Mercer tribute adds fuel to fire

SOME of the Hibs support turned their back on the minutes applause in memory of Wallace Mercer, the man they can never forgive, but before the 90 minutes had elapsed, they were turning their backs on a result they will be hoping to forget.

Those who were still downstairs queuing for pies when Calum Elliot netted Hearts fourth in the 50th minute obviously decided not to return to their seats, others quickly vacated them. They knew there was no way back.

It was a feeling shared by the Hibs personnel on the pitch. "Especially with Gary Smith getting sent off," admitted Garry O'Connor, whose consolation effort in the 57th minute at least helped to stem the flow. "Hearts used the ball well and passed it about well and managed to get the fourth goal which killed us.

"We managed to get back in the game but at half-time we had said there could be no more than three goals if we wanted to go and win the game."

He admitted there had even been fears of a reversal of the 1973 7-0 rout of their rivals. "It was a bit of opening the floodgates and we were hoping that no more would go in. That did cross my mind at half-time but we just had to stick our chests out and get on with it."

Hearts fans who condemn the Hibs support for their pre-match actions should realise that derby rivalry is all about long memories and short fuses. That's why a 33-year-old result still irks them. On a day to remember former chairman Mercer, the biggest bugbear in Hibs' history, it would have been almost fitting if this had been the day that Hearts had killed off the biggest bugbear in theirs.

But while that wasn't to be, the day was still pretty special, according to stand-in captain Paul Hartley, who will have impressed his Scotland boss, Walter Smith, watching from the stand. "It was fantastic. Especially winning 4-1. It could have been anything. We started the game really, really well, were 3-0 at half-time, and got a fourth. There was a chance they could have got back in it but today we were different class and I'm really pleased for the manager," said the player who had made his displeasure at the departure of the previous boss clear at the time by revealing a "For the Gaffer" T-shirt under his strip. But that was then and this is now and Graham Rix seems to have earned his respect.

"We all had a chat and watched the Kilmarnock game on Thursday to see how bad we had been and then we watched the DVD of the 4-0 game here in August and it showed the difference in the way we can play. After the game he was delighted and I'm really pleased for him.

"I think he has been under severe pressure since he came to the club, from all angles, supporters, everybody else, but we showed we can play good football. Last week we were terrible at Killie but before that we had been playing really well and I'm pleased for him, especially in his first derby game, to get a result against your rivals is good."

Even better when those adversaries are also your former employers, according to Hartley, who added to his 27th minute opener with a converted penalty in the 43rd minute. "It's a team game and I'm delighted to score two goals, especially against my former team but winning is the most important thing."

The Scotland international also delivered a fabulous ball into the box in the 40th minute which gave Rudi Skacel, the man who pipped him for Man of the Match, his goal.

"Talking at half-time we just said we had to play the same way and it could have been anything," he added. "We created umpteen chances. I know they had gone down to 10 men and that makes a bit of a difference, but we changed our formation for this game and instead of 4-4-2, we went 4-5-1, with young Calum up front and three attacking midfielders and it showed that it worked today.

"We know what Rudi can do. He can produce goals and set up goals and he has played a great ball in for me to score the first goal and he has scored himself so it worked really well, with young Lee Johnson coming in to make his first start and, in a derby, he did really well."

And with Celtic dropping points against Dundee United, Hartley is adamant the title race is far from over. "I've said already that although people said we were looking for that Champions League spot in second place, we are still trying to catch Celtic. There's still a lot to play for. They go to Ibrox in two weeks time and we've just got to keep winning games and give ourselves a chance and hope that they have slip-ups like today."

Hearts have had their own share of slip-ups but there was no place for them at Tynecastle yesterday.

Taken from the Scotsman