City rule eases Hearts' failure at national level

Add the draw in the first game at Easter Road and Hearts have gleaned ten points from a possible 12 out of their meetings with Hibs this season, compared to just six in 2005-06. If they fail to qualify for Europe, their defeat by John Collins's side in the CIS Cup may come to be seen as the most significant derby of this season, given it led to a tangible reward. For the moment, though, that dream of finishing third remains very much alive, thanks to this result and Aberdeen's subsequent defeat at Celtic Park.

When you have to win a match, as Hearts did here, it is normal to display some nerves. It soon became evident, however, that Hibs, without a win in eight matches before this one, were the more nervous by far.

That state of affairs cannot have been helped by the decision to play a back three. Chris Hogg has played regularly alongside Rob Jones, and so has Shelton Martis; but the Hogg-Martis combination has been tried more rarely, and the lack of understanding showed within the opening 30 seconds, when Michal Pospisil squeezed between the two to send a low angled shot past Andy McNeil.

Hearts remained on the ascendancy for a while, with McNeil saving from Pospisil and Andrew Driver sending a long-range shot over the bar, but Hibs then began to create chances. Damon Gray mis-hit a shot when in good position, then Steven Fletcher saw a shot blocked by Christophe Berra.

Gray in particular should have done better, but Hibs cannot have been dispirited by the miss: at least they were creating scoring opportunities. When their good work was undone by a hideous error from McNeil, however, their heads did go down, and for the rest of the match they were unable to shake off a lingering feeling of despondency.

Even on a slippery pitch, McNeil should have been able to make a clean catch of a high speculative ball from Roman Bednar. Indeed, just moments earlier he had saved twice from the Czech striker, apparently showing he was on decent form.

But instead of dealing with the danger, the goalkeeper fumbled the ball. Driver rushed in, took it clear of McNeil with his first touch, then calmly shot home with his second.

On the verge of half-time, Hearts nearly went three up. McNeil did well to tip a free-kick from Laryea Kingston over, then from the resultant corner Berra sent a header off the bar. It was obvious Hibs would have to make changes, and they did so for the start of the second half, bringing on Ivan Sproule and Kevin McCann.

The latter fared well alongside Lewis Stevenson in midfield, but Sproule was unable to make headway down the right, particularly when the faster Jose Goncalves came on at left-back for Takis Fyssas. Merouane Zemmama later replaced Guillaume Beuzelin in midfield, but again to little or no effect.

Hearts defended too deeply after Kingston was forced off by injury, but Hibs were unable to exploit the extra space and possession they were allowed. As a result, the entire second half was close to being a non-event, with the most noteworthy incident being Fyssas's attempt to say goodbye personally to every team-mate before leaving the pitch on his last home appearance for the club. "I needed to do this - it was a difficult moment for us at that time of the game so I took the opportunity to delay play," the Greek defender said.

Afterwards, he was able to do the traditional end-of-season lap of honour along with his team-mates: it remains to be seen how many, in addition to Fyssas, were saying goodbye for good. Julien Brellier, who is also definitely leaving the club, was not even in the 18 on Saturday but still received the biggest cheer from the home support.

Pospisil could also be on his way, Edgaras Jankauskas is already out of the country and unlikely to be back, and Craig Gordon may also have found a new employer before Hearts' next home game, at Murrayfield against Barcelona. The goalkeeper looked to be close to tears as he walked off the pitch at the end, and has known for some time when and to which club he plans to move. Persistent speculation has linked him to Arsenal.

Should those players go, the Hearts first-team squad will have seen a virtually complete turnover in two years. Of the battle-hardened team which took the SPL by storm under George Burley at the start of last season, only Robbie Neilson, Saulius Mikoliunas, Bednar and the currently injured Deividas Cesnauskis will remain.

Gordon will be a massive loss, but the critical question for acting head coach Anatoly Korobochka and assistant Stephen Frail or whoever succeeds them will be how to replace Brellier.

Hearts have played a fair number of matches without the out-of-favour Frenchman, so do not necessarily need him for his own sake; what they do need, however, is a holding midfielder of similar mould who can stand firm and free Kingston for more creative duties.

Like Brellier, Fyssas has also been marginalised over the past few months. He insisted, however, he was departing with fond memories.

"I love Edinburgh," he said. "I want to thank everyone at Hearts because they treated me very good. I didn't play so much the last three months, but I was always ready to play."

Asked about the breaking-up of the side which won the Scottish Cup, Fyssas said it had been done on the orders of majority shareholder Vladimir Romanov. "The president of the team decided that and we have to accept his decision. He was a gentleman."

Man of the match

Laryea Kingston (Hearts)

The Ghanaian playmaker was not quite at his best, but he did not have to be against a Hibs midfield lacking spark. He created a good scoring chance for Michal Pospisil and also had a good chance with a free-kick.

Taken from the Scotsman