Malkowski's flight of fancy

Roddy Forsyth

Hibernian (2) 2 Heart of Midlothian (1) 2

A rambunctious opening half hour from Hibernian, followed by a dogged revival by Heart of Midlothian, meant a split decision in the first Edinburgh derby of the season at Easter Road, where Saulius Mikoliunas was dismissd amidst a welter of seething challenges and yellow cards.

Hibs, two goals to the good after only 16 minutes, had the unstoppable look they have often worn during the two-and-a-half-year tenure of Tony Mowbray as manager.

Yesterday his assistant Mark Venus was in command — he will join Mowbray at West Bromwich once the Easter Road board secures a replacement — but another familiar feature of Hibs' recent play was also in evidence. After a cute opener by Merouane Zemmama and a skimming header from Scott Brown had left Hearts floundering in a turbulent wake, the good ship Venus almost scuttled itself.

The culprit, not for the first time, was Zbigniew Malkowski. The goalkeeper staged a lunatic charge through his penalty area when Lee Wallace took a short pass from Steven Pressley and shelled the box. Britain's tallest player, Rob Jones, went for it along with his central defensive partner, Shelton Martis.

What happened next is best summarised by Jones. "I was about to head the ball when I got a whack. I thought it was from their centre forward but it was our own goalkeeper.

"I was on the edge of the box and for me a goalkeeper should never be out there. It should have been left to me."

Andrius Velicka took advantage to head through the shambles and into the unguarded net. The second goal, after the break, was almost as risible, though not wholly Malkowski's fault, because it occurred when Hibs had numerical advantage after Mikoliunas had been sent off for a second caution.

Again Velicka was the beneficiary, scampering clear of the Hibs back line to squeeze a shot between Malkowski and his right hand post.

By contrast, Craig Gordon presented another goalkeeping masterclass — he could not be faulted for Hibs' scores — culminating in a spectacular leap and parry when Jones sent a menacing header towards the far corner in injury time.

Hearts regarded this as a merited point, while Hibs celebrated the extension of a four-year unbeaten home record in these fixtures. However, the real winners were Celtic, who are now five points clear of the Tynecastle side.

"We have to take care of our own results," said Steven Pressley, the Hearts captain, "But we need help from other teams. We need favours."

Match details

Hibernian (4-4-2): Malkowski; Whittaker, Jones, Martis, Murphy; Brown (Fletcher 87), Thomson, Stewart (Glass 69), Zemmama; Killen, Sproule (Shiels 84).
Subs: McNeil (g), Benjelloun, Shields, Konte.
Booked: Brown, Thomson, Zemmama, Killen, Sproule.
Goals: Zemmama 5, Killen 16.
Heart Of Midlothian (4-4-2): Gordon; Tall, Pressley, Berra, Wallace; Mikoliunas, Hartley, Zaliukas (Aguiar 75), Cesnauskas; Velicka (Makela 87), Mole (Beslija 67). Subs: Banks (g), Neilson, Fyssas, Bednar.
Booked: Berra, Pressley, Mikoliunas, Velicka.
Goals: Velicka 28, 72.
Sent off: Mikoliunas.
Referee: C Richmond.

Taken from telegraph.co.uk