Hibs prove to be April fools at Tynecastle

JIM REYNOLDS

3 Apr 1989

SPORTS

CORRECTIONS

PAGE: 24

EDITION: 1

Hearts 2, Hibernian 1

I SHOULD have guessed April the first was going to be one of those foolish kind of days when I had to do a double-take to confirm that a bride, complete with white wedding dress and maroon and white supporters scarf, was entering through the turnstiles at Tynecastle on Saturday.

Denise Mathews, or Marr as she was by that time, was one of the prettier sights around the Gorgie Road area.

Unlike the young couple neither Hearts nor Hibernian could really boast of a best man in this latest capital derby meeting although the Tynecastle side did have enough players in their ranks who wanted to win enough to keep their hopes of a European place alive.

That was the difference between the sides and now Hibernian, who not so long ago looked long odds on for a return to European football face a tough demanding run in before the dream can become a reality.

They have only themselves to blame.

The men from Easter Road will never have a better chance.

They had dominated the previous Edinburgh derbies this season and on Saturday they faced a Hearts side which had to be patched up -- three who did play were not 100% fit -- because of injury illness and suspension.

They were also given a tremendous boost when new £300,000 striker Keith Houchen put them ahead after 25 minutes with a powerful header.

That should have given them the confidence to go on and do a proper job, but like April fools they simply stopped playing and allowed Hearts back into the match.

Twice Mike Galloway, so often a goal hero for Hearts this season, missed easy chances, yet still Hibernian did not heed the warning.

Eamonn Bannon took advantage of defensive errors to equalise in 28 minutes and from that point Hearts did not look like losing.

As Hibernian went more and more into a shell Hearts seemed to sense that victory was there for the taking and when little John Robertson, who had been suffering from a virus for most of the week, took over from the unfortunate Galloway (he had missed another easy chance) it proved to be a winning move.

But still Hearts, who were not overly impressive, needed help from an under par Hibernian defence.

With only eight minutes left Robertson missed a cross from Tosh McKinlay but saw it bounce off Alan Sneddon and showed great awareness to pounce on the rebound and hammer the ball past Andy Goram.

It was his third goal in his last four matches against Hibernian which makes one wonder why he wasn't on from the start especially as it was revealed that Galloway was also one of the men who was not quite fit.

Said manager Alex MacDonald: "Galloway, Robertson, and Levein were all short of training this week so I'm delighted at the way things have turned out.

"I honestly believe we have a good chance of qualifying for Europe now although we are still four points behind Hibs.

They have to play Aberdeen next Saturday while we meet St Mirren.

If the results go our way next weekend it will put a lot of pressure on them."

Despite Saturday's setback Hibernian manager Alex Miller is also confident that anyone who wants to see European football in Edinburgh next season will have to visit Easter Road.

He said: "Mistakes cost us this game -- we lost joke goals and instead of Keith Houchen's strike giving us a boost defensive errors from us gave Hearts the lift.

Experienced defenders should always be alive.

They should not switch off as ours did.

However, we still have everything to play for in our last six matches."

The mystery of the missing Steve Archibald, the striker who wants to leave Easter Road and who has criticised the club in the last week, was cleared up by Miller.

"There is nothing sinister," he said.

"Steve failed a fitness test on a calf injury he has been nursing since last Tuesday."

HEARTS -- Smith, Sandison, McKinlay, Levein, Berry, Black, Colquhoun, Mackay, Galloway, Ferguson, Bannon.

Substitutes -- Robertson, Jardine.

HIBERNIAN -- Goram, Hunter, Sneddon, May, Rae, Mitchell, Orr, Houchen, Kane, Collins, Evans.

Substitutes -- Tortolano, McCluskey.

Referee -- R Valentine (Dundee).