It's Jeffin magic

Heart luck stories are history for Jambo Jim

AFTER the best day of his life Jim Jefferies will probably still wake up this morning and rush downstairs to check the ribbons on the Scottish Cup are really maroon and white.

Jefferies and Jambos everywhere have waited for 42 years to feel as good as they did at 4.50pm on Saturday when the final whistle signalled the ultimate triumph for the ultimate Hearts fan.

Jubilant Jeff could be forgiven for thinking it was all a magical dream after suffering so much Heart-break as a Jambos fan, player and now boss.

But this was not fantasy, it was a shining reality for Hearts and a fitting reward for Scotland's Manager of the Year - and his players.

Jefferies got his tactics completely right when it mattered most. Kids like Paul Ritchie are cut from the same cloth as the gaffer, they bleed maroon and white and after so many tear-soaked occasions and near-misses, they weren't heading back along the M8 without the trophy.

Ritchie summed up the Jambos on a day when they needed big Hearts - especially after Ally McCoist scored.

This was the chance for Ritchie, who was left out the World Cup, to show Craig Brown what a blunder the Scottish boss had made - and he grabbed it.

On a day for Hearts heroes Jeff singled out Ritchie and revealed: "The best move Paul made all week was signing his new contract. That settled his future, and it took a weight off his mind.

"Gilles Rousset made up for his mistake in 1996 when Rangers beat us 5-1, he's erased the memory of that now."

Hearts had only taken one point from Rangers in the league and had been given some real spankings. This time Jeff changed his approach and decided to let Rangers have the ball.

He added: "Rangers don't have a Paul Gascoigne and I decided to let them have the ball, I felt they'd struggle to break us down. They had scored 13 goals against us in four league games so we needed to try something different.

"But we sat too deep in the first half and didn't push far enough forward, but I knew when Stephane Adam put us 2-0 up Rangers would really have to gamble on going forward."

Bleach Jeff's men got the amazing start they wanted when ref Willie Young decided Ian Ferguson's clumsy challenge on bleach boy Steve Fulton was inside the box after just 30 seconds.

TV has shown the ref called it wrong, but it was an honest mistake by the whistler as it appeared at first Fulton had been chopped on the line. Colin Cameron blasted the penalty past Andy Goram, but Hearts sat back, thinking they had done enough.

It should have been a fatal flaw, but Rangers didn't have enough skill to break down the Jambos defence which was superbly marshalled by Ritchie.

Blunder

Lorenzo Amoruso's dreadful blunder let the impressive Stephane Adam blast home the second.

There seemed little danger as the Italian was clear favourite to reach Rousset's long clearance.

But he hesistated and the Frenchman seized the moment blasting his shot off the hand of Goram and into the net.

There was still time for Gers sub McCoist to give Rangers hope and Jambos Heart failure, with his goal as he expertly drilled Rino Gattuso's pass into the net.

Coisty claimed frantically for a penalty after Davie Weir sent him flying, but this time the fairytale had a different ending and ref Young chose to award just a free-kick.

Brian Laudrup tamely fired Gers last chance off the wall and the Jambos had smashed their jinx.

And even the shattered Rangers fans acknowledged that after 42 years, the Jambos had earned it.