Jefferies' `new blood' gives Hearts lease of life Manager's secret remedy finds scoring touch

By IAN PAUL

20 Nov 1995

Hearts 2, Hibernian 1

IF THEY ever discover his secret, Jim Jefferies could become a wealthy man.

At Falkirk, he showed spectacularly that he had a rare talent for getting a team out of bother by injecting new blood.

He is doing the same trick at Tynecastle, this time giving the old Jam Tarts a foreign blood transfusion with results that have been quite astonishing.

Since he put all three new men in the team, Jefferies has watched his side go from bottom of the table to fifth top inside a fortnight.

To be fair, Pasquale Bruno, Gilles Rousset, and Hans Eskilsson had only supporting roles in this thoroughly deserved derby win but, as John Millar said afterwards, their very presence has given the dressing room a breath of fresh air.

The actual goal-scoring was done by two much more familiar faces in John Robertson and Millar himself.

Between them, they have done enough damage to Hibs to warrant severe notoriety in Easter Road circles.

Robertson finds it hard not to score in capital derbies, his penalty yesterday giving him a total of 23 in these games, while Millar, with far fewer opportunities, was scoring his third when he put Hearts ahead in the first half.

It was a goal they had been well overdue, but when Hibs, who at no time played to their potential, equalised with a fine strike by young Chris Jackson, the derby looked open enough.

However, the penalty, awarded without serious dispute after Gary Locke was brought down by Andy Millen, came so soon afterwards that Hearts' confidence did not have time to dip and they finished good winners.

The day ended in deep depression for Michael O'Neill, who had been elated in midweek after having scored twice for Northern Ireland in their 5-3 win over Austria.

He was booked in the last minute for dissent, booked a second time for a foul on Alan Johnston, and thus shown the red card.

However, he could be in even more trouble with the SFA after remonstrating with the fourth official, Bill Crombie, on the touchline, and then being seen on television booting a fire extinguisher on his way up the tunnel.

His manager, Alex Miller, was not enamoured.

"I was disappointed with Michael.

At a time when when we need experienced players, it was foolish behaviour." The Hibs manager was also annoyed that his team gave away the penalty and so quickly lost the boost the equaliser had given them, before revealing that young striker Kevin Harper, who missed the game, will be out until Christmas because of a dislocated shoulder and, by a harsh coincidence, Graham Mitchell, who has just recovered from injury and has not played this season, will be out a similar length of time with the same injury.

The other Edinburgh manager, Jefferies, was in buoyant mood.

"I thought we played well and deserved the win.

Before Hibs scored, we could have been two or three up." Jefferies also sprang to O'Neill's defence, saying: "He was unfortunate." Hearts' Italian import, Bruno, had a reputation as being the hardest man in Serie A in his day, but to date has been a model of discipline in Scotland, although he looked as if he was ready to let loose that infamous temper in the first minute of the derby when he was flattened by a sliding tackle from Evans.

Next minute, Evans came in, again a little harshly, but before the referee could give the foul, Bruno had carried on with a flying tackle at Chris Jackson, his boot landing on the young midfield man's thigh.

The Italian was booked, but Jefferies believes that did him a favour, because he did cool down and was never in trouble again.

Any chances that were made in those early stages fell to Hearts, their opening goal, then, not being unexpected, and laid on by one of their best players, Gary Locke, whose cross took a spin off a defender's foot.

When it came down, John Millar nipped between Hunter and Leighton to knock it over the line.

Hibs needed only six minutes of the second half to put themselves back into the game and it is a goal 22-year-old Chris Jackson will always remember, his first for the club.

He took a pass in midfield from McGinlay and ran forward before confidently smacking the ball out of Rousset's reach from 20 yards.

The celebrations were short as Hearts restored their advantage within three minutes with the penalty scored by Robertson.

Millen and Hunter were others booked during the action which was always hectic and often thrilling, particularly in the second half.

With 15 minutes left, Hibs replaced Darren Jackson, who had spent the previous 24 hours in bed with flu, with Mickey Weir and soon after Hearts took off Robertson, who had taken a knock, bringing on Colquhoun.

HEARTS - Rousset, Locke, Ritchie, Mackay, Berry, Bruno, Johnston, Eskilsson, Robertson, Fulton, Millar.

Substitutes - Lawrence, Colquhoun, Hamilton.

HIBS - Leighton, Millen, Tortolano, McGinlay, Tweed, Hunter, McAllister, C Jackson, Evans, D Jackson, O'Neill.

Substitutes - Weir, Dods, Miller.

Referee - K W Clark (Paisley).

Taken from the Herald