Tony the lonely left to pick up the pieces

AS Tony Mowbray observed before the latest Edinburgh derby, the outcome would neither see either side achieve their aspirations or have them dealt a fatal blow.

And with 14 league matches still to be played that remains the case although the result at Tynecastle may see Hibs redefining their objectives.

While the nine-point gap which now separates the Capital clubs may not be irretrievable - certainly Mowbray and his players won't see it that way - Hibs now find themselves in possibly a three-way fight simply to take third place rather than overhaul Hearts in second.

Another devastating defeat in Gorgie allied to Rangers' victory against Inverness Caledonian Thistle yesterday saw the Easter Road side relinquish the third spot they'd held since mid-September.

But the worrying prospect for Hibee fans is that there seems little chance of Mowbray's youngsters climbing the table again based on the evidence of recent results.

Mowbray may point out, with more than a little justification, that in general performances have been of an acceptable level but it is the self-inflicted wounds which have seen the buoyant mood of just a few weeks ago begin to dissipate.

There is no doubt that, at their cavalier best, Hibs are a joy to watch but the thrilling, expansive football and the stunning goals of which they are capable of scoring have tended to mask the fact that Mowbray's side can prove to be a soft touch at the back.

Indeed, in surprising everyone by finishing third last season, Hibs scored 64 goals, a total bettered only by Rangers and Celtic ahead of them but, incredibly conceded 57 goals, a tally only surpassed by the SPL's bottom three clubs.

Now, at the business end of this season, those self-same frailties remain, 34 goals lost in just 24 matches - eight of them at the home of their arch-rivals.

The finger of blame when confronted with such statistics invariably points to the defence and while individual errors - evident yet again in this match - have contributed, it's not just the back four but the entire team which has to shoulder responsibility. As ruthless as Hearts were in capitalising on their visitors' vulnerability, Hibs again contributed to their own downfall, a fact Mowbray will no doubt highlight when he sits down with his team to analyse their shortcomings in this match with each of the four goals quite clearly preventable.

Yet, for the opening 25 minutes or so even the most fervent of Hearts fans could never have predicted the final outcome, Tynecastle goalkeeper Craig Gordon having pulled off two saves of such quality from efforts by Garry O'Connor and Derek Riordan that when he took a header from the former it was rated no more than a routine stop.

As O'Connor, who claimed a consolation strike for Hibs, wryly commented: "Had one of them gone in it would have been a different game entirely."

By the time Gordon made those saves, Hibs had, to all intents and purposes, lost the services of Scott Brown, the midfielder chopped down in a cynical tackle from behind by Julien Brellier, the French star probably reckoning that his tenth yellow card of the season was a small price to pay for leaving his opponent hobbling to the extent he was replaced six minutes before the interval.

As Mowbray argued, the loss of Brown robbed Hibs of "his dynamic style of play, his energy to drive the team forward." But his absence from the right side also allowed Rudi Skacel to run that flank with relish.

Of course, it is only a matter of conjecture as to how Hibs might have fared had they enjoyed Brown's services for the entire match, but it is hard to believe that Skacel would have delighted in such free rein had the Easter Road kid's boundless energy been in opposition.

Having said that, though, Skacel, the subject of distasteful abuse not only from Hibs fans but Riordan, who was forced to apologise to the Czech star, clearly enjoyed his afternoon, scoring one goal and having hand in the other three before hurling his shirt and shorts into the crowd in jubilation at the final whistle.

Even without Brown, the goals Hibs conceded in a crazy 25 minutes either side of half-time were totally avoidable, everyone giving up the chase as Takis Fyssas' pass looked too strong for Skacel, who nevertheless gave chase and cut it back for Paul Hartley to slot home.

And just how someone who had scored 15 league goals prior to this game was allowed so much space to steer the second beyond Simon Brown was simply unbelievable.

Skacel capitalised again when Gary Caldwell and Steven Whittaker crashed into each other, a farcical incident which left the Hearts star racing into the penalty area where he was tripped by the Hibs skipper, Hartley completing the job from the spot.

Gary Smith's injudicious swing of an arm which caught Saulius Mikoliunas saw things go from bad to worse with referee Mike McCurry left with no option but to flash the red card even if contact was slight and the Lithuanian, in the eyes of many observers, made the most of the incident.

Whittaker suffered a torrid afternoon at the hands of Skacel, who raced by him to supply a low cross for Calum Elliot to turn into the net. Four down and a man short with 40 minutes remaining - O'Connor admitted the seven Hibs had slammed past Hearts on New Year's Day 1973, long before most of Mowbray's players were born, flashed through his mind.

Despite O'Connor's goal, Hearts were able to take the foot off the pedal as their fans indulged, unsurprisingly, in all sorts of taunts occasioned by their opponents' predicament.

As O'Connor observed, it wasn't the result Hibs wanted with a Tennent's Scottish Cup clash with Rangers at Ibrox coming on Saturday, the striker defiantly insisting that he and his team-mates can win a third straight game against their old boss Alex McLeish.

However, as Mowbray said, Hibs have no option but to get on with things. The clearly deflated Easter Road boss said: "In my opinion we started well, we were probably the better team for the first half-hour, we created opportunities and their goalkeeper made good saves.

"They probably scored against the run of play and then scored two more goals pretty quickly and we were out of the game at half-time.

"But I was pleased with the players for the way they applied themselves in the second half. We are disappointed, but you have to brush yourself down and we have another big game this weekend."

Taken from the Scotsman