Jefferies springs trap

JIM JEFFERIES yesterday secured his place in history. The manager completed his transformation of the club by leading Hearts to their first major success in 36 years.

The 21st manager of the club, he has the chance to join the likes of Tommy Walker in Tynecastle folklore. Walker was the last Hearts manager to lay his hands on a Cup and his 15-year reign produced two League championships, a Scottish Cup and four League Cups.

Jefferies, who played for Hearts in the 1976 Scottish Cup final, knows what it means to the club and its supporters. "The last 10 minutes were the longest of my life," he said. "Even at 2-0, I knew Rangers would come back at us. This is the greatest moment of my life - nothing can beat this."

Jefferies revealed that he plotted Rangers' downfall by willingly giving up the lion's share of possession.

"We talked a lot about the four League games we have had against Rangers this season, when we had lost 13 goals, and you just can't do that.

"Maybe the style we play suits them, so we decided to let Rangers have the ball and let them try and break us down and I thought they struggled to do that with the players they had."

Gary Locke, the captain, who missed the final due to a cartilage injury, was almost denied the chance to celebrate with his teammates on the pitch because of petty officialdom. The SFA did not want players who were not stripped to go on to the pitch, and there was a row in the tunnel after the match. "I thought it was out of order" said Locke. "It got a bit heated and the chairman and the manager were involved, but they eventually saw sense.

"I waited 22 years for this and I wandered out on to the pitch. I looked across at my family and I had a tear in my eye as I realised what this meant."

Colin Cameron, who shot Hearts ahead from the penalty spot, said: "It was my first kick of the ball and I actually changed my mind about which way I was putting it in my run-up. They say you should never change your mind, but I thought Andy Goram had predicted where I was going to place it. Neil McCann actually wanted to take it. I told him there was no chance of that. I have only missed one penalty, and that was for Raith against Airdrie in the B & Q Cup, but I have never missed a penalty for Hearts."

Stephane Adam, the scorer of the second Hearts goal, said: "I have played in three Cup finals and won them all. I am a lucky man. This was a team victory today as everybody gave 100%."

Taken from timesonline.co.uk