Jambo "Reserves" Lose

Yes Hearts had injuries, quite a few of them in fact: Steven Pressley, Takis Fyssas, Edgaras Jankauskas and Jose Goncalves did not even make the bench. However there was no excuse to field such an inexperienced side in such a crucial match. I don't care what Andy Webster's been saying behind the scenes, when all your top defenders are injured you have to play him: it's the old 'cutting their nose off to spite their face' routine.

As for the omission of Julien Brellier from the first eleven again well, it beggars belief. The guy should be the first name on the teamsheet for a game like this and his considerable presence in the middle of the park was badly missed.

The first half of the match confirmed we were right to wince exponentially as each name was read out by the public announcer before the game. Hibs played their usual long ball game against Hearts (where is all this great football we keep hearing about that they play?) and to be perfectly honest, although they showed plenty of desire and endeavour, they rarely troubled Craig Gordon.

However if this had been a proper Hearts XI they'd have walked all over Hibs in that first half. Although young Christophe Berra was outstanding today, the long ball over the top clearly exposed the lack of understanding between Tall, Berra and Gordon and with Lee Wallace thrown in at left-back, another bizarre decision, things were a bit nervy to say the least when Hibs went forward.

The home side took the lead after 15 minutes. Hartley initially did well to win the ball in midfield but over-did the fancy stuff to allow Sproule to peel away down the right wing. His clever cutback found Derek Riordan just inside the penalty area and he controlled the ball before smashing a cracking half-volley into the corner of the net past the static Gordon. It was a brilliant finish by Hibs' main man.

They nearly made it 2-0 a few minutes later, when Fletcher fired wildly over from a dangerous Shiels cross.

Hearts, not playing much football either, did nearly equalise ten minutes later when Mikoliunas hit a snapshot from a tight angle that Malkowski did well to beat away.

Just as the first half was drawing to a close, Neilson punted an innocuous looking ball over the top in the direction of Roman Bednar. Caldwell appeared to have the situation under control, but he hesitated and Bednar was suddenly in on the goalkeeper. Bednar lost his touch though and it ran through to Malkowski, but the keeper spilled the ball back out to Bednar who gleefully rammed the ball into the empty net to make it 1-1. A very unlikely goal but one that should have been very meaningful for Hearts.

Despite no substitutions at half-time, Hearts started the second half like they really meant business and within seconds Bednar made space for himself inside the area and drilled a low shot towards the corner that Malkowski brilliantly tipped around the post.

Hearts dominated almost the entire second half but could not make the elusive breakthrough to go in front. Bruno Aguiar came very close when he showed nice skills on the edge of the area before curling a left foot shot from 20 yards just wide of the target. Then Ibrahim Tall missed a sitter from Hartley's pinpoint cross, the Senegal man's downward header from eight yards landing on the wrong side of the post when he really had to hit the target.

Hibs brought on Scott Brown for Sproule for the last quarter of an hour or so. Sproule should have been sent off for a wild lunge at Berra just before this but feigned injury long enough to force referee Richmond to eventually bottle the decison and show only a yellow. Very poor and Mowbray knew it, hence Sproule's immediate substitution.

Brown's presence breathed new life into the home team and irritated everyone of a maroon persuasion. Fellow substitutes Paul Dalglish and Abdessalam Benjelloun combined to give the Moroccan a clear shot at goal from 16 yards with ten minutes to go and he drilled a low shot into the corner to give Gordon no chance. Completely against the run of play but you could understand Hibs' delight at going ahead. Benjelloun took things a little too far with his celebrations though and was rightly booked.

Skacel had come on for Cesnauskas, a shocking decision by the management as Mikoliunas did nothing for the whole second half, whereas 'Chesney' had been Hearts' best attacking player. This killed the pace of Hearts' attacks and Skacel didn't try a leg, although he nearly scored with a quickly taken free-kick that fizzed just over the bar with only minutes remaining.

So a bitterly disappointing afternoon for Hearts. Hibs' endeavour won the day and congratulations to them for the effort they put in, but if Hearts want to get the Champions League spot they MUST play the strongest team they can in the remaining games. The backups are decent but that's all they are - they can't make the difference in the bigger games and every one between now and the end of the season is just that.
Star Player
Given a stern test this afternoon, but young Christophe Berra was more than up to it and was outstanding this afternoon,
Player Ratings
Gordon 6
No chance with either goal, otherwise handling was fine.
Neilson 6
Struggled a little in the first half but to be honest Robbie wasn't involved nearly as much today as he normally is.
Wallace 6
Unfairly thrown into his first match in months against the quickest player in the league. Struggled in the early stages but came onto a decent game in the second half as Hearts turned the screw.
Berra 8
Commanding in the air and sure in the tackle, Berra produced a performance way beyond his years.
Tall 5
Again, in a difficult position as he's not used to playing in this defence....or playing at all in fact! Distribution was poor but he did win plenty of aerial balls. Should have scored in second half though.
Aguiar 6
A bit lightweight for physical games like this and doesn't have the presence of Brellier. However did show some nice pieces of skill and nearly scored a blinder in second half.
Cesnauskas 7
Looked our most dangerous player going forward and Hibs panicked every time he got the ball. Inexplicably subbed at 1-1, a decision that probably cost Hearts the match.
Hartley 7
Led by example and in a lightweight midfield, had to put even more effort in that normal. Some great set-piece deliveries as ever. Very unlucky to be on the losing side.
Mikoliunas 5
Flattered to deceive a bit and towards the end of the match he was clearly not giving it the 100% he should have been. Great snapshot in first half though.
Bednar 7
No decent service in poor first half but still managed to score equaliser. Gave Hibs torrid second half and brought out great save from Malkowski just after half-time.
Elliot 6
Similar to Bednar in that he was anonymous in first half but very good in the second. Unfortunately did most of his good work in areas that couldn't hurt Hibs.
Skacel 2
Did fire a blistering quick free-kick just over late on, but his work-rate was an absolute disgrace when he came on.
Pospisil 2
No real chance to make an impact.