Barrie McKay reveals Hearts wind-ups behind the wondergoal that broke his Jambos duck

He went from butt of the jokes to talk of the toon with one sensational swing of his right boot.

And now Barrie McKay has finally ended the wait for his first Hearts goal at the 30th time of asking, he hopes the goals will flow just like the wisecracks which preceded Saturday’s screamer.

The winger knew it was time to get the finger out when even Beni Baningime - who had never scored in his entire career - broke his duck before him last week.

Thankfully that elusive strike finally arrived for McKay to secure three points against Livingston which moved the Jambos 14 points clear in third place.

And it’s fair to say it was worth every day of the seven-month wait.

Tynecastle held its breath as McKay swivelled to connect with a Nathaniel Atkinson cross from the right in the 58th minute.

His volley was sweet and flew past Max Stryjek for a goal of the season contender after Baningime had followed up last week’s tap-in with another to pile even more pressure on his mate.

And McKay said: “It’s about time! The chances I’ve missed during the season were probably easier than that one.

“You miss chances but at least I’m in the position to get those chances. I’m still influencing the game with assists and creating chances so I put it to the back of my mind.

“I knew it would come eventually.

“It was a running joke when sitting midfielders were scoring before me. I’m close with Beni so I had it all week and then on Saturday when he scored again.

“That was him on two and I was on zero so I had to bring one back.

“I just tried to make a good connection with it, really. If you try to hit those ones too hard, it will blaze over or hit off a defender.

“It was just about making good contact and thankfully it went in - I was waiting for