the league.

"So it was always going to be a difficult spell, but our performance levels today were not good enough and that is not something I have said a lot this season.

"We can't afford to miss players like were missing them today. We had Darian Mackinnon missing today, Mikey Devlin, who are so influential in the team and Alex D'Acol has been a huge miss up the park. I don't think we have looked the same since he hasn't played.

"[On Gary Woods handling the back-pass] Someone whistled from the crowd and Gary's thought the referee has blown his whistle.

"Jamie Walker had gone down as he tried to run through, something happened and there was a coming together and Walker has gone down and someone has blown a whistle from the crowd. It ends up costing us a very important second goal."