A hat-trick from Mariana Speckmaier earned Hearts victory over city rivals Hibernian in an entertaining Edinburgh derby at Easter Road.

The Venezuela forward grabbed her first of the afternoon midway through the first period as she latched on to a lovely ball in from Mairead Fulton.

But Hibs responded with a well taken goal from Aoife Colvill, as she found space to squeeze the ball in past goalkeeper Emma Thomson.

Speckmaier then scored her second to give Hearts the lead going into the break as she took advantage of a poor touch by defender Siobhan Hunter and nipped in to coolly slot home.

Both goalkeepers were called into action early in the second half. Thomson kept out Hibs striker Libby Smith, while Eve Annets produced a great save to deny Lauren Wade.

Speckmaier completed her treble on 69 minutes. Kayla Jardine did all the hard work with great feet as she broke into the area. Her shot was clawed away by Annets but only into the path of the Hearts forward, who tapped in.

As Hibs looked to get back into the game, Thompson saved from a threatening free kick, but she could do nothing about Colvill’s stunning second.

The ball dropped to her just outside the D and she volleyed in a cracker to pull a goal back and make it 3-2.

Hearts were reduced to 10 players with minutes left in the game as Ellen Dolan was shown a second yellow card, but the visitors held firm to pull three points clear of the hosts.

The win is a boost for Hearts after their disappointing Europa Cup exit midweek and, as well as all three league points, it also earned them some early silverware with the Capital Cup.

Defeat for Hibs ended their run of three games unbeaten.