Shiels: Derby goal was Brazil-iant

DAVID HARDIE

DERBY day hero Dean Shiels today declared his Tynecastle winner "as good as beating Brazil" after firing Hibs eight points clear of arch-rivals Hearts in the race for Europe.

The 20-year-old midfield ace scored twice against the Samba kings as Northern Ireland beat Brazil for the first time at any level just days after clinching a move from Arsenal to Easter Road.

But today he admitted his goal in Gorgie was "right up there" with that memorable day for the Province’s Under-19 side in Coleraine last summer.

And he dedicated the win - Hibs’ first at Tynecastle in over five years - to the green-and-white army which suffered all sorts of agonies as they watched Tony Mowbray’s side crash out of the Scottish Cup just four days earlier.

Shiels struck after substitute Amadou Konte’s header had come back off the right-hand post of Hearts goalkeeper Craig Gordon, the blond-haired star claiming his sixth goal of the season as he rifled the ball high into the net to send 3500 Hibs fans at that end into ecstasy.

He said: "To score my first derby goal, the winner at the Hibs end at Tynecastle was simply unbelievable.

"It was a great feeling, I’ve never felt anything like it before. I scored twice against Brazil which was phenomenal but this was right up there with that."

And Shiels insisted this victory would shut up the critics who had been writing Hibs’ European challenge off following their defeat by Dundee United at Hampden.

He said: "Of course, Saturday was very disappointing for all of us - players and fans alike. A lot of people were questioning whether we had what it took but I think to come back and win at the home of our biggest rivals answers that question.

"We’ve done it more than once this season and it shows we are all in this together. There’s a will-to-win which the manager has instilled in us and we are getting our rewards on the park."

Shiels agreed, however, that with Hibs trailing 1-0 at half-time after keeper Simon Brown’s gaffe gifted Hearts striker Lee Miller his ninth goal of the season, things had looked bleak for the Leith outfit.

But he was adamant, as was Mowbray, that no-one in the away dressing-room was pointing the finger at Brown.

Shiels said: "That’s all part-and-parcel of being a goalkeeper. We are all in it together and we all wanted to do it for Simon because we are all pulling in the same direction.

"At half-time the manager sat us down, told us we were not playing half as well as we could and to go out and play as we have all season.

"We wanted to send a message to all the fans who went to Hampden to support us. We felt we owed them one and hopefully they’ll have enjoyed this win."

The transformation in Hibs was remarkable, Garry O’Connor claiming the equaliser after Konte’s cross had caused chaos in the Hearts penalty area before Shiels struck just five minutes later.

But while the victory puts Hibs in pole position for a place in next season’s UEFA Cup, four points clear of fourth-placed Aberdeen, Shiels insisted he and his team-mates had eyes only for Saturday’s clash with Livingston.

He said: "This was a big game to win but we are not getting carried away. We aren’t looking at what other clubs are doing, simply taking it one game at a time."

Mowbray praised his young side for the character shown in the face of adversity. He said: "It says a lot about them. I was looking at them at half-time when perhaps they were suffering a bit of a hangover from the weekend but in the second-half they put in a performance of which I was proud and hopefully so were the supporters."

Taken from the Scotsman