Hearts 2 Hibernian 0

By Ronnie Esplin, PA Sport

Two bizarre own goals by luckless Hibs defenders Alen Orman and Gary Smith gave Hearts victory over their city rivals in a frantic Tynecastle derby.

In the eighth minute Orman was caught flat-footed when Paul Hartley's corner came in from the left and was helpless as the ball struck him on the leg before nestling in the net past the helpless Daniel Andersson.

Hibs fought valiantly to come back into the game but in the 66th minute when Smith repeated the Frenchman's first-half error, there was no way back for the Easter Road side.

It was bad luck on Bobby Williamson's men who could claim they were the equal of Hearts for most of this hard-fought encounter.

The early part of the game, fast and furious, suggested there would be little between the sides.

The visitors had the first effort on goal in the third minute but midfielder Scott Brown's effort from just outside the box flew high over the bar.

But in the eighth minute the home side took the lead with a fortuitous goal. Ex-Hibs player Paul Hartley swung in a corner from the left which looked poor but the ball somehow ended up with Kevin Thomson and when it came off the Easter Road youngster it hit Hibs defender Orman and sneaked into the net.

It was a goal out of the blue but it stung the visitors who began to attack the Hearts goal with determination and Hibs young striker Derek Riordan brought a great instinctive save from Craig Gordon with a volley from close range which the Jambos keeper did well to parry away.

The next real attempt on goal in the game did not arrive until the half-hour mark but Patrick Kisnorbo's speculative shot from 30 yards drifted high over Andersson's bar.

Moments later, Hartley's curling free-kick from 25 yards went wide of the Hibs keeper's right-hand post.

There was a curious incident at the break when Hibs, seemingly desperate to get back into the game, came out too early for the start of the second half and to the amusement of the Hearts fans, the Easter Road players had to be called back into the dressing room.

Most of the play continued to revolve around the middle of the pitch and neither keeper was seeing much action although Andersson was alert to the danger of Hartley in the 51st minute when the Jambos player tried to toe-poke the ball past him from 12 yards.

In the 57th minute, Jean-Louis Valois should have done better when he drifted on to the end of a Neilson cross but the Frenchman headed weakly over from 14 yards when he should have hit the target.

But in the 66th minute the home side doubled their lead through yet another own goal.

Neilson swung a cross in from the right and the unfortunate Smith was there before Hearts target man Mark De Vries, but only succeeded in putting the ball past Andersson and into the net.

The loss of the second goal was a real blow to the visitors' aspirations but as the game entered its final stages, Hibs continued to carry the fight to Hearts.

But with a two-goal lead, Hearts had enough in the bank to be able to defend with confidence and in the end the points stayed at Tynecastle.

Teams

Hearts Gordon, Maybury, Pressley (Webster 23), McKenna, Kisnorbo, Neilson, MacFarlane, Hartley, Valois (Hamill 90), Kirk (Wyness 77), de Vries.

Subs Not Used: Moilanen, Simmons.

Booked: Maybury.

Goals: Orman 9 og, Smith 67 og.

Hibernian Andersson, Orman (Whittaker 45), Murdock, Doumbe, Smith, Brown, Brebner, Murray, Thomson, O'Connor (Dobbie 63), Riordan (McManus 80).

Subs Not Used: Hyldgaard, Glass.

Booked: Orman, Brown.

Att: 16,632

Ref: H Dallas (Scotland).


Taken from sportinglife.com