Benjelloun brings bold Hibs their due reward

Patrick Glenn at Easter Road
Sunday April 23, 2006
The Observer

Nothing can atone for a 4-0 drubbing in the Scottish Cup semi-finals, but Hibernian's triumph in the final Edinburgh derby of the season at least balanced the league series, with two victories apiece.

Given Hibs' reduced availability because of injuries, it was an unexpected success, but unarguably deserved. Hearts, having been fortunate to equalise Derek Riordan's opener through Roman Bednar before conceding the winner to substitute Abdessalam Benjelloun, seemed to sustain almost as much damage from their coach's tinkering as they did from Hibs.

At a time of year when the fixture is usually of significance to either or neither of these rivals, but rarely both, this was one of those engrossing exceptions. And for more reasons than the most obvious. Hearts' pursuit of the runners-up slot in the Premierleague that would bring entry to the qualifying stage of next season's Champions League gave them an incentive that would be matched by the motivation of a Hibs team for whom victory would not only enhance their prospects of finishing fourth and entering the Uefa Cup, but would damage their neighbours' chances of achieving their objective.

Such prizes amounted to a guarantee of ferocious competitiveness, but intrigue was deepened by the team selections of the respective managers. Hibs' Tony Mowbray had every excuse for a makeshift line-up, his options reduced by injuries to key players, but there was understandable puzzlement among the visiting team's supporters over the work of Hearts coach Valdas Ivanauskas.

With Steven Pressley and Panagiotis Fyssas the only casualties among his recognised strongest team, the Lithuanian left out several more, including Edgar Jankauskas, Andy Webster, Rudi Skacel and Julien Brellier (the last two were on the bench) who would normally be regarded as first picks.

As a result, Hearts appeared to be so fragmented that their falling behind to Riordan's goal was the least they deserved. Full-back Jay Shields won possession on the right and supplied Ivan Sproule, who played the ball across the face of the penalty area to Riordan. As the striker, in one fluent movement, controlled, turned and shot, Steven Fletcher seemed to run across the penalty area in an offside position and possibly in the eye-line of Craig Gordon. But Riordan's drive was so crisply struck and so perfectly placed, low and far to the left of the goalkeeper, that it is doubtful if he could have made the save.

What is certain is the appalling hesitancy of his counterpart in the Hibs goal, Zbigniew Malkowski, that presented Bednar with the equaliser. Hearts had done nothing to suggest they were capable of scoring when Robbie Neilson hit a long clearance out of his own defence. Gary Caldwell, who seemed to have it covered, slipped, allowing Bednar to go past, pursued by Chris Hogg as well as the recovering Caldwell. As Bednar seemed intent on a futile attempt at winning a penalty, the ball broke to the Hibs goalkeeper, who let it slip from his hands straight back to the Hearts striker, who sent it into the net from eight yards.

But, having emerged unharmed from the first half, Hearts became emphatically more assertive in the second. Bednar broke into the area on the right and had a low shot tipped wide by the diving Malkowski. The goalkeeper should have been given no such chance to distinguish himself when Ibrahim Tall met a cross from Bruno Aguiar, who had been supplied by Paul Hartley's short corner on the right. Unchallenged, the defender headed wide.

MAN OF THE MATCH - Steven Whittaker

Transferred from his normal role at right-back to midfield, Whittaker was the Hibs team personified, relentlessly committed to the cause and preventing Hearts from establishing any kind of rhythm.

Taken from the Scotsman