Stroll in the park for imperious Hearts

SELDOM can supporters of any club have experienced the sense of fulfillment delivered to those following Hearts or the feeling of utter despair to which those of a Hibernian persuasion were subjected on Saturday.

As one of the most significant Scottish Cup finals in the long history of the venerable tournament turned out to also be one of the most one-sided, this was an afternoon when the contrasting emotions football provides for its devotees were illustrated in the sharpest possible focus.

When Rudi Skacel scored his second and Hearts’ fifth goal in the rout of their hapless city rivals with 15 minutes still remaining, the prospect of new records being set loomed large.

The 6-1 victories recorded by Renton against Cambuslang in 1888 and Celtic against Hibs in 1972 looked likely to be equalled, if not bettered, such was Hearts’ overwhelming superiority over opponents who had been reduced to ten men in the first minute of the second half.

But, although chants of ‘We want six’ from Hearts fans went unanswered, the match instead meandering to its conclusion, there was nonetheless a powerful impression that never before have bragging rights in the Edinburgh derby been so emphatically claimed.

How many Hearts supporters, for example, would trade Saturday’s raucous triumph in such a momentous occasion for the 7-0 league win in 1973 which Hibs fans have dined out on for so long? Not many, if any, you have to suspect.

This was just about as humiliating as a derby defeat can be. Thousands of Hibs fans had deserted Hampden long before the final whistle, their club’s Scottish Cup hoodoo having taken its most painful twist yet as it stretches into a 111th year.

Hearts were simply better in every department than an Easter Road side who looked every inch a job lot with their collection of loan players failing to display the cohesion and conviction required on such a stage.

From the opening moments, there was a greater vibrancy and purpose to Hearts’ work as they exerted control of proceedings in both central midfield and the wide areas. Much credit for that went to a dominant performance from Ian Black, albeit the ferociously competitive midfielder could consider himself fortunate to escape punishment for a reckless ninth-minute clash with Leigh Griffiths in which he seemed to lead with an elbow.

By utilising the more admirable side of his game, Black went on to run the game for Hearts with an eye-catching range of passing and positional awareness which emphasised how much of a loss he will be to the Tynecastle club as he prepares to move on this summer. Black ensured a regular supply of possession to both flanks, exposing the general ineptitude of Hibs’ full-backs Matt Doherty and Pa Kujabi. On Hearts’ left, Danny Grainger and Andrew Driver gave the feckless Doherty an especially torrid afternoon. It was from that side that Hearts made their 14th minute breakthrough. Grainger’s corner was headed on by Andy Webster and when Isaiah Osbourne failed to clear, Ryan McGowan forced the ball towards the edge of the six-yard box, where Darren Barr stabbed home his first goal in a Hearts shirt. In response, Hibs had tame appeals for a penalty turned down when Garry O’Connor claimed he had been nudged off the ball by Grainger as he tried to get on the end of James McPake’s header from a Griffiths free-kick. The momentum remained very much with Hearts and they doubled their lead in the 27th minute.

Neat work from Black created the opening for Skacel on the edge of the penalty area, the Czech midfielder turning and driving in a firm shot which took a deflection off McPake before beating Mark Brown to the goalkeeper’s left.

O’Connor blazed a good chance over as Hibs tried to prevent the match slipping out of their reach, something McPake certainly delayed with his excellent goal-line clearance to keep out Suso Santana’s 35th-minute shot. It seemed as if that might prove a turning point when, four minutes from the interval, Hibs halved the deficit. Tom Soares saw his corner from the right cleared before the ball was smartly returned to him by Lewis Stevenson and drove over a low cross which was touched home from close range by McPake.

Even before the goal, Hibs manager Pat Fenlon had decided on a substitution intended to rebalance the midfield battle, withdrawing the hopelessly ineffectual Jorge Claros and introducing the width of Ivan Sproule. But, any hope Fenlon had of his side building on the platform provided by McPake’s goal disintegrated inside the frantic first four minutes of the second half, which saw Hibs find themselves 4-1 and a man down.

Gambian left-back Kujabi, correctly booked in the first half for a late challenge on Santana, earned his second yellow card for pulling the same player’s shirt as he raced into the penalty area inside the first minute after the restart. The offence was committed just outside the box before the Spanish winger embellished it with a dive inside which was enough to dupe referee Craig Thomson into pointing to the spot after a brief conferral with his assistant.

Grainger made a consummate job of converting the penalty, smashing a left foot shot high beyond Brown. The celebrations among the Hearts fans had barely started to subside when their team made it 4-1 in the 49th minute. Grainger’s corner picked out Skacel who drove the ball into the penalty area where Hibs’ defensive vulnerability was exposed once more when McGowan forced in a header almost on the goalline.

The certainty that the cup was now won seemed to sub-consciously temper Hearts’ approach for the rest of the game, while the final whistle could hardly come quickly enough for the wretched Hibs players. The fifth goal appeared almost out of nothing, Skacel collecting the ball on the edge of the area from Santana’s pass and striking a low, left foot shot which dissected McPake’s attempted block and beat Brown to his left.

While there was no further scoring, the ignominy did not end there for Hibs manager Fenlon. The Irishman, who still seems some distance from effecting any significant improvement since replacing Colin Calderwood six months ago, gestured crassly in response to sarcastic chants from the Hearts support and was dismissed from the technical area for his trouble. It was a suitably pitiful end to as miserable a day as Hibs have ever endured.

For Hearts manager Paulo Sergio, this was powerful vindication of the intensely focused work he has done in the often complicated environment of the Tynecastle club. Whatever the future holds for the Portuguese coach, he can be assured of the permanent affection of Hearts supporters.

Hibernian: Brown, Doherty, McPake, Hanlon, Kujabi, Soares (Francomb 76), Osbourne, Claros (Sproule 42), Stevenson, O’Connor (Doyle 54), Griffiths. Subs not used: Grant,O’Hanlon.

Hearts: MacDonald, McGowan, Webster, Zaliukas, Grainger, Black (Robinson 86), Barr, Santana (Beattie 76), Skacel, Driver (Taouil 84), Elliott. Subs not used: Ridgers,Prychynenko.

Man of the match: Ian Black (Hearts)

While the sponsors’ award went to Hearts’ talisman Rudi Skacel for his two-goal contribution, no-one was more influential in the scale of the Gorgie team’s triumph than Black.

Hibs fans will argue he should have been sent off after just nine minutes, but there can be little dispute Black was the most effective player on view as he dictated the flow of proceedings for his team with energy and intelligence.

Taken from the Scotsman