ROB ROBERTSON at Tynecastle October 25 2004

SIX Italian Hearts fans were guests of honour at Tynecastle yesterday. They would have left impressed by the atmosphere but longing for the refined football of their local Milan clubs.

This was an Edinburgh derby full of all the usual ingredients; compelling, but not for the purists.

Tackles were wild, passing erratic and the ball was in the air more times than it was on the deck. The class players on show – Guillaume Beuzelin of Hibs, Patrick Kisnorbo of Hearts – got no time to settle.

Ian Murray was lucky not to be sent off for a late tackle on Kevin McKenna, while Robbie Nielson was guilty of an off-the-ball challenge on Derek Riordan which went unpunished.

Riordan was hit by a coin in the second half, which Tom Purdie, security chief at Tynecastle believed came from the Hibs end – presumably from someone with bad aim.

"A 50p piece hit me on the side of the jaw but I had no idea where it came from," said Riordan. "The incident is over and I'm just gutted to lose the game."

On the pitch, a well-placed shot from Kisnorbo and a second-half strike from man-of-the-match Joe Hamill gave Hearts victory, although the pick of the goals was the late Hibs consolation scored by Riordan.

Hearts' victory was fully merited, and the fact they pulled it off after their UEFA Cup rigours against Feyenoord on Thursday evening, and without injured striker Mark de Vries, made it all the more laudable.

"My team showed tremendous courage after defeats against Celtic and Feyenoord," said Hearts coach Craig Levein, who refused to comment on reports that he was being lined up to be assistant Scotland manager under Walter Smith.

"We realised the importance of the game in the terms that we didn't want to lose three games in a row. We also wanted to win for our supporters and realised it was a game we had to take three points from."

There had been suggestions that a Hibs win yesterday would signal the start of a swing in power away from Gorgie to Leith. Both sides are now equal on points, with Hearts still holding the Indian sign over their rivals in matches at Tynecastle.

It is five years since Hibs last won at Tynecastle, and Tony Mowbray is the fourth Hibs manager in that time to lose out to Craig Levein. Mowbray believes it is only a matter of time before that statistic is consigned to the record books.

"Teams like Hearts know we will be a force to be reckoned with as time goes on," he said. "We will improve when the players mature and develop physically.

"They are all on programmes to build up their bodies and the physical side of the game was the big difference between the teams."

Hibs' youngsters were enthusiastic, but ultimately did not possess the experience to cope with the Tynecastle side' pressing game.

Levein's men didn't let Hibs settle, flooded the midfield and defended deep and in numbers when required.

Their fitness was magnificent bearing in mind their midweek exertions, and in captain Steven Pressley they had a real leader, something Hibs lacked.

Pressley's defensive partner Andy Webster had a less assured 90 minutes and was lucky that Dean Shiels made a hash of an easy chance to lob Craig Gordon after a dreadful mistake by the defender.

The first goal came when a cross from Hamill was headed back into the box by McKenna and a punch from Hibs goalkeeper Simon Brown landed at the feet of Kisnorbo. The Australian took his time before placing his shot past Brown and over the head of Hibs defender David Murphy.

The second goal with 14 minutes left capped a fine performance by Hamill who got on the end of a low cutback from substitute Ramón Pereira.

Hibs created few chances but when they did score it was absolute class. Murphy put over a cross, Riordan met it on the volley and dispatched the ball past Gordon with consummate skill.

It was a highlight on a bad day for Hibs. Many thought the balance of power might swing from Gorgie to Leith, but once again when the pressure was on Hearts they came up trumps.

Taken from the Herald