IT ALL ENDS IN HEARTACHE

HIBS .............................2 HEARTS ......................0

"WE Are Unbeatable," went the song from the Hearts end at five to three - but it's the last time we'll hear it this season.

Because at long last the Jambos juggernaut came crashing to a halt as deadly city rivals Hibs wreaked revenge for their derby defeat in August.

Two goals inside three minutes deep into the second half from Guillaume Beuzelin and Garry O'Connor were enough to inflict the first loss of the season on the league leaders.

And Hibs deserved every second of joy they'll milk from it.

They were the better side by a distance, although Edgaras Jankauskas' stupid sending off just after the hour contributed to Hearts' downfall.

The Easter Road men now move just four points from the top of the table after their first win over the Jambos at Easter Road in more than two years.

But for Hearts it will be a week of soul-searching on and off the field.

Chances are they'll lose top spot in the league this afternoon to Celtic for the first time this campaign.

And chief executive Phil Anderton will be under pressure to get in a manager before more ground is lost.

But this was Hibs' day.

Gaffer Tony Mowbray had Kevin Thomson and Scott Brown back to strengthen his line-up after they missed the midweek win at Dunfermline Thomson anchored the midfield while Brown piled forward on the right in support of O'Connor.

Hearts made changes too, with Paul Hartley and Sammy Camazzola in midfield and Steven Pressley back after his one-game suspension.

Incredibly the Jambos skipper was off the park with blood seeping from a head wound after just two minutes.

You always knew it would be that kind of game though. Everything about the atmosphere said blood and guts would be delivered in equal measure.

Derbies are derbies but it's hard to remember one with so much riding on it - forget city pride, there were real prizes at stake here.

Mix that in with the mayhem of the Jambos' managerial chase and it's no surprise there wasn't a spare seat in the house. And to be fair the game was far from a let-down.

There was definitely a clash of styles but both sides had some joy early on.

O'Connor looked isolated at first as Hibs' spearhead but it didn't take long for Brown and Derek Riordan to provide support from the flanks.

They combined to tee up the Scotland front man in nine minutes with a header that flew past.

And 10 minutes later Riordan bent a phenomenal ball round the back of the Hearts' line for O'Connor steaming in at the back post - but keeper Craig Gordon did superbly to intimidate his Scotland team-mate into shooting wide.

Hearts were in their usual 4-4-2 lineup - and Rudi Skacel was in his usual menacing form with his left boot.

The nine-goal Czech pulled a shot out of nowhere from 18 yards that had Ziggy Malkowski scrambling to palm wide.

Two minutes later he scudded a more speculative 35-yard free-kick that still tested the keeper.

And in 25 minutes Skacel drove a shot hard off Malkowski's chest.

In truth, he was the Jambos' only real threat. Jankauskas and Michal Pospisil were being kept comfortably in check and Hartley, normally the master of the lung-bursting run from the middle, was clearly still nursing a back problem.

Meanwhile, Hibs were starting to threaten from all parts.

Thomson's raking ball to the left sent Riordan flying and the Mohawked maverick sliced inside past Robbie Neilson and Camazzola only to blaze his right-foot shot over.

The excellent Michael Stewart was next to chip in, his glancing header forcing a desperate palm to safety from Gordon.

Beuzelin's shot from the following corner was deflected inches past the post by Andy Webster.

Hibs had the better of the first half but were dealt a blow in 50 minutes when stopper Chris Hogg limped off tobe replaced by Gary Smith. On the hour mark Hartley spurned Hearts' best chance of the game with one of his few appearances in the box.

Skacel played him in through the left channel leaving him only the keeper to beat - but his shot was tame and Malkowski saved at the second bite.

Hearts' contribution as an attacking force finished two minutes later though when Jankauskas was sent off for a moment of crass stupidity.

Bad enough that he hadn't kicked his own backside for an hour and had been booked for persistent fouling But to compound it the way he did with the game in the balance? Criminal.

It should have been tame enough. He was fouled by Brown, the ref blew for it and the pair's legs tangled.

Intentional or not, Jankauskas should have walked away. Instead he turned and shoved the Hibs kid to the deck.

He had to go and Hibs sensed blood. Riordan was sent tumbling by Camazzola perilously close to the box and bent the free-kick a foot wide.

O'Connor came within an inch of picking out sub Ivan Sproule at the back post with a cross that Takis Fyssas scraped away. But it was delaying the inevitable. And the dam that had held firm all season finally burst with 13 minutes left.

Gary Caldwell's superb pass inside Fyssas on the right found Sproule, the Ulsterman hit the byline and picked out Beuzelin on the run and the Frenchman clipped home off the far post.

To say Easter Road went tonto would be an understatement.

And three minutes later? Bedlam. David Murphy's chip over the offside trap found O'Connor, the big man ignored offside claims and buried low under Gordon to finish off the Jambos.

It was no more than Hibs deserved for playing the better football, defending superbly and upping a gear to take advantage of the 10-man Jambos.

Hearts? It had to end sometime - but where and how it happened will pain them. And it will tell them they need a new leader sooner rather than later

ref watch

JOHN UNDERHILL wasn't popular with Hearts fans but did little wrong. He booked four Jambos and sent off Jankauskas but was always in full control. Rating: 7/10

Taken from the Sunday Mail