Hearts finally laid a six-year Ross County hoodoo to rest but Robbie Neilson was just gutted nobody was at Tynecastle to see it.
A first half Boxing Day one-two from Michael Smith and Ben Woodburn ended their winless home run against the Staggies despite Jordan White's late consolation making it an anxious wait for the third-placed Jambos who made it five wins from eight.
Neilson was adamant this result was merited but believes putting a ghost behind them at an empty Gorgie soured the success and lamented the need for a fan free stadium as another round of Covid-19 restrictions were played out behind closed doors.
He said: " Hearts had a couple of poor years so there will be a few records being put to bed. Ross County are a very good team.
"Although they are sitting down near the bottom of the table, they have a lot of good attributes. They have pace and physicality and, for me, that was one of the toughest games we’ve had here because of that.
"We are just delighted to get three points.
"We missed the crowd massively.
"It is quite deflating for everyone because we had it all last year and we thought that we had got through it all, we had the fans back but then we had today’s game.
"Looking at it today, I was probably pleased about the two games that should have been coming up. Originally I would have liked them but we need the fans back here as soon as we can.
"We had it for 18 months so we knew. There’s no intensity to the place so it is about finding ways to win games.
"We knew the game would peter out eventually, it’s only natural."
