LEVEIN: FANS MUST NOT GET CARRIED AWAY

Star of the show was striker Mark de Vries - who joined the club in the summer following a spell at Dutch side FC Dordrecht.

He scored four goals in the derby game to ensure a home debut he will never forget.

The result establishes Hearts as the top team in Edinburgh - at least until the next meeting between the two sides.

But Levein has urged the Hearts fans not to be become too carried away by the result, insisting it was a one-off.

He said: "The players realise that this was a one-off and that things fell for us today - the problem I have is convincing the supporters of that.

"But it's a dream come true and no-one ever thought this could have been possible, and Mark is absolutely delighted.

"We could have scored another three or four goals. We had opportunities but their goalkeeper had some great saves.

"I couldn't be more pleased - it's a great start for us."

Andy Kirk set the ball rolling for Hearts when he opened the scoring after 18 minutes before de Vries claimed his first goal of the day five minutes before the break.

Hibs managed to pull a goal back through Ian Murray - who was deputising as captain after John O'Neil picked up an injury early in the game.

But Levein opted to keep de Vries on the park, despite the player suffering cramp in both calves, and he went on to score another three goals in the second half.

Despite such an emphatic performance from the towering hitman, Levein reckons the player still has a long way to go before his is fully fit.

He added: "Mark's injury is fine but I think it was his fitness which was a problem today.

"He had a great game but I'm sure that he would be the first to say that he had very good service from his team-mates.

"All he has done today is make everyone aware of what kind of player he is but it's going to get harder from now on.

"But I couldn't afford to take him off earlier in the game - even if he stayed on the park and just stood still in the area I knew that he would cause problems.

"He went on to score two more goals after that so maybe he was just kidding me on that he was struggling!"

Hibs boss Bobby Williamson admitted he hoped to take something from the game when Murray hauled the Easter Road side back into the game - before de Vries snatched two late goals in injury time to kill off the game completely.

Williamson said: "I don't know what I think after that - it's hard to put thoughts into words. It was a terrible defeat.

"At 2-1 I felt that we could get back into the game and, even at 3-1 I thought we still had a chance so I made a couple of changes.

"I am very disappointed and this is a hard one for everyone to swallow."

Taken from sportinglife.com