Tynie politics helped Hibees

Hibs 2
Hearts 1

TONY MOWBRAY believes internal politics within Tynecastle had led to Hearts' downfall in the fifth and final Edinburgh derby of the season - leaving a question mark hanging over the Gorgie outfit's Champions League credentials.

While insisting Hearts' team selection was the province of current head coach Valdas Ivanauskas, Mowbray admitted gaining a glimpse of the Jambos' line-up before kick-off had given his players a "psychological lift" as they saw significant omissions.

While everyone knew that Hearts skipper Steven Pressley, Tikas Fyssas and recent arrival Jose Goncalves were out injured, also missing were Scotland defender Andy Webster - for the third match in succession - and Lithuanian striker Edgaras Jankauskas, while top scorer Rudi Skacel and midfield enforcer Julien Brellier were relegated to the bench.

Puzzling, and Ivanauskas was in no mood to explain afterwards, insisting "Please, only questions about the game", oblivious to the fact that the absence of so many players was a key factor in the match. Instead, Ivanuaskas focused his anger on the fact that not every one of his players had paid due attention to the importance of it. And there lies a conundrum; if the match was of such importance - and it most certainly was even if Hearts went into it five points ahead of second-place rivals Rangers - why did he choose to leave so many influential players out of the side which started the game?

The clear implication, of course, is that Vladimir Romanov, watching from afar on television in Lithuania, is the one pulling the strings, the Hearts owner not a fan of Brellier and, apparently, miffed at Webster's refusal to sign a new contract. Interfering in team selection is, of course, a Romanov trait, one in which he indulged during the reigns of George Burley and Graeme Rix and one which you hardly imagine he has abandoned now that Ivanauskas is in charge. But surely, at such a critical stage of the season the man who is bank-rolling Hearts should realise it's a matter best left to the professionals.

Mowbray is in a somewhat similar situation with Gary Caldwell departing for Celtic this summer and Derek Riordan making it clear he is going to let his contract run down before he, too, takes his leave of Hibs. But at Easter Road, where team selection is Mowbray's - and only his - responsibility, a different approach entirely has been taken.

The Hibs boss said: "It's not really for me to comment on their selection other than everyone has their own reasons. We are in an era of Bosman and players are king when it comes to contracts.

"If Derek Riordan is going to let his contract expire then while he is our player we have to utilise his talents, the same applies to Gary Caldwell. Every club has their own policy and our's is that we keep playing our best players and try to win as many matches as we can along the way."

That said, Mowbray admitted Hearts' bizarre selection had boosted his side saying: "You know my thoughts on psychology in football and psychologically it gives the players a lift. Every club has it's own agenda, we are playing Derek Riordan and Gary Caldwell at the moment, they are leaving Andy Webster out."

It was very much a mirror image of the Tennent's Scottish Cup semi-final between the sides just three weeks earlier when Mowbray was forced to send out a depleted side although, unlike on this occasion for Hearts, it wasn't through choice, his options severely limited by injury.

Even so, Mowbray still had his injury worries to contend with, Kevin Thomson missing because of a calf injury, but along with the delight of three derby points which strengthened Hibs' hold on fourth place in the SPL table, there was the heartening sight of three long-term absentees, Scott Brown, Dean Shiels and Antonio Murray sitting on the bench, finally giving him options to change things around during games.

Thomson's absence forced another reshuffle with Mowbray, despite that four-goal hammering at Hampden, adopting a bold approach with a 4-3-3 formation which, allied to the desire and determination of his players saw them grab the game by the throat from the first whistle while Hearts looked anything but Champions League contenders.

And it took just 15 minutes for them to snatch the lead, courtesy of Riordan's 20th goal of the season. His first touch from Ivan Sproule's cross wasn't the greatest but his second saw the ball zip past Craig Gordon and into the bottom corner of the net.

The Hearts goalkeeper was incensed, claiming Steven Fletcher's run across his line of sight in an offside position amounted to interference. He had a case but Mowbray simply shrugged his shoulders and said: "I'm not bothered, the bottom line is the referee gave it. If it was contentious it does not matter."

Despite their dominance Hibs were unable to conjure up a second goal and paid as they gifted Hearts a lifeline three minutes into added on time at the end of the first half. Skipper Caldwell was initially culpable, allowing Robbie Neilson's long ball to go over his head although he recovered the situation only for Chris Hogg and goalkeeper Zibi Malkowski to get themselves into a tangle, allowing Roman Bednar to knock the ball into the empty net.

Malkowski should certainly have had both hands on the ball rather than allowing it to slip and if Mowbray is looking for his players to come of age next season then they must cut out schoolboy errors such as this.

It was, as Mowbray said, a major blow for his side although he refused to pin the blame solely on Malkowski, revealing that Caldwell had accepted his share of the blame during the interval.

He said: "It was a very frustrated dressing room at half-time. It was a huge psychological dent to the team. Had we come in ahead we would have been able to push on and hopefully cement the positive performance of the first half. As it was, scoring so late on gave them a huge lift."

It most certainly did, with Hearts turning the tables and the screw as they pinned Hibs down inside their own half for long spells. But despite their dominance, the Gorgie side were unable to overly trouble Malkowski and, like Hibs in the opening 45 minutes, paid the price as substitute Abdessalam Benjelloun rifled a low shot past Gordon for what proved to be the winner.

"Benji" then displayed a hitherto hidden turn of pace as he raced the length of the pitch to celebrate in front of the Hearts support, an action which brought both the disapproval of referee Charlie Richmond and Mowbray in equal measure. Mowbray said: "Hopefully no-one takes offence at the potential incitement of the crowd but that is something, as my French and his English improves, we'll be able to sort out. Benji is a great personality and I am sure there was no malice in running to the Hearts support.

"Maybe it was a cultural thing but it won't happen again after we have a chat."

Delighted as he was with Benjelloun's first goal - predicting an exciting season from the Moroccan after the summer - Mowbray was equally happy with the determination and grit shown by his side as they weathered that second half storm from Hearts.

He said: "You have to give the players credit, they showed the character to stay in the game and to stick at it. It was a case of staying in the game, we needed to make it as difficult for them as possible.

"But a big positive for me was having Scott, Dean and Antonio on the bench.

"We are starting to get players back fit and that gives you the opportunity to make changes that affect matches. We've talked a lot in the last few weeks about the players who have not been on the pitch but you have to give credit to the players who have been."

Taken from the Scotsman