Hibs 1 Hearts 3

Jan 3 2012 By David McCarthy

ON paper this was not the best time for Hibs to be facing their fiercest foes.

It turned out to be the same on grass as Hearts ploughed through a pulsating encounter in Leith, leaving Hibs to wonder just when they will get to enjoy a victory in this fixture.

They hadn’t won any of the eight previous Edinburgh derbies in the first place, a wretched run stretching back to May 2009, and had not recorded a victory under new boss Pat Fenlon before Hearts first-footed them at lunchtime yesterday.

Then there was the fact that Paulo Sergio’s team were on a decent run going into the game, having won two of their last three matches without conceding a goal in any of them.

Hibs’ hopes of ending that run of clean sheets were hit by the failure of Garry O’Connor to shake off an injury and the striker started on the bench, leaving Leigh Griffiths as the lone front man, supported by Danny Galbraith and Ivan Sproule from the wide areas.

Hearts looked more solid, although they wouldn’t be relying on lumping the ball from front to back. Not with Stephen Elliott up top, supported by Medhi Taouil and supplied by David Templeton.

They went to Easter Road determined to keep the ball on the deck and they worried Hibs in the opening spell, particularly when Templeton ran atthe left-footed Paul Hanlon, who was inexplicably selected to play right-back when Michael Hart was on the bench.

Hanlon was booked for fouling Templeton as early as the 12th minute, by which time Lewis Stevenson had been yellow-carded more unluckily for a foul on Scott Robinson.

Three minutes later, Templeton left the makeshift right-back for dead with a surging run and cut inside before unleashing a right-foot drive that clipped Graham Stack’s left-hand post.

Before that, however, Griffiths had created a decent opening for Galbraith with a good pass that found the winger with time and space on the left corner of the box. His sclaffed effort was woeful, though, and greeted withderision by Hearts fans behind the goal.

They had sold out their allocation but the home crowd hadn’t. Those who did turn up were worried in the 22nd minute by an incisive one-two between Taouil, who had started brightly, and Elliott, which took the Moroccan into the Hibs box. His shot flew high but it was a bright move.

Unfortunately for Hearts, Taouil overstretched when shooting and limped off. Andy Driver replaced him and the system stayed the same.

Fenlon’s team got a glimpseof goal when Callum Booth crossed for Sproule, only for the Ulsterman’s effort to be deflected for a corner. But Griffiths made a mess of it, then gifted possession to Hearts at the other end a minute later. When Martin Scott then failed to find Sproule with a pass from six yards, the pair snarled at each other and had to be ordered to calm down by their manager.

Scott then clattered Ian Black but he’s given enough out to know it comes with the territory and the midfielder was soon back in business.

In the 41st minute, he would have been wishing he wasn’t as he became the third Hearts player in a row to miss a penalty. Booth was the most relieved man in the ground because it was his short backpass that had allowed Elliott to nip in on Stack and when the keeper caught the striker the only tough decision for Calum Murray was whether to book or send off the keeper.

The ref chose a booking and Stack made the most of his reprieve by plunging to his right to touch away Black’s effort, which wasn’t hit hard enough or placed well enough to beat the Englishman. Hibs fans celebrated as if they’d scored and were still cheering when the whistle blew for half-time.

The team had clearly been lifted by Stack’s stop because they reappeared to dominate the opening spell and got some joy from Scott pushing on to offer Griffiths more support than he’d been given in the first half.

In contrast, Hearts didn’t string two passes together in the 10 minutes that followed the restart – but they did force Stack into a fine fingertip save to deny Black, whose 25-yard effort was far better than his attempt from 12 yards before the break. The keeper’s heroics counted for nothing, though, as Hibs conceded from the corner.

Andy Webster powered Black’s cross goalward, Stack parried it but Ryan McGowan headed home the rebound from a yard out.

Hibs had to hit back before they could feel sorry for themselves – and they did.

Galbraith stormed down the left and his low driven cross smashed off Marius Zaliukas’s shins into hisown net.

It had been ticking over nicely but now it had exploded. Sproule went on a charging run and his low cross into the box would have been buried by a sharper player than Scott, who was just too slow to react.

Then McGowan could have been in bother for shoving his head into Sproule’s chest after the Aussie had been caught by the winger but the ref took no action. He did on Webster in the 76th minute when the defender had been undone by Griffiths’ turn and cynically took him out.

Seven minutes from time, though, Webster caught the eye for all the right reasons with a finish any top-class striker would be happy to claim.

McGowan hurled a throw into the box, John Sutton contested it with two Hibs defenders and when it broke down to Webster he lashed a stunning low drive past Stack.

Fenlon threw on O’Connor anddebutant Eoin Doyle for Scott and Galbraith but Driver should have finished it with four minutes left, being left with just Stack to beat. The keeper half blocked the sub’s effort and Sean O’Hanlon completed the clearance on the line.

Hearts’ two other substitutes did far better in stoppage time to end the contest. Sutton chased a long ball down the right and crossed for Rudi Skacel, who took a great touch and an even better shot to rifle his team into an unassailable lead.

Taken from the Daily Record