Late double seals derby win for Jambos

Alex Schweitzer-Thompson
Published on Monday 2 January 2012 14:51

Hearts struck two goals in the last ten minutes to condemn Edinburgh rivals Hibs to defeat in the New Year derby.

Andy Webster and Rudi Skacel struck late on to hand the visitors victory after Hearts’ Ryan McGowan’s second half opener was equalised by an own goal from team mate Marius Zaliukas.

Hibs had the first real sight of goal when after, five minutes, Leigh Griffiths fed Danny Galbraith, whose shot from 15 yards on the left-hand side of the penalty area spun well wide.

After a quarter of an hour, David Templeton eased inside from the left flank past right-back Paul Hanlon and, as space opened up before him, launched a powerful 15-yard effort towards the far, right-hand corner that clipped Graham Stack’s left-hand post and flew out. Templeton, tail up, hit an audacious effort from 35 yards moments later that sailed comfortably wide, but it signalled Hearts’ growing confidence.

Three minutes later, another attack on the Hibs goal, this time led by Stephen Elliott, almost gave Hearts the lead. Elliott’s low centre from the right was met by the stretching left leg of Mehdi Taouil, whose ten-yard effort cleared the top right-hand corner by a matter of inches. Taouil appeared to pull his hamstring in the process of striking the ball, and was forced off with an injury, to be replaced by Andy Driver.

Hearts spurned a glorious chance to break the deadlock on 42 minutes. A slack backpass by Galbraith, under pressure by Driver on the left wing, was intercepted by the toe of Elliott, who nudged the ball past Stack and was brought down by the Hibs goalkeeper. The home No.1 was shown a yellow card as referee Calum Murray pointed to the spot. Black placed his penalty to the left-hand corner, controversially using his weaker right foot, and Stack sprawled full-length to push the ball wide to elicit raucous celebration among the home fans. It was Hearts’ third penalty miss of the season and Stack’s second save from a spot-kick this term after he stopped Gary Hooper’s effort on the opening day of the season against Celtic.

Hibs began the second half in the same way as they started the first, with Galbraith firing wide from the left edge of the penalty area. The hosts enjoyed the better of the early stages of the second half but could not turn their superior possession and territory into goalscoring chances. Indeed, they failed to fashion a shot on target throughout the entire match.

Hearts midfielder Black may not have been able to beat Stack from 12 yards, but came much closer from around 25 yards out after 57 minutes, forcing the Hibs goalkeeper to tip a rasping effort over the bar. From the resulting corner by Black, Andy Webster powered a header towards the left-hand post and past Stack, and Ryan McGowan ensured the ball would cross the line by nodding in from close range.

At the other end less than 60 seconds later, Zaliukas turned Danny Galbraith’s cross from the left into his own net to hand Hibs an instant reprieve.

Black remained the man behind the major talking points of the game when, after 72 minutes, he smacked a left-footed long-range effort narrowly over Stack’s crossbar.

On 83 minutes, Hearts restored their lead. McGowan throw-in trapped by Sutton, who laid off for Webster, and from 12 yards out the former Scotland defender found the right-hand corner with a low drive.

The visitors sealed victory in injury time. John Sutton ran forward to collect a long ball and with only Sean O’Hanlon between him and the Hibs goal, the Englishman knocked the ball across into the path of the onrunning Rudi Skacel. Although the pass was overhit and ran right across the Czech midfielder, Skacel plucked the ball out of the air with a sublime piece of control with his left foot and turned to smash the ball past Stack and into the net.

Hibs: Graham Stack; Callum Booth, Ian Murray, Sean O’Hanlon, Paul Hanlon; Victor Palsson, Lewis Stevenson; Danny Galbraith (Garry O’Connor 86), Martin Scott (Eoin Doyle 86), Ivan Sproule; Leigh Griffiths.

Subs not used: Mark Brown, Michael Hart, David Wotherspoon, David Stephens, Richie Towell.

Hearts: Marian Kello; Ryan McGowan, Andy Webster, Marius Zaliukas, Jamie Hamill; Adrian Mrowiec; David Templeton (Rudi Skacel 74), Ian Black, Scott Robinson (John Sutton 62), Mehdi Taouil (Andy Driver 25); Stephen Elliott.

Subs not used: Jamie Macdonald, Darren Barr, Arvydas Novikovas, Colin Hamilton.

Taken from the Scotsman