Sleepwalking Jambos made to pay

THE debate over team selection has followed Valdas Ivanauskas around like an unwelcome shadow since his appointment as Hearts coach last month and, after this defeat, the rumours and speculation are likely to increase tenfold.

With Andy Webster and Edgaras Jankauskas both omitted from the squad altogether and Julien Brellier finding himself once again relegated to the bench, despite the enforced absences of captain Steven Pressley and fellow defenders Takis Fyssas and Jose Goncalves, questions are again being asked about the influence Vladimir Romanov has over who plays, where and when.

However this Hearts side, makeshift or not, proved in the second half that they can indeed play football, and the question Ivanauskas will demand answers to this morning is why it took them so long to come out of the traps.

There's no doubt that it was the lacklustre first-half performance which cost Hearts so dearly, they were second to almost every ball and failed to put Hibs keeper Zibi Malkowski under any real pressure until their equalising strike in stoppage time at the end of the opening 45 minutes.

Many will argue that inexperience and the fact that the side which ran out at Easter Road had never played together as a unit before were at the root of their early problems but Ivanauskas insists the players he did select should still have been good enough to come away with all three points.

However, he was furious with the lack of commitment in the first half and admitted that, if they want to be playing Champions League football next season, they will have to put in 100 per cent effort for the entire 90 minutes.

The Lithuanian refused to talk about team selection, saying: "I will answer only questions about the game.

"I trust my team and you can see which team played. I have nothing else to say on that matter.

"The problem was the first half, not their first goal. This was a very important game for us, but it seems not every player understood that just how important it was. I am very angry with the first half.

"I spoke to the players at half-time, but what I said will remain private, and we played better in the second half."

It was indeed a much-improved performance after the restart but the first half is one they will want to forget, not least for the controversial manner in which Hibs opened the scoring. The move started with a clattering challenge by Hibs right-back Jay Shields to rob Paul Hartley of the ball and stab it into Ivan Sproule. The Irishman sent a cross straight into the area for Derek Riordan and from 16 yards, he had more than enough time and space to steady himself before slotting past Craig Gordon.

It wasn't the fact that the striker had been given so much room that infuriated the visitors though, the keeper was livid not to see a flag against Steven Fletcher, who had been in his line of vision for the goal and looked to be in an offside position, and he raced 30 yards to protest to referee Charlie Richmond.

However, Hearts were not completely without threat, Saulius Mikoliunas coming closest to a leveller when he lashed an effort in from another of those long throws from Robbie Neilson only for Malkowski to get down well to block it, although the chance was ruled offside in any case.

Referee Richmond, it has to be said, did not do himself any favours with either set of supporters and his performance could at best be described as inconsistent.

He incurred the wrath of the Hearts support again when he waved away claims for a foul by David Murphy on Bruno Aguiar. With the Tynecastle midfielder still prone on the pitch Murphy sped away and, as if to rub salt in the wounds, ran the length of the park before being awarded a free-kick of his own after going down under a challenge from Hartley. It was in Riordan territory but the striker's effort was weak and Gordon rose high to his left to claim it with ease.

Ivanauskas' side finally got the breakthrough they craved and, coming on the stroke of the half-time whistle, the goal couldn't have come at a better moment.

A long ball out of defence from Neilson looked as though it would be mopped up by Gary Caldwell, but the Celtic-bound defender stumbled as he tracked back and that allowed Roman Bednar to pick up on the 18-yard line. He tried to take the ball wide to improve the angle for a shot but went down under a challenge as Hibs tried to retrieve the situation.

Again Richmond waved away claims for a spot-kick but Hearts didn't need one in any case as Malkowski fumbled the loose ball straight back to Bednar and this time he rifled it home.

As far as psychological boosts go, they don't come much better than that and so it proved in the opening minutes of the second half, Hearts raining efforts in on Malkowski's goal.

Bednar was again involved in one of their best chances, pulling his shot across the face of goal instead of picking out Hartley who had been in a better position and that was followed by a long-range effort from Aguiar that flashed just past from 30 yards.

Richmond then infuriated the Hearts players and supporters again when Ivan Sproule was only shown a yellow card for launching himself into a late challenge on young Christophe Berra inside the box.

There was more to come as Hearts threw everything at their rivals, Ibrahim Tall the biggest sinner as he somehow directed his header wide from eight yards with the goal gaping in front of him.

Maybe that was a sign that it just wasn't going to be Hearts' day and that was confirmed when Hibs regained the advantage through Abdessallam Benjelloun, the Moroccan striker driving the ball into the net from the edge of the area after being teed up by Paul Dalglish.

A fierce effort from sub Rudi Skacel could have earned a late point for Hearts but it flashed just inches over and Ivanauskas admitted: "We have lost a derby for the second time this season and it is not good for our supporters.

"We have a big support, they are great supporters. They saw how we can play in the semi-final but on Saturday the performance was not what I want from them.

"The referee did not have an easy game but I remember after the first tackle from Robbie he gave him a yellow card but after that there were more tackles the same but he did not book them.

"But it was not easy, I do not have a problem with the referee.

"Congratulations to Hibs though. We know that next week [Tuesday May 2] they play Rangers and we know that they will make it difficult for them.

"Hibs are a good young team and good luck to them."

Taken from the Scotsman