Clinical Hearts continue their derby dominance

By Stuart Bathgate, at Easter Road
Published on Tuesday 3 January 2012 02:33

IF ANY further proof were required of Hearts’ newfound resilience, it was provided by this hardfought but ultimately deserved victory over their hapless city rivals.

Paulo Sergio’s team might have felt sorry for themselves when they dominated the first half but were denied a lead when Ian Black’s penalty was saved. They could have thought it was not to be their day when, having seized the lead after the break, they had their advantage snatched away in barely a minute.

And of course, regardless of any events in the actual match, they could have allowed demoralisation to set in over their unpaid salaries. Instead, they again showed the character to withstand that adversity, stretching their unbeaten run in the fixture to nine games.

It is now 32 months since Hibernian last beat their oldest rivals – or, if you prefer, three managers ago. Mixu Paatelainen left not long after he had presided over Hibs’ last win in May 2009, since when John Hughes and Colin Calderwood have come and gone.

Current manager Pat Fenlon, for whom this was a fourth defeat in five games since his appointment, has a good grasp of what is wrong with his team. We will learn over the coming weeks whether he will be given the financial resources needed to put it right.

Fenlon said last midweek that his team had played worse in drawing with Inverness than they had in losing their previous three matches. Just as paradoxically, they performed better here in losing than they did in that previous draw. That will be no consolation to those Hibs players and supporters for whom this is the biggest match of the season, but right now they have to take positives from wherever they can find them.

The league is still tight enough that a couple of wins in quick succession could see them clamber clear of relegation trouble, but right now it is hard to see where even a single win is coming from. There was certainly no inkling of it yesterday. They played their best football immediately before they lost the opening goal, and had just one half-chance to take the lead before being pinned back in the latter stages as Hearts patiently went in search of the victory.

Patience and composure were the hallmarks of the Tynecastle team’s wins last month at home to Dunfermline and Motherwell, but those virtues are often conspicuous by their absence from the Edinburgh derby. This one, however, was played at a relatively low tempo for most of the 90 minutes, with Hibs only rarely succeeding in knocking their rivals off their stride.

After early bookings for Lewis Stevenson and Paul Hanlon, the first real threat on goal came in the 15th minute when David Templeton cut inside from the left and fired a shot off the outside of the far post. Hanlon, playing out of position at right-back, had his hands full with the winger in the first half, but in the second Templeton became more subdued, giving way to Rudi Skacel with the score at 1-1.

Andy Driver took over on the right wing for Hearts after an injury ended Mehdi Taouil’s game, but while Hearts were dangerous down both flanks they posed less of a threat in the middle. That was still more of a threat than Hibs were able to muster, however, with the home side’s best effort of the first 45 minutes being an Ivan Sproule shot that was blocked for the first corner of the game after nearly half an hour.

Referee Calum Murray had waved aside a Hibs penalty appeal after Leigh Griffiths had his jersey tugged while backing into Andy Webster, but he had no hesitation in pointing to the spot at the other end with three minutes of the half to play. Goalkeeper Graham Stack clattered into Stephen Elliott after a back pass from Callum Booth sold him short, and Black stepped up to take the award.

The midfielder placed his shot to the Stack’s right, but the keeper got down to it and turned the ball round the post for a corner.

Inspired by the save, Hibs began the second half impressively, but again without creating any scoring chances. That lack of a cutting edge proved to be their undoing just as much as the defensive shortcomings which allowed Hearts their three goals.

The first came after a shot from Black had forced Stack to tip the ball over for a corner. Black’s delivery from the right was headed towards goal by Webster, then nodded over the line by Ryan McGowan. Elliott looked to be in an offside position right in front of Stack as Webster’s header looped towards the far corner, but the goal was allowed to stand.

Just over a minute later Hibs were level as Hearts, who had kept a clean sheet in their previous three matches, suffered a lapse in concentration. Danny Galbraith took the ball to the byline all too easily, and his low cross was turned past Marian Kello and into his own net by Marius Zaliukas.

Five minutes later Martin Scott let a ball from Sproule cross the goalmouth when a simple touch could have given Hibs the lead. That was as good as it got for the home team, who did not create another chance in the half-hour which remained. That lack of sharpness up front was mirrored at the other end by Hibs’ slowness to deal with a long throw-in from McGowan. John Sutton was allowed to lay the ball back to Andy Webster, and the defender shot low into the corner of the net.

Hearts held their lead comfortably after that, and rubbed home their advantage in stoppage time. Sutton broke up the right to cross to Skacel, who artfully brought the ball down with his first touch then scored from a half-volley with his second.

Taken from the Scotsman