Hibees on a high after beating Hearts to the Shield

HIBS' Ross Chisholm held his nerve from the spot to put the seal on a 4-2 win over Hearts in the East of Scotland Shield, the young substitute keeping a cool head to drill past Tynecastle keeper Jamie MacDonald, despite earlier watching team-mate Sean Lynch send another penalty wide.

Alan Lithgow's opener for the Tynecastle side had earlier been cancelled out by Ryan Pow and a further strike from Ross Campbell gave Hibs the half-time advantage.

Jamie Mole levelled after the break but Damon Gray and Chisholm put the match beyond their Tynecastle hosts.

And Chisholm insisted Lynch's earlier miss had not put him under any added pressure, saying: "There wasn't really any added nerves. I like taking penalties and when you can position the ball exactly where you want keepers don't have much of a chance.

"We've only got a couple of games left before the end of the season and it is nice to finish on a high by winning the Shield.

"Sean has been involved with the first team in the last few games and that lets us know that the manager is willing to use some of the young blood at the club and I think it gives us all a boost. We're just a young side but it shows us what we can achieve if we play well enough."

However, Hearts dominated the early stages with Eggert Jonsson unlucky not to give them the edge with just seven minutes gone when his long-range effort flashed just past. And when Sean Mackle followed that up just a couple of minutes later from the same distance, Hibs keeper Andy McNeil this time had to palm it away.

Hearts took the lead when a long ball from the left was met by Lithgow at the edge of the box and his looping header caught McNeil off his line, dropping into the net.

Hibs should have levelled just before the half hour when Darren Smith and Campbell combined to find Damon Gray at the back stick, but he caught it too late and with the goal gaping in front of him, sliced it wide from just six yards.

However, they hauled themselves level when Ryan Pow picked up possession 30 yards from goal and took just a couple of steps before drilling a shot low beyond MacDonald. The keeper did brilliantly though when Hibs pushed up again, Smith's long ball finding Gray 12 yards from goal and he turned one way, then the other, to get the shot in but the keeper was down like lightning to his left to palm it away.

Three minutes before the break an inch-perfect ball into the box from Lithgow should have brought some reward for the Tynecastle side but Craig Sives and Gary Glen both went for it and got in each other's way.

On the stroke of half-time Hibs got their noses in front for the first time, Antonio Murray doing well to retain possession and feed Campbell who rifled the ball low into the back of the net.

The home side were then denied a leveller by the woodwork when John Neill teed-up Sives but his header came back off the base of the keeper's right-hand post.

Lynch did well at the other end to beat three Hearts defenders only to take one touch too many allowing the Tynecastle defenders to recover enough to deflect his shot wide for a corner and when it was swung in referee Graham Chambers spotted a push by Neill and awarded Hibs a penalty.

It was left to Lynch to step up from 12 yards but the youngster could only hammer his shot into the advertising hoardings.

He was still raging with the effort when he was substituted a couple of minutes later, hammering his fist off the top of the dug-out and throwing his water bottle to the ground in disgust and his mood would not have been improved when Jamie Mole hammered home the goal Hearts had been searching for, unleashing a fierce 25-yard shot into the net less than 60 seconds after coming off the bench.

Hibs restored their advantage when Smith's ball in was glanced into the net with the back of his head by Gray and the Easter Road side secured the victory five minutes from time when they were awarded another spot-kick, this time when Murray's free-kick into the area was handled by Sives and with Lynch already off the park it was left to his replacement, Chisholm, to lash it home.

Hibs coach Mark Venus said: "The boys showed a lot of spirit to come back from a goal down and then from being pegged back to 2-2. They've done really well over the last six months or so, there are some good players in there and they deserved their victory."

Hearts coach John McGlynn was disappointed but reckons his youngsters can take something from their performance: "We felt that we started the game well but lost our way a bit. We didn't play badly, but we have to make sure we learn from the mistakes and move on from here, we can take a lot of positives from the game."

Hearts: MacDonald, Kelly, P MacDonald (Hamilton 60), Lithgow, Sives, Jonsson, Mackle, Neill, McCusker (Mole 75), Glen (Paterson 86), Park. Unused subs: Mearns, Barjaktarevic.

Hibs: McNeil, Smith, Stevenson, Murray, Mailey, McCaffray, Lynch (Chisholm 70), Ayres (Weightman 78), Campbell, Gray, Pow. Unused subs: Bryson, Curtis.

Taken from the Scotsman