Fired-up Hearts redress the balance

Unfortunately for him, several maroon jerseys were within earshot at the time. Hearts employees queued up to comment on the payback yesterday following Marius Zaliukas' 80th-minute winner in a game largely controlled by the hosts.

It was the visitors' first victory in Leith in almost five years. Consequently, Hibs' post-match CIS Cup victory parade became a stroll of infinite melancholy as those from Gorgie danced in the streets outside.

The Hearts support had deliberately taken over 30 minutes to vacate the premises, delaying the cup presentation in the process, after witnessing their team's improbable plundering. Their joy was understandable, shared as it was by several of their idols. Captain Craig Gordon had fastened press cuttings alluding to Collins' "pub team" comments to the dressing-room wall with the intent of motivating his colleagues, and assistant coach Stevie Frail noticed an instant effect.

After leading some extensive Hearts celebrations at full-time, Frail said: "We used that as a major part of the motivation because we're far from being a pub team. That hurt the players and I saw that in their eyes before they went out because they all read the comments that were pinned up on the wall. If they used that as their motivation then fine, but I still hope they used the fantastic support behind the goal as their biggest motivation."

Gordon's involvement in the match was infrequent despite Hibs' showing superior ball retention skills. Passes from middle to front disappointed Collins as much as the resolute defending of Zaliukas and Christophe Berra would have frustrated him. As the game wore on, the prospect of the hosts being mugged became evermore possible.

"It's the first time I've ever won at Easter Road. I have about 180 appearances for Hearts now, so it was about time," said Gordon. "The boys showed great character to come and beat Hibs when they were on a high.

"I got cuttings of everything we've taken stick about. The comments from the Hibs manager the last time brought a lot of motivation for us, and the boys have risen to the challenge. It was vital that we won because we wanted to put up a fight. We tried to frustrate them and we knew they would probably have a lot of the ball.

"They're a decent side and we gave away a few silly free-kicks but managed to defend our area and come away with a good clean sheet."

Gordon and Frail were captured in an emotional embrace at full-time as the delirium of triumphing in a must-win derby became irrepressible. Anatoli Korobochka, the interim head coach at Tynecastle, remained impassive throughout, but for the locals it was important to recognise a significant achievement.

"I think the celebrations went a wee bit over the top, to be honest," admitted Frail with a smile. "But it's been a difficult two weeks. We lost 4-0 to Dundee United, which was a bad result, then there's the way it gets reported and the stick starts flying for the players. This was great for them.

"Hopefully we can kick on from the result and keep together, because we need those fans as well. This gives us fresh impetus to keep challenging for the European spot, which we are desperate to get."

The rows of empty seats amongst the away support at kick-off were perhaps indicative of the depression which had hung over Gorgie since the aforementioned defeat by Dundee United.

Although Hearts began with credible ebullience, it didn't take long for Hibs to discover their rhythm and by the midway point of the first half Collins' side were enjoying the majority of possession without being able to facilitate any definitive openings.

Former managers of both sides, Tony Mowbray and George Burley, sat side by side in the directors' box as Andy Driver stung the palms of the Hibs goalkeeper Andy McNeil with an early effort. That move was countered when Merouane Zemmama clipped a quick free-kick into Lewis Stevenson's path, and the teenager's cross broke for Scott Brown to dispatch a powerful shot that was beaten away by Gordon.

The game proceeded with a plethora of niggling midfield jousts, many involving Hearts' French midfielder Julien Brellier, who shouldered an immense workload alongside the outstanding Bruno Aguiar.

But on the few occasions Hearts did manage to press into the final third they succeeded in making the home defence appear notably unsettled. From Brellier's through pass, lone striker Andrius Velicka pressurised David Murphy into lobbing the ball back towards McNeil. The goalkeeper had to react instinctively to backpedal and concede a corner from underneath his own crossbar.

The second half began with more interrupted play, and Zaliukas was determined to live dangerously by tugging at the shirt of the Hibs captain Rob Jones at every home set-piece. Fortunately for the Lithuanian, referee Kenny Clark didn't seem overly perturbed. Hibs squandered a free header on 56 minutes when Beuzelin and Jones both attacked Murphy's free-kick from the left, the Frenchman arriving first to nod the ball over Gordon's crossbar. Zaliukas was then considered fortunate not to concede a penalty in the 75th minute as he grappled with Abdessalam Benjelloun when chasing a through ball.

But the imposing defender had a more useful contribution to make at the opposite end. With ten minutes remaining Murphy's foul on Kestutis Ivaskevicius provided Andy Driver
with a free-kick, and his lofted ball was palmed away by McNeil under pressure before being collected and converted like a centre-forward by Zaliukas.

Cue an eruption on the Hearts bench, including the substituted Velicka charging on to the pitch in delight.

"At the time we scored, we would have settled for 0-0 at that stage," conceded Frail. "For Zaliukas to pop up and get the winner was fantastic. Not bad for someone who wasn't fit." Frail clearly hasn't forgotten the comments of Algimantas Liubinskas, the Lithuania coach who sent Zaliukas, Velicka, Saulius Mikoliunas and Edgaras Jankauskas home from international duty last week and criticised their physical and mental condition. Nor are the Hearts supporters likely to forget the events of April Fool's Day 2007. Police had to herd them out of Easter Road long after the game had concluded. They simply didn't want the day to end.

Taken from the Scotsman