Hearts 2 (Cameron 1 pen, Adam 53) Rangers 1 (McCoist 81)

EVERY big club is on a quest for glory, but Hearts have been in search of mercy.

Yesterday, history at last grew tired of toying with them and, with this Scottish Cup victory, rewarded an indefatigable spirit.

The Cup was won by the Hearts players, but merited, above all, by supporters who, in many cases, were not even born when the club last lifted an honour, in 1962.

So devoid of imagination were Rangers that the Edinburgh club's success is not to be presented as larceny.

None the less, circumstances did favour Hearts.

A mistake by Willie Young, the referee, for example, presented them with a lead, and a penalty, in the first minute.

All the same, Jim Jefferies' side was often admirable.

In central defence, Hearts approached invulnerability, with David Weir and the excellent Paul Ritchie exerting a control that was shaken only by the introduction of Ally McCoist.

Gilles Rousset, the goalkeeper, made enough fine saves to collect the man-of-the-match award, but Steve Fulton, with his discriminating use of the ball, may have been an even stronger candidate.

In addition to suffering his influence, Rangers were forced to the rueful recognition that they had no such figure in their own ranks.

Their supporters, who have an expert understanding of the recent decline at Ibrox, may just find a degree of justice in the fact that a season has ended without a trophy for Rangers for the first time since 1986.

They bellowed, in the 86th minute, when a free-kick just outside the area, rather than a penalty, was awarded for Weir's foul on McCoist as their team chased an equaliser.

In that matter, Mr Young was probably correct.

The resentment in the Rangers end was not enough to prevent them, at full-time, from giving raucous thanks to the players for previous, glorious service.

Some of those fans also mustered the dignity to applaud as Fulton, the Hearts captain, was presented with the Cup.

Rangers, however, had begun to thrust that honour towards him far earlier.

The manner in which Hearts took the lead was full of the appropriate oddity.

They were in possession of a penalty before the designated kick-off time of three o'clock had even been reached.

The referee started the match early and one of those taken by surprise may have been Sergio Porrini, the Rangers defender.

His recklessness was certainly the act of a man not quite attuned to the match.

Fulton, by contrast, was full of purpose and, after collecting the ball on the left wing, felt no need to play the easy pass that settles a footballer's nerves.

Instead, he drove forward, beckoning Porrini into the ill-advised challenge on the edge of the area that secured an unwarranted penalty after 38 seconds.

The Italian defender's contact occurred marginally before Fulton stepped into the box.

Colin Cameron converted the penalty, sending Andy Goram the wrong way as he fired the ball into the top corner.

It was an opening to the afternoon that could not have been anticipated, but it brought about a match that conformed strictly to expectations.

Hearts, beaten 5-1 by Rangers in the final of this tournament two years ago, fully understood the folly of a devil-may-care attitude.

With only Stephane Adam in attack, that error, at least, was not to be repeated.

There was an element of bluster in the attacking they faced, but Hearts still had to cope with long periods in defence.

That toil and strain was misleading and Rangers' unreliability was still present in the match.

It broke cover again, in the 53rd minute, as Rousset pumped a long free-kick downfield.

Lorenzo Amoruso, the centre-half, was sluggish in his reactions and appeared to slip as he permitted Adam to run loose.

The angle on the right was unfavourable, but the forward's shot proved hard and accurate.

Although Goram made contact, he could not stop the ball running on and reaching the net at the far post.

The goalkeeper is rarely beaten in such circumstances and the incident was full of the fallibilty that has stolen over Rangers this season.

The erosion of abilities in veterans such as Goram and the fragmentation of a side that has rejected a transplant of new players could not be reversed.

Where once there was mastery, only a desire to wring one valedictory moment of triumph remained.

Yearning is rarely sufficient, even if its presence was felt in the muscles of Hearts players asked to contain frantic opponents.

The aggression of Rangers could always be counted upon.

Half of the team were making their concluding appearance and self-interest was stoked in men whose pride left them aghast at the thought of their era ending in pathos.

Joy is the climate in which these players have generally existed.

The exertion, though, led to scant refinement.

Brian Laudrup was the exception.

Especially before the interval, he evaded defenders with aplomb, but, for the most part, the Dane's teammates could not respond adequately to the promptings.

In a poor game, it was symptomatic that Rangers should first truly threaten from a set-piece.

Amoruso, after 36 minutes, hit a rising free-kick from 35-yards that obliged Rousset to stretch impressively and divert the ball.

Just before the interval, a flustered Fulton yielded possession and Laudrup gathered Porrini's cross before manoeuvring and poking the ball against Rousset's right-hand post.

McCoist, at the beginning of the second half, fluffed his kick when Rino Gattuso crossed and, soon after, fired narrowly wide.

With Jonas Thern injured and Jorg Albertz suspended, the Rangers side lacked artifice in midfield, but asserted itself with sheer effort.

Thomas Flogel misplaced a header that could have given Hearts a 3-0 lead, yet Rangers, too, had opportunities.

When a knock-down by Richard Gough ran to McCoist after 63 minutes, Rousset responded with a magnificent parry.

McCoist's invulnerable confidence was apparent, nine minutes from the end, when he gathered Gattuso's through pass and methodically shot low past Rousset.

The blast of the referee's whistle at full-time unleashed Hearts' celebrations and the supporters, recalling the desperate closing phase of the final, could at least claim a sliver of luck has been pending for decades.

Substitutions: Hearts: Adam (Hamilton 78min).

Rangers: Stensaas (McCoist 46min); McCall (Durrant 68min).

Booked: McCann (41min); Gattuso (50min); Durie (54min); Amoruso (79min); Hamilton (79min); Durrant (90min).

Referee: W Young (Clarkston).

Attendance: 48,946.

Taken from timesonline.co.uk