Tam Scobbie and Carl Finnigan scored the goals either side of half-time and although Deividas Cesnauskis pulled one back, Falkirk held on for a first win in six games.

And Hughes said: "I think Hearts are still favourites to finish in seventh place. But I asked the players for a performance before the game and for parts of it they gave me a good passing performance.

"It's always nice to score the goals and pick up the three points. I'm a great believer in performances bringing results and I think that's what happened.

"Hearts are a good side, they've had a bad year but they're still a right good side. Players like Laryea Kingston are good players and Scobbie had to work hard to contain him and then make sure he was always on the front foot and spring forward.

"At 2-0 I thought we were well in control of the game and passing it. Then we made the substitution and put Russell (Latapy) on and you would think that would allow us to keep the ball. But it spooked us a wee bit and they got the goal and we were hanging on for the last 10 minutes. All credit to the players for hanging on."