We've got to go even further than this great leap forward; Cup win must be merely first step on road to more Hearts success

TIME will tell if this result marks some kind of rubicon crossed by Hearts. Greater efforts will surely be required next season, both on and off the field, to maintain the Tynecastle revival, and perhaps even take it forward.

But revolutions are often marked not just by small steps, but great leaps forward.

Winning their first trophy in 36 years can surely be described as such.

Amid the post-match euphoria which came naturally to players and management, there was much talk of hurdles being cleared and barriers broken.

It is clear that a vast majority within Tynecastle now believe that the club can become a major force in Scottish football and, what's more, they are keen to persuade everyone else of the validity of their case.

Defender Paul Ritchie, who has matured and improved beyond measure since the 5-1 final drubbing of two seasons ago, certainly feels good things are on the Gorgie horizon - if the same level of effort is maintained.

'I really think that defeat two years ago affected us all last season,' said the defender.

'We were up and down all season, and didn't achieve any consistency. But we managed to put it all behind us this season, and did a lot better.

'We really came good on this occasion, and to finish with a piece of silverware made it worth the wait.

'I definitely think this gets us over a big hurdle. Thirty-six years is a long time for the third biggest team in scotland to wait for a trophy.

'It all depends now on what the gaffer does over the summer.

He will need to strengthen the squad, because Rangers and Celtic certainly will.

'We know the Old Firm will have millions to spend, but he's got the know-how and he knows the players he wants.' Much had been made, in the build-up to this final, of Ritchie's tears of despair following that 1996 rout, and the 22-year-old clearly savoured his revenge - even though he worried about a repeat disappointment right up until the final whistle.

'This makes up for the previous disappoinments of the Scottish Cup and the Coca-Cola Cup defeats,' he said. 'One out of three isn't too bad.

'That last time in the Scottish Cup, Laudrup and Durie just destroyed us. It is great to make up for that.

'In the last league game Durie gave me a really hard time and, of course, he got a hat-trick in that 5-1 game. He called us his lucky team, but we've sorted that out now.

'With ten minutes to go we were 2-1 up, but they really had the upper hand, and we just had everyone behind the ball.

'Then McCoist went through, Davie Weir gave away the foul and it could have been a penalty. I

thought "not again" because I had seen it all before - but fortunately it was a different outcome this time.

'I knew when McCoist was on the bench today that the script was written for him - Parkhead in a Scottish Cup Final had Ally McCoist written all over it. We were fortunate to get a couple of goals before he came on.

'I actually had a wee run-in with him later, when he said I had gone over the ball and tried to do him.

That's not my game, and if I hurt him I apologise, but I didn't try to do him.

'I thought the decision when he went down late on was a bit fortunate. It could have gone against us, because it was a borderline call.

'I get married in two weeks and, if it's half as good a day as this was, it will be all right.' Neil McCann, who has played well but been on the losing side so often against Rangers, also felt lifting the Tennent's Scottish Cup marked some kind of major event in Hearts' history - enough to earn the men who did it a rare honour.

'The gaffer said to us that we had the chance to become legends in this game,' revealed the winger.

'Afterwards he went around the dressing room, and said to every one of us that we had done that.

To receive that kind of accolade from someone like Jim Jefferies is magnificent.

'I am sure the Hearts punters feel that we are legends, and it's beginning to feel like it now. There were some frightening scenes in that dressing room, because it was so emotional.

'Hearts have waited too long without a trophy. We've wiped the slate clean now, and we are over that barrier.' McCann is a perfect example of the Hearts philosophy at work, a player who had attracted nibbles of interest from big clubs while at Dundee, but was overlooked by the Old Firm in favour if foreign imports.

Jefferies knew that all he, and others like goalscorer Colin Cameron and Jim Hamilton, needed was confidence to develop into a real top class player - and that confidence has spread throughout the team.

McCann said: 'We knew this game would be difficult, but it was strange - we actually felt like favourites. There was so much self-belief in the team before the game. We worked hard and got a bit of luck. Rangers don't give up cups easy, and I was worried when Ally scored.

'We worked on the new system of sitting in and making Rangers break us down.

'All season our game has been about pressing, but Rangers can pick you off and walk right through you, as they showed at Tynecastle a few weeks ago.

'The gaffer and Billy Brown have instilled this feeling of self-belief in the players, and that is important.

We hadn't beaten Celtic or Rangers in the league, which made this even sweeter.' Now all Jefferies and Brown have to do is convince their players that this kind of result is achievable every time they face the Old Firm.

Then that final obstacle to a substantial Hearts revival, transforming them from third force to joint favourites for every honour, will be well and truly cleared.

A GREAT moment in club history, certainly - a magnificent managerial achievement, definitely.

It was left to Stefano Salvatori to transfer the praise being heaped upon players to the man at the head of the Tynecastle revolution.

The Italian, naturally not inclined towards understating the case, said: 'This is history. The supporters have waited 42 years to win the Scottish Cup. Now we have that, and next season we are in the Cup Winners' Cup.

'Jim Jefferies and Billy Brown have worked very well together, and they have spent just [pounds sterling]800,000 on a team to challenge Celtic and Rangers - that is unbelievable. This is a really wonderful achievement by these men.' History was also made in the case of Jim Hamilton, who came on as a striker - and then deployed himself as a spare centre-half.

Hamilton explained: 'I took it into my own hands to move back after Rangers scored.

'I knew Richard Gough would be throwing himself forward, and I knew I had to get back and defend.

'It seemed all we did was defend and defend for the last five minutes.

'Guys like John Robertson were really emotional after the game - he has been here for 18 years, after all, and deserves this.'

JOHN GREECHAN