Levein thrilled by his hale and hearty troops

PAUL KIDDIE AT TYNECASTLE

DERBY victories are treasured by managers, players and fans alike and Hearts’ latest success over Hibs will be no different.

However, the significance of yesterday’s result should not be underestimated, the triumph one of the Gorgie outfit’s most important over the Easter Road side in nearly four years under Craig Levein.

Since succeeding Jim Jefferies, Levein has carved out an impressive record against his city rivals with just two defeats - both away from home - in 11 encounters.

Given the circumstances surrounding the first Capital showdown of this season, though, the win at Tynecastle has to rank up there with the most vital.

The Hearts boss will forever cherish his first derby success back in March 2002, when the Jambos won 2-1 in Leith. And the astonishing Mark de Vries-inspired 5-1 victory in August that year will no doubt also have a special place in his video collection.

However, going into yesterday’s meeting three points adrift of Tony Mowbray’s in-form side, the Gorgie chief knew that victory was imperative - six points behind Hibs and languishing in eighth place in the SPL amid an arduous UEFA Cup campaign was not a palatable thought.

Joint fourth, though, and just four points behind third-placed Aberdeen, is a completely different scenario.

The fact his players did it at the end of a most gruelling eight days which had seen Celtic coast to a 3-0 win at Parkhead and then Dutch giants Feyenoord chalk up an equally comfortable margin of victory in the UEFA Cup in Rotterdam, is all the more impressive.

The general consensus of opinion prior to the Tynecastle meeting was that Hibs, with the benefit of a midweek rest while Hearts were straining every sinew to get a result in Rotterdam, were widely expected to stretch their eight-game unbeaten run against battle-weary opponents.

The European exploits in the De Kuip Stadium were, after all, supposed to have sapped most of the strength from the home side deprived again of the services of the influential De Vries. Just where were the goals going to come from, not to mention the energy, people were asking?

It is arguable that of the three games over the past week, if there was to be one victory, Hearts punters would have ideally chosen to celebrate a derby success to kick-start the league challenge.

After all, anything taken from Celtic Park is always regarded as a bonus, while a UEFA Cup defeat in Holland against the top seeds in Group A is no disaster with two home ties still to come and three teams progressing to the next stage.

And a derby delight the Jambos duly delivered, much to the satisfaction of their manager.

"I keep saying this but I knew what I would get from the players as regards effort," Levein said. "We knew the significance of this match to ourselves, our league position and our supporters. The players showed tremendous courage after a couple of setbacks in the last week and I thought we deserved to win and in front of our own fans I thought it was very important we did so.

"We had lost two games in a row and we don’t often do that, no matter who the opposition is. We were disappointed in that and couldn’t allow it to be three and I want to heap as much praise on the players as possible."

Much has been made, quite rightly, of the youthful talent currently at Mowbray’s disposal. But in such encounters there is no substitution for experience and young though Levein’s squad is, it is street-wise, every member of his starting line-up having played in an Edinburgh derby before compared to just a handful of the Hibees’ stars. With the adrenaline pumping through the veins at kick-off, the hosts began much the brighter and deservedly broke the deadlock through Patrick Kisnorbo’s first league goal for the club after 15 minutes.

The Aussie, on the mark against Braga at Murrayfield, found himself in acres of space just inside the box to smash home a fisted clearance from Simon Brown after a superb sweeping move involving Robbie Neilson, Phil Stamp, Joe Hamill and Kevin McKenna.

The first goal in such games is vital, no more so than yesterday, and the visitors struggled to break down the formidable backline which has served Hearts so well in recent seasons.

Any problems they did encounter were mostly of their own doing, Kisnorbo in particular guilty of needlessly giving away possession on too many occasions for his boss’ liking.

In fact, Webster, who was otherwise a tower of strength alongside Steven Pressley, almost gifted Hibs an equaliser with a rare error after 54 minutes, the defender heading a ball straight into the path of Dean Shiels whose lob over the advancing Craig Gordon landed on the roof of the net.

McKenna should have doubled his side’s advantage in the 67th minute when Hamill’s cross found him unmarked at the back post. The industrious Canadian, though, only succeeded in heading the ball into the side netting when knocking it back across Brown would surely have brought better reward.

Although ruled out by Levein in the build-up to the match, Ramon Pereira made a surprise entrance from the bench with 15 minutes remaining - and promptly helped win the game for Hearts.

The Spaniard, who had been struggling to shake off an ankle injury, had been on the park for 60 seconds when some nice trickery on the byline saw him pick out Hamill in the area and the winger steered the ball past Brown with the outside of his left boot.

With the Jambos understandably running on empty in the closing stages, Hibs snatched a 90th-minute consolation courtesy of a stunning strike from Derek Riordan - but there was to be no denying Levein another derby day to remember.

"I was pleased with everyone for different reasons," he said. "We put as many attacking players into the team as we could with the likes of Phil Stamp and Joe Hamill out wide and Paul Hartley in the middle.

"The intention was to try to get in front and generally if you have tired legs they can hold out that much longer if you have a lead. We knew the players would tire but all credit to them, even when Hibs came back into the match late on and scored, they didn’t really look like scoring again even though our backs were against the wall.

"That’s just typical of our defence and our team as a whole. The back four has been playing week in, week out, midweek in, midweek out, for goodness knows how long now - some have even been involved with internationals - and they just get stronger and stronger.

"I think a lot of lesser teams would have folded yesterday with the tired legs and Hibs being fresh with their tails up after they scored."

Those same aching limbs will be asked to do it all again at Tannadice on Wednesday - but how much fresher they will now feel!

THE FACTS

GOALS
Hearts: Kisnorbo (15), Hamill (76)
Hibs: Riordan (90)

SHOTS ON TARGET
Hearts: 5

SHOTS OFF TARGET
Hibs: 3
Hearts: 4

CORNERS
Hibs: 7
Hearts: 1

OFFSIDES
Hibs: 5
Hearts: 2

FOULS AGAINST
Hibs: 6
Hearts: 15

BOOKINGS
Hibs: 14
Hearts: Hartley, Weir. Hibs: Caldwell, Murray, Riordan

ATTENDANCE
16,720

NEXT MATCHES
Dundee United v Hearts, Hibs v Livingston, both Wed, SPL (kick-off 7.45pm)

Ref watch
MIKE McCURRY used all his experience to keep good control of a typically hard-fought derby at Tynecastle. Made five bookings, all of which were justified.

Top shot
HIBS strike ace DEREK RIORDAN’S last-minute volley was a shot of sheer brilliance but was little more than a consolation effort for the visitors.

Top save
NEITHER keeper had a save of note to make but Hearts stopper CRAIG GORDON kept his composure in injury time to get everything behind Derek Riordan’s awkward 30-yard free-kick.

Hearts fans' view
John Burrell, Dalkeith: "We dominated the game and broke Hibs’ unbeaten run. We proved we are still Edinburgh’s dominant force.

Ann Blues: "A superb result for Hearts, Garry O’Connor deserved an Oscar for his playacting."

Chris Semple, Penicuik: "An excellent result for Hearts. It’s always good to beat Hibs. A deserved win."

George Johnston, Livingston: "Another easy win over Hibs. It’s nice to see there was no European hangover for us."

Dougie Copland, Penicuik: "It was a tight match but we deserved to edge it. Maybury was the man of the match."

Allan Campbell, Gorgie: "A very good performance and an excellent result. Kisnorbo was immense."

Gary Milne, Murrayfield: "Hearts were the better side for long spells - it was a well deserved win."

Garry Hill, Corstorphine: "A fine performance, we defended brilliantly and looked very good on the break. Joe Hamill was excellent."

Daniel Lewis, Leith: "Our tactics were spot on for this game, Hibs rarely threatened us. We were just too strong for them."

Lewis Ernest, Gorgie: "We looked very confident after Thursday, we learned a lot from our European adventure and we saw the benefits at Tynecastle."

Hibs fans' view

Jim Scott, Northfield: "Once again they get all the decisions. Maybe they deserved to win but their tactics always leave a bad taste in the mouth."

John Cunningham, Leith: "We didn’t compete in the first half and they just humped high balls at us. We needed some strong personalities to compete in this sort of fixture."

Andrew Cunningham, Leith: "They got their lucky streak against us again. I thought our midfield was a bit lost at times. Fletcher and Shiels looked a bit lost at times and was Beuzelin on the pitch?"

Paul Ross, Leith: "Blew it again. How many times will we let them mug us?"

John McDermott, Granton: "Poor start, but we got back in to the game. Although we didn’t look like winning it, a draw would have been a fair result. Best players for us were Glass and Murray."

Malcolm Smith, Granton: "Gutted again that we let them win Just how lucky are they? Every decision went their way. McCurry books our players but not theirs, he’s a joke!"

Alex Smith, Leith: "We didn’t play well, too many missed passes and too many players who weren’t up for the fight."

Alan Stevenson, Leith: "Just not getting the breaks, they were no better than us and got their usual favours from the referee."

Team line-ups
Hearts: Gordon, Neilson, Pressley, Webster, Maybury, Stamp (Wyness 46), Kisnorbo, Hartley, Hamill, Weir (Pereira 75), McKenna (McAllister 77). Subs not used: Moilanen, MacFarlane, Berra, Janczyk.

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

Star man
THE Jambos back line was an imposing barrier for the Hibees to overcome and provided the foundation for a vital victory. No-one was more solid than the rejuvenated ROBBIE NEILSON, who enjoyed one of his best displays in a Hearts jersey. Always willing to assist in attack, the full-back linked well down the right. Crucially, though, the defensive side of his game was also out of the top drawer.

Star man
AS the oldest player in Hibs’ side, a great deal of responsibility rested on the shoulders of STEPHEN GLASS and the midfielder rose to the occasion, getting on the ball as often as possible and refusing to panic when finding himself in possession in difficult situations.

Taken from the Scotsman