Determined Hearts have upper hand

ALAN PATTULLO AT TYNECASTLE

Hearts 2
Kisnorbo (15) Hamill (76)

Hibernian 1
Riordan (90)

Referee: M McCurry. Attendance: 16,720

BELIEVE all the blather about form books being overturned in derbies. An enervated Hearts, the spirit sucked out of them by three-goal defeats against Celtic and Feyenoord last week, were supposed to have been crucified on the cross of youth at Tynecastle yesterday. Instead Craig Levein’s side used the occasion to showcase why they must still be considered Scotland’s third best team, and although Hibs, previously unbeaten in eight games, rallied at the end, this was a decisive re-affirmation of the status quo in Edinburgh.

Patrick Kisnorbo and Joe Hamill scored the goals which brought coach Craig Levein some relief. In Rotterdam Hearts were undone by injustice but here they ran out deserved victors even though Hibs pulled one back at the end through Derek Riordan’s fine volley. The fourth official almost immediately signalled another three minutes of injury time and as any student of this fixture knows, this is a period which demands a signpost all of its own, one marked with "Beware" in large red writing.

But Hearts survived, and the victory was supplied with an extra measure of significance since it moves the Tynecastle side onto the same points total as their city rival. Perhaps the reason the Hibs fans arrived in Gorgie armed with confidence is the goals total which keeps the Easter Road side above Hearts in the league standings. An equal goal difference of zero means it is to goals scored that the statisticians must look, with Hibs trumping Hearts by 16 to 7 and thereby meaning Riordan’s late strike was of more consolation than normal.

Frankie Goes to Hollywood’s remixed When Two Tribes Go to War was played over the PA system before kick-off. This was only the half of it. Riordan found himself in the referee’s book within three minutes after a crunching tackle on the Hearts right back Robbie Neilson in what was a signal of the visiting side’s intent. Those who had confidently predicted a Hibs victory settled into their seats seemingly safe in the knowledge that they would soon be vindicated. The Hibs performance threatened to be as spiky as the regulation hair-do down Easter Road way.

It didn’t pan out quite the way it was expected to thereafter. Hearts took advantage of the half-hour Hibs required to get into the match, scoring once and creating numerous other half-chances. The Tynecastle side’s strike was provided by the lately-prolific Kisnorbo. Having opened his account for his club last month against Braga he unleashed this month’s effort following a move of exquisite quality.

The list of acknowledgements the Australian was required to give after thrashing his shot into the roof of the net from just inside the box would not have disgraced the acceptance speech of an Oscar winner. Neilson, Phil Stamp and Hamill all played a part, the last named most decisively with a penetrating run down the left that was ornamented by a deceptively accurate cross. Kevin McKenna, too, was involved, rising at the back post to direct a header towards goal. Simon Brown could only punch the ball back into a danger area populated, absurdly, by a lone Kisnorbo. He had enough time to steady himself before letting fly through an assembly of Hibs players strung out along the goal-line.

The goal was not just well-worked but also well-timed. It granted the Hearts side the fillip required after a taxing few days in which the absence of principal striker Mark de Vries, laid-low by a septic toe, has been the constant topic exercising Tynecastle minds. He failed to make it again yesterday, which meant McKenna revised his target-man role. At least yesterday he was granted a partner from the off, with Graham Weir pitched in beside him.

The return of attacking intentions roused the home fans and served Hearts well, though Hibs offered signs they were intending a comeback in the run-up to half-time. Garry O’Connor made some space for himself outside the box and immediately turned his thoughts to the goal, rifling in a shot that cracked back off the hoardings two yards wide of the right-hand post. It offered hope to the Hibs fans behind the goal who would otherwise have felt only disappointment at the way their side negotiated the opening half. Yet it was Hearts who changed their line-up at the interval, forced into the alteration by a thigh strain picked up by Phil Stamp. On came Dennis Wyness, Gorgie’s very own enigma, and provided with no better stage to prove himself.

Instead it was a later substitute who made his mark most forcibly on the events. Many have longed to see summer signing Ramon Pereira shake off his injury problems and impose himself at Tynecastle, though few expected his introduction yesterday to have such sudden consequences. It took the Spaniard little more than 60 seconds to distinguish himself for something other than a prototype mullet. Receiving the ball from Neilson wide on the right he jinked towards the bye-line before having the presence of mind to cut the ball back to Hamill, whose neat flick nestled in the far corner of Brown’s net.

While the points seemed set for Tynecastle the game was far from over. The tackles crackled like autumn bracken and the tempers flared, but the self-policing that went on was evident and also gratifying. Stephen Glass stepped into a potential flashpoint between Steven Whittaker and McKenna, while Hibs skipper Ian Murray was quick to admonish himself for a crudely late kick on the same put-upon Hearts striker, offering a hand to the Canadian in contrition. In such towsy circumstances it was a surprise to be presented with a goal of rare beauty in the dying minutes, Riordan’s connection on a cross from David Murphy both good and true.

Hearts: Gordon; Neilson, Pressley, Webster, Maybury; Stamp (Wyness 45), Kisnorbo, Hartley, Hamill; McKenna (McAllister 77), Weir (Pereira 75). Subs not used: Moilanen, MacFarlane, Berra, Janczyk.

Hibernian: S Brown, Whittaker, Caldwell, Murray, Murphy; Shiels, Beuzelin, Fletcher (Dobbie 64), Glass; O’Connor, Riordan. Subs not used: A Brown, McCluskey, Orman, Rocastle, Shields, Venus

Taken from the Scotsman