Collins revels in classy performance

Hibs 1 - 1 Hearts
JOHN COLLINS would look upon a point from this, the second Edinburgh derby of the season, as scant reward for his side's efforts, but the Hibs boss, at least, had the added bonus of the sort of performance he demands from his players.

Having witnessed what was universally acknowledged as Hibs' worst display since he and Tommy Craig took over at Easter Road in the shock defeat by St Mirren eight days earlier, Collins can now, hopefully, consign that match to history.
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While Collins fully recognises football is a results-driven business, his demands are such he isn't fully satisfied unless the performance over the 90 minutes fully merits the final outcome.

So, while more than a little disappointed his team hadn't widened the gap between themselves and arch-rivals Hearts, Collins was able to reflect favourably on a return to form which, if repeated on a week-to-week basis, should bring richer dividends in future.

Hearts can, with some justification, argue that their second-half display entitled them to leave Easter Road with something, but, equally, a bullish Collins felt his side's play was such in the opening 45 minutes that events after the interval could have counted for little.

He said: "I thought we were absolutely magnificent. We passed the ball superbly and probably should have been more than one goal in front. We were different class - you wouldn't have known it was a derby."

Certainly, with the influential Guillaume Beuzelin back from a month-long absence due to a knee operation, Hibs were immediately into their stride, knocking the ball around in style, their pace and movement leaving Hearts, at times, chasing shadows.

Former Hibs star Michael Stewart admitted as much, revealing how Hearts' game plan, dictated from above, of sitting off their opponents had descended into a "shambles" as Beuzelin and Steven Fletcher, also returning after injury, inspired the home side.

It was only an unfathomable decision from referee Charlie Richmond which prevented Hibs taking the lead, the official perhaps the only person within a packed stadium who deemed Christophe Berra's barge on Lewis Stevenson unworthy of a penalty.

Collins, mindful of the penalties of speaking his mind, said: "I was disappointed not to get the penalty. It was blatant - a stonewaller. Had we got the penalty and gone 2-0 up it would have made a huge difference."

Even from the other end of the park, Hibs goalkeeper Yves Ma-Kalambay was in no doubt Richmond had got it wrong. He said: "It was a penalty. He [Berra] had a long time to clear the ball, but he let it go and ran into Lewis who is not the type of boy to fall in the box. He is a little fighter. But the referee is the main man; it's a hard job and, perhaps from where he was, it wasn't a penalty and we have to go by his decision."

A career in the diplomatic service obviously awaits Ma-Kalambay when he finally hangs up his gloves as Richmond again showed his inconsistency in the dying seconds, electing only to book Hearts striker Calum Elliot for a scything tackle from behind on David Murphy - no doubt leaving Filipe Morais to wonder how the same official managed to produce a red for him at Fir Park only two weeks earlier for a far less heinous offence.

Hibs, however, only had to wait another five minutes from that penalty controversy to take the lead, Andrius Velicka throwing himself at Morais' corner, but failing to make contact with the ball which deflected off the thigh of Berra and into his own net.

It was no more than Hibs deserved although Berra redeemed himself to some extent as he produced a superb last-ditch tackle to deny Mickael Antoine-Curier after the big French striker has been sent through by Steven Fletcher.

The Scotland under-21 striker himself might have doubled Hibs' lead on the stroke of half-time. Released by Beuzelin he only had Anthony Basso to beat, but the Hearts goalkeeper stood "big" and managed to get his right hand to Fletcher's attempted chip.

As if not to be outdone, his counterpart at the other end of the park, Ma-Kalambay, needed every bit of leather on his size 14 right boot to keep out Velicka's shot seconds later.

Those incidents were only a precursor of what was to come, Hearts equalising within 60 seconds of the restart as Christian Nade got his thigh to Audrius Ksanavicius' header, signalling a storming second-half in which play raged from end to end.

There was a hint of offside regarding Nade, but Ma-Kalambay, who had initially thought otherwise, admitted there was nothing wrong with the goal. He said: "He was right in front of me and I thought he was offside.

"But I saw it again on television and one of our boys was playing him on. It was a typical striker's goal. I had it covered until he hit it with his knee - it was lucky for him."

Unsurprisingly, Nade's goal acted as a catalyst for Hearts. Collins said: "I'd told the boys 'same again' at half-time, but Hearts equalised and their tails were up."

While Hearts' more direct style of play threatened on occasion, so, too, did Hibs with Velicka taking a header from the imperious Beuzelin off his own line and Fletcher nodding home only to have his "goal" disallowed for a push on Icelandic kid Eggert Jonsson, although the Hibs striker argued his opponent was stationary and he had every right to attack the ball. Collins said: "Hearts go long and pick up the second ball and our middle three stopped doing that for a wee while.

"We wanted the three points, but the most important thing was the performance. Managers often say the be all and end all is the result. Not for me. For me it has to be the performance as well and, in the first half, we were different class."

The draw saw Hibs creep back into third place in the SPL table, the spot they had relinquished with their below par performance of eight days earlier, and, to finish the season there, Collins admitted, would be "great".

But he added: "I'm not saying that's our target. We want to win every game - we don't set-up to try to pinch games."

So, Collins' second year in charge of Hibs began in the same fashion as his first, this game marking, to the day, the 2-2 draw with Kilmarnock as he stood in the Easter Road dug-out for the first time.

Since then, of course, Collins has lost the services of players like Kevin Thomson, Scott Brown - the latter a spectator at Easter Road yesterday - Chris Killen, Ivan Sproule and Steven Whittaker.

And, yet, he continues to shape a side which has shown once again it is capable of competing at the top end of the table.

Taken from the Scotsman