Heartache for Jambos after derby run is ended

PAUL KIDDIE

AS the Hearts players trudged off Easter Road following Hibs’ dramatic injury-time victory the pain of defeat was clear to see, disappointment etched on the faces of every single Jambo.

They had just seen their proud unbeaten run against their arch rivals brought shuddering to a halt, substitute Garry O’Connor’s last-minute strike earning the Leith outfit its first taste of glory in the Edinburgh showdown since October 2001.

But while their dejection was understandable, the players only have themselves to blame for not further improving their derby record against a team shorn of the services of Grant Brebner nine minutes from the interval, the midfielder having been shown a straight red by card-happy referee Stuart Dougal for a late challenge on Robert Sloan.

It was a baffling decision by the official whose woeful performance - he made seven other bookings in a game which didn’t have a single bad tackle - will be one of the worst to be seen this season.

It was a decision which would ultimately change the game - but not, as many observers thought, in favour of the visitors. When Craig Levein sifts through the wreckage of yesterday’s loss with his players courtesy of the video analysis which has now become an integral part of his after-match assessment at Tynecastle, it will not make pleasant viewing.

With an extra man for just under an hour, Hearts should have taken the game by the scruff of the neck and dominated the remainder of the first derby of the new SPL campaign. But the fact is they found it more difficult against the ten men and paid the ultimate price with O’Connor’s telling contribution at the end of a match unfortunately marred by the actions of a fan who ran on the pitch at half-time.

With Steven Boyack on for Sloan at the interval, Levein’s outfit should have been capable of exploiting the extra space and putting pressure on Daniel Andersson in the Hibs goal, the Swedish keeper playing in his first Edinburgh derby. For some reason, however, the Jambos failed to turn the screw.

In the build-up to the Easter Road encounter Levein had warned his men of the perils of going into the match over-confident, underlining the fact that you don’t get anything for nothing in football.

Hearts’ work ethic was a major factor in their surge into third place last season and nowhere is that more important than in a tense derby tussle.

But whatever the reason the work rate was not as high as it should have been.

It looked as if they believed that going through the motions would be sufficient to take the points and register a second derby triumph in the space of a fortnight after the Festival Cup win in Leith.

How wrong they were and how they misjudged the opposition’s resolve in the face of adversity as Bobby Williamson blew his so-called derby jinx in style.

Managers detest defeat but they do sometimes have to hold their hands up when it is a piece of a sublime skill which has proved their team’s undoing.

But Levein will no doubt be irked that his players were the architects of their own downfall and he will be particularly unhappy with the manner in which the winning goal arrived.

Scott Severin, fortunate to still be on the park after escaping a second yellow card early in the opening period, needlessly lost possession in the middle of the park in the build-up to O’Connor’s strike. Stephen Dobbie sent the striker in on goal and Tepi Moilanen will feel he should have done better as the Hibs star’s shot flew under his body at his near post.

"Looking at the game I can’t complain about the result," said the Gorgie chief.

"If you break it down, okay we maybe created more chances but there are other things in the game that are more important. A willingness to keep going and the desire shown by the Hibs players merited them the win. Hibs going down to ten men seemed to work against us. We expected to win the match just because Hibs had a man sent off."

It was only after falling behind in injury time that Hearts demonstrated the sort of urgency the fans were looking for, Steven Boyack seeing a shot brilliantly saved by Andersson and then Steven Pressley following up with a diving header just off target when he looked certain to score.

Prior to that they had created little in front of Andersson’s goal.

Talisman Mark de Vries was clearly not 100 per cent fit after limping out of last week’s win over Aberdeen with a groin injury but he did produce one piece of magic which almost broke the deadlock in the 35th minute, the Dutchman turning the Hibs defence before seeing his left-foot shot superbly stopped by Andersson. Alan Maybury had earlier seen a shot fly inches past and that was the sum total of the visitors’ genuine goal threat.

Prior to that Jarko Wiss had already hit the post and Derek Riordan denied by a fine save from Moilanen. It was the second-half, though, which disappointed Levein with too many of his players largely anonymous. But the Hearts boss was honest enough to concede the Hibees were worth their victory at the end of a typically hard-fought meeting.

"We didn’t do enough to ensure we won the game," added Levein.

"And by that I mean turning up the tempo and making the ball move quicker.

"We didn’t do that. We didn’t pass the ball anywhere near the way we can and the end result was that the longer the game went at 0-0 then the more encouragement Hibs had and the harder they worked.

"We didn’t force things enough and didn’t put them under enough pressure.

"Okay, we might have scored in the last minute and I obviously would have been delighted with that. But that would have just papered over the cracks which appeared in the second half."

Yesterday was painful for those of a Jambo persuasion. An inquest will be held by Levein and his coaching staff as to exactly why it all went wrong and lessons will have to be learned. But this may just prove to be a timely boot up the backside for Hearts.

If those same players who failed to perform to their capabilities can learn from yesterday’s experience, then perhaps some good will come out of their derby day disaster.

Taken from the Scotsman