Hampden cavalcade turned into a Tynecastle procession

THE two capital clubs waited 116 years to contest an all-Edinburgh Scottish Cup final and for Hearts yesterday it must have been well worth the long delay.
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Hearts Danny Grainger signals his delight after converting his penalty Photograph: Stewart Attwood
Hearts Danny Grainger signals his delight after converting his penalty Photograph: Stewart Attwood

The Tynecastle club's supporters, their number including first minister Alex Salmond, gloried in prolonging the misery of their rivals in Scotland's premier cup competition into an 111th year with a victory which was as demoralising as any suffered by the Easter Road club in the last century or more.

Pat Fenlon emulating his countryman Dan McMichael and lifting Scotland's oldest cup competition for the first time since 1902 might have been a more romantic narrative, but this was a reminder that football is mostly a cruel and unforgiving business. The win, completed against ten men following the dismissal of Pa Kujabi, was the first time anyone had scored five in a Scottish Cup final since Hearts lost to Rangers by the same scoreline in 1996.

The result made it a clean sweep of Hearts derby wins this season, and moved their unbeaten run in this fixture to 11 matches. So complete was Hibs' humiliation that most of their supporters deserved credit just for waiting around until the 75-minute mark, when the fifth goal went in. Even Fenlon couldn't wait around for the final moments, being sent to the stands by referee Craig Thomson just seconds before the handshakes, for allegedly gesturing at the Hearts fans singling him out for attention.

Billed as the salt and sauce final, it was the second major trophy of Vladimir Romanov's reign – following the 2006 Scottish Cup win – with the club's Lithuanian tsar kilted up for the occasion while his countryman Marius Zaliukas got his hands on the trophy. It was achieved at the end of a season in which the banker has been frequently unable or unwilling to pay his players on time, ahead of a likely summer downsizing.

Whether it keeps him in a job or not, it was another tactical triumph for the increasingly impressive Paulo Sergio and the Portuguese manager displayed a touch of Mourinho when he hurdled the trophy shelf to steal a kiss with his wife. He had omitted David Templeton from his 16 – while David Wotherspoon and Ian Murray missed out for Hibs –- but none of the Hearts manager's players played better on the day than Ian Black in his last match for the club. But so resounding was the victory and the midfielder's part in it that you tended to forget he might have been lucky to stay on the field long enough to get his standing ovation. We were only nine minutes in when referee Thomson deemed his aerial joust with Leigh Griffiths, where he led with his elbow and caught the Hibs man flush on the jawbone, was accidental and worthy only of just a stern talking to.

Straight red cards have been administered for less, but the incident soon became a footnote as Hearts got the early goal which punctured the tension. Andy Webster, omitted in 2006 due to a wrangle with Mr Romanov, kept a corner alive and Ryan McGowan forced the ball towards goal after one fresh air swipe. Darren Barr, a loser with Falkirk against Rangers a few seasons back, was lurking with menace and knocked the ball in from close range. It was not a bad time to score your first goal for the club. Black was the architect of the second as well, pirouetting away from trouble to feed Rudi Skacel. The Czech had found a yard of space away from his marker James McPake and his shot spun off the Hibs skipper's heel on its route into the bottom corner. At least McPake felt bad enough to single handedly pull his side back into the match. First, he hacked a goalbound Suso Santana shot off his line, and then lunged in on a Tom Soares cross while displaying all his old Livi striker's instincts to reduce the arrears.

The Hearts dressing-room was a nervous place at half-time, but within minutes they could breathe easily. Pa Kujabi was the fall guy, beaten too easily by Suso Santana and compounding the error by tugging his jersey as he reached the edge of the box. Thomson took an age before pointing to the spot, and administering Kujabi with his second yellow card. Danny Grainger, cup tied when Gretna lost to Hearts in 2006, converted sweetly.

The prawn sandwich brigade were still settling in their seats by the time the fourth went in. A quick corner from Danny Grainger was helped on by Skacel and Stephen Elliott before McGowan dived in to head it over the line from all of a yard. There was still plenty of time for a record score, but Hearts settled for just one more, Skacel's low shot sneaking through McPake's legs and in off a post. That finally sparked an exodus from the Hibernian fans. In the words of the Proclaimers song, their hearts had been broken.

Taken from the Herald