The fifth goal is the sweetest

AS a lifelong Hibs fan, Derek Riordan has savoured each and every one of the goals he's scored against arch-rivals Hearts.

But none has been as sweet as his latest, his fifth in an Edinburgh derby finally seeing him celebrate not only scoring but victory. For each of his previous goals had earned Hibs, at best, a draw, marking out his 15th-minute opener as something special.

It was Riordan's 20th goal of the season, leaving him three matches to emulate last season's tally of 23 - a target he's determined to reach in the games remaining against Aberdeen, Rangers and Kilmarnock. Today he said: "I was doubly delighted with my goal, I love scoring against Hearts and it was the first time I'd scored in a derby and ended up on the winning side."

There was more than a little controversy attached to Riordan's goal as Hearts goalkeeper Craig Gordon claimed Hibs' Steven Fletcher, in an offside position, had run across his line of sight as his team-mate's shot headed in his direction.

But Riordan insisted Fletcher was doing nothing more than getting out of the way, claiming: "If it had hit him it would have gone wide."

Riordan and his team-mates were, however, left devastated as a defensive mix-up allowed Roman Bednar the simplest of equalisers, only for Moroccan striker Abdessalam Benjelloun to crack home the winner 12 minutes from time for his first goal in a green-and-white shirt.

The Scotland hitman said: "We were obviously down at half-time having lost such a stupid goal but we picked ourselves up and, although Hearts started the second-half well, Benji scored a good goal.

"It was great to see him get his first goal, he played well."

The victory not only eased Hibs further ahead of Kilmarnock and Aberdeen in the race for fourth place - and the possibility of European football next season - but put a big dent in Hearts' hopes of being involved in the Champions League.

And Riordan made no secret of the fact he desperately wants Rangers to overhaul the Gorgie outfit to take second place in the SPL behind champions Celtic. He said: "I hope Hearts finish third because that would give us a good chance of being in the UEFA Cup next season. We're in the driving seat for fourth place and the fact Aberdeen and Kilmarnock could only draw obviously helped us."

Riordan also admitted he hopes his goals are catching the eye of Scotland boss Walter Smith with the Kirin Cup in Japan taking place at the end of the season.

Capped once so far, Riordan has his eyes on more appearances for his country. He said: "I'm going to keep playing away and hopefully I will score more goals.

"I got 23 last season and I always like to get the same or better the next season. I've got three games left to do it in although I have to say I'm happy with my total so far as I've played a lot of games on the left side of midfield this season.

"As for Scotland, everyone would love to be part of the team so I'll just play away for Hibs and hope to get the call-up."

Riordan admitted his first touch before he delivered the killer blow wasn't good, blaming a "bobbly" pitch, but boss Tony Mowbray revealed he had no doubts about where the ball was going to end up as he struck his shot.

He said: "That's what Derek Riordan is all about, that's why he plays every single week because he can produce something out of nothing.

"Balls bouncing any height, with either foot - he has the technical ability to hit shots from any angle and hit the target. A lot of players would have had a swing at that ball and put it over the bar. But Derek is all about scoring wonderful goals."

Taken from the Scotsman