Hearts play for the jersey
Graeme Macpherson

THE Edinburgh derby continues to be a source of great joy for Hearts and one of unbridled misery for Hibernian.

You have to go back to May 2009, a run of 10 matches, to find the last time the Easter Road club got one over on their old rivals and goals from Craig Beattie and Suso Santana meant there would be no end to Hibs' winless drought at Tynecastle yesterday.

The hope for Pat Fenlon, their manager, was that with virtually a new team – six players in their line-up were experiencing the derby for the first time – a new chapter in this rivalry could be written. Instead, it was just more of the same; glee in Gorgie, another lament in Leith.

This was the first time Hearts had won the first three derbies before the split and the result effectively ensures there will not be a fourth this season unless both sides battle through to set up what would be a quite explosive Scottish Cup final. Given their ongoing woes in the fixture, that may provide a source of solace for those beleaguered Hibs supporters who streamed out of the ground wondering just when they will see their team win a derby again. That, however, is not the sum of their worries.

The defeat leaves Hibs four points clear of Dunfermline Athletic at the foot of the table and the worry now must be that the managerial change at East End Park gives their relegation rivals added impetus in the run-in.

For Hearts, however, this was as good as it gets. Their second goal, deep into injury time, summed up the fortunes of both teams. As a Hibs attack broke down, the ball was quickly worked forward to Santana, not long on the pitch as a late substitute. There was still plenty for the Spaniard to do, but he motored forward before finishing well across Graham Stack. The irony that the goal was scored by one of the "fringe players" Hearts had blamed for their financial plight only added to the moment.

The Hearts players, again, performed without their wages having dropped into the bank, although it appeared to not have any detrimental effect on their performance, as Beattie, clutching his man of the match champagne, later confirmed. "Once you wake up on the morning of a derby game, whether you've been paid or not, whether you're the richest or the poorest man in the world – it doesn't matter," he said. "Hopefully the situation will get sorted soon so it's a weight off the players' minds, but I can assure the fans and our opponents that there's no mental distraction when we're preparing for games."

Hearts were dominant for the most part here, even if their superior possession did not always lead to scoring chances. A frenetic first-half was interrupted by one moment of inspiration. The two men at the centre of it all are perhaps more renowned for their physical qualities, but both demonstrated they have other strings to their bow. Ian Black received the ball just inside his own half before pinging the most exquisite cross-field pass to Beattie. The striker, played onside by James McPake and having shed the dithering Matt Doherty, took one touch to kill the pass and a second to poke it under Stack. It was a classy goal and no more than Hearts deserved.

Beattie is fast becoming a real hero for Hearts, an old-fashioned, up-and-at-em centre forward who never gives defenders a second's peace. Some may question the morality of his signing, given Hearts' struggles to pay their players, but, leaving that aside, Beattie has been a revelation, giving Hearts the focal point in attack that they have been lacking of late. Confidence topped up by his goal, he had the audacity to try a thumping volley not long afterwards, the ball soaring high into the stand.

Hibs only threatened once in the first half – an inviting Pa Kujabi cross that found no takers as it fizzed across the six-yard box – but they started the second half strongly, Doherty twice coming close to atoning for his part in Hearts' goal. The Irishman's first headed attempt was hooked away by Beattie – he can defend a bit as well – while a second was cleared by Andy Driver, guarding the post. Hibs failed to maintain the momentum, but still had chances to draw level, the best falling to Roy O'Donovan, whose header was blocked by Jamie MacDonald. "The goalkeeper made a good save," said the striker. "But if I had scored it would have been a different game."

Santana's late goal, however, confirmed that, once again, this wasn't going to be Hibs' day. They are becoming accustomed to that now.

Taken from the Herald