Winners on-song while vanquished lose voice

The significance of the derby is all too resonant among the fans who live and breathe it. It represents for them a reason to clear their throats and then shout them hoarse. To stand, arms outstretched, proclaiming their allegiance. To possess a motivation, driven by the high-octane atmosphere within the stadium, to call for every decision no matter how unreasonable, without regard to whether or not your player got the last touch or committed a blatant foul. And to remain adamant afterwards that the referee's call was incorrect. Satisfaction of a Sunday afternoon is derived in a large part, at least before the final whistle has been blown, from baiting and riling opposing fans with the most insulting, irritating or generally abusive rhetoric.

Nowhere else but in front of Hibs fans - and when segregated at a safe distance - could Hearts fans have twirled their scarves pre-kick off in such a defiant show of homage to their club. Nowhere else could they find an audience who shared their knowledge of celebrated past small glories, such as Wayne Foster's Scottish Cup equaliser at Easter Road in 1994 and Graham Weir's double at the death in to force a 4-4 draw in 2003, two incidents revered in song regularly at Tynecastle but recited never with more vigour than on derby day. Fans are especially in their element when up against a struggling opposition. The Hearts support certainly weren't going to miss the opportunity to advertise the fact Hibs were rooted to the bottom of the league at kick-off, though shouts of "Hibs are going down" were, at this stage of the season, more in hope than expectation.

Predictably, there was added bite on the field, too, with the highly-charged players finding an extra quickness in their step and spring in their jumps. Hibs club captain and lifelong fan Ian Murray's decision earlier in his career to dye "1973" into the hair on the back of his head when taking to the field at Tynecastle during the aforementioned 4-4 classic is unlikely to be surpassed as such a public show of baiting. In Gorgie yesterday, though, visiting substitute Victor Palsson, in showing a gesture to Hearts fans that was disguised not so subtly as a scratch of the head during the player's return from his warm-up to the dugout, did his best to fuel the animosity between the rivals and blur the boundary between the on-field professionals and paying fans.

Ryan Stevenson, while celebrating his goal with a run through the tight space behind the freshly-bulged Hibs net and the visiting fans, was within arm's length of the Hibs support and is unlikely to goad visiting fans in such a way when it's not the green half of Edinburgh's football public populating the Roseburn Stand.

Danger can rear its head where passion boils over in the derby, an occasion demonstrated by diehard Hibs fans-cum-players Leigh Griffiths, Ian Murray and Garry O'Connor earning yellow cards for tackles born of sheer frustration. The fixture is a finely poised balance of heartfelt emotion either playing to your advantage or spelling potential disaster. That strength of feeling extended to the stands yesterday, where Hibs fans sunk to the depths of despair after Hearts' opener, and further still after the second goal, by Andy Webster, soared in. Some left early, unable to deal with the pain of watching an ascendant Hearts and listening to the boasting and barracking from the three stands facing them. Others stayed - silent, but backing their team right to the final whistle in a show of staunch loyalty.

Hearts fans, hailing their new manager Paulo Sergio and dancing in the stands as the rain fell, were left with the prospect of enjoying the all-important "bragging rights" and, more immediately, planning the post-match celebrations. Their Hibs counterparts, meanwhile, will out of necessity look to the longer-term, hoping their side will haul itself from the foot of the table and, of course, anticipating the next derby where once more they will endure the rollercoaster of emotion unique to such a fixture.

Taken from the Scotsman