Hibs 1-5 Hearts: Where it was won and lost

Hearts have now won the Cup five times since Hibs last lifted it high in 1902, but surely none will be more satisfying than this victory. To win any cup final is memorable. To win it against your rivals is special. To win it 5-1 against the team you share a city with – all the salt and sauce won't change the flavour of that sweet taste.

One half of Edinburgh are looking ahead with their Cup under their arm, and setting sights on Europe and moving up the league. The other is wondering, with so many players to replace and a manager who hasn’t yet reversed the spiral down the table, if things can get any worse.

They lined up at Hampden at 3pm as equals. By 5pm the distance between the two could be measured by the length of the M8. The noise and colour before the game was befitting of any major sporting event in the world. Hibs fans had put green flags on every seat, and they waved them aloft as Hearts fans responded by twirling their scarves. The teams weren’t even on the pitch yet but the battle had begun.

How they lined up:

There wasn’t much surprise to Hibs line-up, with cup semi-final goal scorers Garry O’Connor and Leigh Griffiths both beginning up front.

The main debate for Hearts in the build-up to the game was over the fitness of Craig Beattie. The big striker made it onto the bench, which is where he started the semi-final before coming on and making such a big impact. David Templeton had hoped his performances in the last few games of the season would net him a place but he didn’t make Sergio’s final 16.

Marius Zaliukas marshalled what was meant to be a back four, but it looked like a back three at times with Ryan McGowan sitting a little further forward on the right hand side. The Jambos backline had Leigh Griffiths for company, with Garry O’Connor drifting round the left hand side.

Rudi Skacel and Stephen Elliot were the two being asked to do the damage up the other end, with Suso Santana always looking for the ball on the right hand side.

Heart-attack:

Hearts started on the front foot. In a scrappy opening the Jambos took advantage of a plethora of free-kicks coming their way to keep the pressure on, but despite an assortment of crosses into the box James McPake was winning everything and goalkeeper Mark Brown remained untested from the opening salvos.

Eleven minutes in though and McPake was finally beaten, with Skacel sneaking in behind him and heading just wide. Danny Grainger had raced forward, played a one-two with Skacel initially, and the ball spun wide to the left with Andy Driver getting it on the byline and having time to pick his man with a cross for the first time. With Grainger, McGowan, Suso and Driver all on the wings, Hibs were going to have a problem stopping the supply into the middle.

In 14 minutes, they found that problem too big to deal with as Hearts took the lead. The corner was swung in, Hibs couldn’t clear, and eventually it fell to the feet of Darren Barr who poked home for the crucial first goal. Hibs were punished for having no-one on the front post – Osbourne had drifted too far forward leaving Pa Kujabi the only Hibee back, but Barr took up the position a poacher would have been proud of and couldn’t miss.

Hibs reaction:

The pundits had suggested in the build-up the underdogs had to score first. A quarter of an hour gone, Hibs were a goal down without creating a single chance of note. They had to now try something.

Kunjabi then picked up an early booking for a foul on Suso, a booking that would prove costly later on. It looked soft considering Ian Black had led with the forearm in the opening minutes, conceded three free-kicks shortly afterwards, and remained blemish free. It was a free-kick won for Hearts though, another dangerous cross for Hibs to deal with.

There was no tactical change from either side. Pat Fenlon opting to remain as they were, with Paulo Sergio more than happy with the start his side had made. Both though stood glued to the edge of the technical area.

Penalty shout:

Hibs were shouting for a penalty in the 22nd minute. The free-kick came in from the right, McPake won the header and flicked it towards O’Connor, who fell to the turf. However it looked more like he’d timed his jump a fraction early, and had fallen forward in hope of sympathy from referee Craig Thomson more than anything.


Half an hour gone and you’re 2-0 down:

In both semi-finals, poor first half performances went unpunished. Hearts came back from a less than impressive first 45 to beat Celtic, while Hibs were on the ropes for a time against Aberdeen after failing to put the game to bed in a dominating first half.

Therefore, as time ebbed away and the score remained 1-0, the notion that Hibs were in no serious trouble remained. That thought was erased in the 27th minute with Rudi Skacel’s moment of magic. Osbourne gifted possession in his own half, Driver raced forward and elected for a low ball to Skacel who had taken up position on the edge of the box. Given space by McPake, he had time to turn and drive a deflected shot beyond the helpless Brown.

At 2-0, Hibs simply had to respond, with some Hibees already giving up and heading for the exit. O’Connor may well have wished to head to one himself after he blew a chance in the 31st minute, blasting over from close range.

Hibs had the odd flurry but Hearts continued to be the aggressors, and in 35 minutes it was so nearly the knock-out blow; Suso having the time to pick his spot with oceans of room on the right hand side, but his low drive beat the keeper but not McPake who had raced back to the goal-line.

Pre-match plans in disarray:

Fenlon had hoped O’Connor’s physical presence, coupled with Griffiths ability to run at the defence, would cause Hearts problems. However, Hibs first ball forward most of the time was woeful, so much so that Webster and McGowan were happy to give O’Connor free reign on the left hand side with their opponents failing to bring him into the game. Griffiths was the one Hearts concentrated their efforts on marking, which worked with the ex-Dundee man only winning corners at best.

Hibs roar back:

He may only have been winning corners, but one was to prove effective. It wasn’t a particular great corner, but Hearts only cleared as far as Jorge Claros, who drove back into the box, and the ball across goal from Tom Soares was begging to be stabbed in, which McPake duly did.

All of a sudden we had a game on again, and the Hibs fans found their voices. A poor first half, but where they going to go in at the break still very much in the game?

Early change:

Before kick-off resumed, Hibs brought off Jorge Claros and replaced him with Ivan Sproule. It seemed a pre-planned decision and the goal hadn’t changed Fenlon’s mind.

That now meant Hibs asked Griffiths to switch sides. O’Connor moved more into the middle, with Sproule using his pace down the right hand side.

The worst/best possible start to the second half:

Whatever words Hibs had ringing in their ears at the start of the second half, they counted for little with the worst possible start they could have ever imagined. Kujabi pulled Suso’s shirt outside the box, but the little Spaniard managed to trip himself up once he got into the area. Thomson took his time with the decision but eventually pointed to the spot, and to add insult to injury gave the Hibs man his second yellow.

Hibs were a man down, and two goals down once Grainger buried his spot kick beyond Brown.

Before Hibs could clear their heads and respond, it was 4-1, and surely game over. Hibs left Skacel alone at the corner. He miskicked, but managed to steer it towards goal, Stephen Elliot got a touch to it and Ryan McGowan finished it off with a diving header and sent the mass of maroon behind the goal wild, and hundreds more Hibs fans to the exits.

Hibs re-organise:

Now Pat Fenlon had a decision to make. Did he go for broke and try and somehow rescue the cup final, with them a man down and chasing what looked an impossible three-goal deficit. Or, did they make sure there was no further embarrassment, with the contentious penalty decision and red card something to hold as an excuse?

He made his move in the 53rd minute by bringing off Garry O’Connor and replacing him with Eoin Doyle.

Doyle went up front by himself with Griffiths and Sproule tasked with leading the charge forward on the counter attack. As they tried to settle into their new positions, Hearts continued to flood forward.

Hearts still pumping:

Paulo Sergio could easily have sat on their 4-1 lead and coasted the game, but with the one-man advantage they went looking for more. Driver sat in a more advanced role, meaning they had almost a three man attack at times. Even centre-back Zaliukas was happy to race forward, knowing no-one would pick up his runs.

Hibs were sitting with everyone in their own half bar Doyle. That gave Hearts the opportunity to simply knock the ball about for fun, with every pass met by “oles” from their fans. The tactic was designed to frustrate their opponents, but it didn’t jolt them into any urgency to win the ball back. Hibs looked a lost cause, they had given in long before full-time, and Pat Fenlon – despite continuing to patrol the touchline – was slow to get more urgency and attacking instinct into them.

The scoreline was harsh on James McPake, who had played a captain’s role, but too often his defence parted like the red sea any time they saw Maroon shirts. His frustration was evident in the 70th minute as Hibs were almost caught out by the offside trap, with only McPake and Matthew Doherty remembering to take a step forward.

Hibs had to offer more of a threat to at least regain some pride, and Griffiths began to switch sides and try and run with the ball. However Fenlon continued to resist the option to push men forward to support his runs, with Doyle well looked after in the middle. Griffiths was now running himself into the ground as time ticked ever closer to a historic Hearts win.

Time for Beattie. Time for Skacel:

Hearts were fully in command, with Hibs offering nothing of note in the second half. Craig Beattie had been kicking his heels on the bench, ready to come on and change the game in the Jambos favour if they had ever been in that position. With just over a quarter of an hour left, Sergio elected to bring him on knowing they were in no danger of losing the tie.

Before he could even make his entrance, Skacel rode a challenge and slipped another low ball beyond Brown to sensationally make it 5-1 to Hearts. The semi-final win of 2006 was now simply a day to mull over the high point of Paul Hartley’s career. This was the real deal, arguably the greatest day in Hearts’ history, certainly in the lifetimes of the majority of the support packed to the west of Hampden.

Beattie took up position on the left of Hearts front line, assisted by Andy Driver on the flank who was giving Doherty all sorts of problems.

Hibs brought on George Francomb for Thomas Soares. There were barely any Hibs fans left to give their opinion on the substitution. They stayed stuck in a 4-4-1 formation. Never threatening the Hearts goal, yet failing to take care at the other end as the goals reigned in.

Hearts were now toying with their rivals. Mehdi Taouil came on for the last ten minutes to add some more trickery up front, and Sergio gave Scott Robinson some minutes on the park, bringing him on for the departing Ian Black, who in his last game in Maroon would lift the trophy for his boyhood heroes.

The referee ended the match bang on 90 minutes, obviously feeling there was no need to prolong the misery for the men from Leith. Two historic Hampden clashes between these two in the past six years - the score 9-1 in Hearts favour. While Hibs continue their long wait to lift the famous old trophy, Hearts now move clear in fourth place in terms of who has lifted the Cup the most, and the most successful outside Glasgow.

Hearts top man: Who do you pick on a day when the whole team looked unstoppable? Ian Black perhaps just gets the nod. He rode his luck early on with an elbow on Griffiths, but in a nervy opening he was at his snarling, snappy best; battering into challenges and setting the early tempo which saw the Jambos threaten to overrun their rivals.

The cup final was his last game, and Hearts may find replacing him is their most difficult task of the summer.

Hibs top man: It may seem like no Hibs player turned up, but without James McPake the score line could have been worse. However, Hibs top man was Leigh Griffiths, who gave absolutely everything out there. He looked Hibs only dangerous player in the first half, and switched sides and ran after every ball in the second. He couldn’t do any more to try and change the tide Hibs way.

Hibernian: Brown, Doherty, Hanlon, Claros (Sproule 41), O’Connor (Doyle 50), Soares (Francomb 73), McPake, Stevenson, Kujabi, Osbourne, Griffiths.

Subs: Grant, O’Hanlon.

Hearts: MacDonald, Grainger, Barr, Webster, Santana (Beattie 73), Black (Ronsinson 85), Elliot, Driver (Taouil 83), McGowan, Skacel, Zaliukas.

Subs: Ridgers, Prychynenko.

Referee: Craig Thomson.

Attendance: 51,041