Hearts making their own luck

ALAN PATTULLO AT TYNECASTLE

Hearts 2 Orman (9 og), Smith (67 og)
Hibernian 0
Referee: H Dallas.
Attendance: 16,632

A SIXTH win in succession for Hearts was supplied with further charge, given the identity of the opponents yesterday, but these days the Tynecastle club have bigger fish to fry than struggling neighbours Hibs. Their attention now turns to FC Girondins de Bordeaux, the team who visit Edinburgh on Thursday seeking to avoid becoming victim No7 in this remarkably productive period for Craig Levein’s side.

Hearts might rather have done without a derby in the days prior to what will be an exacting test, but, in truth, Hibs are not the unsettling proposition they might in other times have been considered to be. Energy is a an admirable quality, but when married only to limited ability this blessing cannot be translated into anything of substance. With fortune having also fled them, their powers become almost annulled.

Yesterday afternoon was made harder to bear for the Easter Road club by the identity of the two players credited with applying the final touch to the goals which saw Hibs slide to defeat. Alen Orman and Gary Smith were the double act fated to play the role of Hibs stooges, the defenders awarded the dubious distinction of seeing the letters ‘o’ and ‘g’ trailing their names in the match statistics.

It was not a day of unrelenting joy for those in the Hearts camp, however, with Levein later revealing that their influential captain, Steven Pressley, is "99.9 per cent" certain to miss the UEFA Cup second leg appointment on Thursday after straining a thigh yesterday.

Pressley himself refused to rule himself out in the stoic manner which informs his defending, offering a "we’ll see" sound bite as he left the stadium last night.

For Hibs manager Bobby Williamson, the fact Pressley had been exerted enough to tweak a muscle was proof of his side having at least once stretched their opponents’ defence. There was not much more in the way of evidence to suggest this, with the tender-aged forward line of Derek Riordan, Gary O’Connor and the deeper-lying Scott Brown offering endeavour rather than incision. These youthful players may blossom further yet, but for those supporters who demand success immediately, this was another dispiriting afternoon as guests of their in-form neighbours.

The game itself was a featureless and rather bland affair, perhaps befitting the presence of those pop bores Westlife in the Tynecastle main stand. They play the Festival Theatre this evening and might like to stick around until Thursday to see again the team whom the Tynecastle DJ cheekily described as "Scotland’s only UEFA Cup representatives".

The volley of boos from the away stand was predictable enough, but the truth of the statement was nevertheless impossible to take issue with. These are heady days at Tynecastle, something further deepening the Hibs gloom yesterday. We hate it when our neighbours become successful.

Pressley might be tickled to think thousands of supporters will be issuing a prayer for his nether regions ahead of the big game. He exited the fray after only 22 minutes clutching the top of his thigh and was replaced by Andy Webster.

By the time their captain had taken his leave, Hearts were already one goal to the good, though it wasn’t entirely all their own work. Indeed, it was a winning goal fitting of so poor a match.

The messy affair had its source in Paul Hartley’s corner, a poorly hit effort which took numerous bounces even before it found a muddle of Hibs players at the near post. Just as too many cooks spoil the broth, too many defenders can combine to deliver something undesired. Grant Brebner miskicked when attempting to clear, and when the otherwise impressive Kevin Thomson made contact with the ball in an effort to send it out of the box, he succeeded only in clattering the attempted clearance against Orman.

This not being Hibs’ day, the ball rebounded back off the Bosnian full-back and nestled in the corner of Daniel Andersson’s net.

That this calamitous scene was played out beneath the noses of the Hibs support housed in the away end made it harder to be borne, and the extravagant dance of joy conducted by Hartley simply slid the dagger in deeper.

Hartley, an ex-Hibs player, had gestured to the fans as he ran to take the corner in response to their taunts, and then took maximum delight from the fact that his kick had led to the goal. The fact that his was one of the most poorly delivered set-pieces seen this season did not register with a man possessing a neck as brass as his.

Still, Hearts could afford to gloat - and did. Certainly, their fans wasted no time to begin ragging poor old Williamson. "Fatty must stay", they chanted at the under-fire Hibs manager, who began the afternoon joking with the Hearts fans in the stand behind him and ended it bearing the haunted look that spending an hour and a half in the company of Hibs currently demands. He had made all three substitutions with 15 minutes to go, but no amount of tinkering could alter the fact this was a match never in the Easter Road club’s control.

Riordan, Brown and Thomson tried manfully enough, but only one effort - a drive from Riordan in the first half - could be classed as a serious assault on Craig Gordon’s goal.

Hearts, while never rampant, were simply resolute, and Webster’s seamless filling of Pressley’s position emphasises here is a team in the winning groove, and the young defender may now find himself staying there against the French.

The second goal simply confirmed this latest victory, Robbie Neilson’s cross being turned into his own net by Smith when placed under pressure by Mark de Vries. The only time Hibs were sharp was at the start of the second half, when they trooped out before the television cameras were ready and had to slope back into the tunnel and do it all again.

Hearts: Gordon, Maybury, Pressley (Webster 23), McKenna, Kisnorbo, Neilson, MacFarlane, Hartley, Valois (Hamill 90), Kirk (Wyness 77), De Vries. Subs: Moilanen, Simmons.

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

Taken from the Scotsman