Hearts star Andy Driver insists trophy winners went easy on rivals Hibs during rout

May 20 2012 By Scott McDermott

ANDY DRIVER admits he’d have loved the Jambos to go for Hibs’ throats at Hampden – but says they decided to go EASY on them.

The Tynecastle winger was instrumental in Hearts’ stunning 5-1 Scottish Cup Final victory yesterday.

But he insists Paulo Sergio’s men could have inflicted more damage on their bitter rivals.

Gorgie fans chanted ‘We want eight’ when Hibees were reduced to 10 men in the second half of the all-Edinburgh showdown.

They were desperate to beat Hibs’ record 7-0 win over them from 1973.

But Driver believes it would have been disrespectful to have gone for the jugular.

In the end, it was an easy win for Hearts, thanks to goals from Darren Barr, Ryan McGowan, Danny Grainger’s penalty and a double from Rudi Skacel.

But Driver insists he could never feel sorry for the Hibees.

The jubilant wide man said: “At 5-1, there was time to get even more goals.

“But we had to be professional so we just kept the ball.

“It would have been nice to score more but we did our job, we didn’t disrespect anyone.

“We still tried to go forward but we weren’t all-out. At half time, we couldn’t have imagined it would be so easy.

“We dominated the first half but Hibs’ goal knocked the stuffing out of us. We had to gee ourselves back up at half time.

“We came out flying and the rest is history.

“I didn’t feel sorry for Hibs. It’s a strange feeling being 5-1 up. I was shattered but I hardly even ran in the second half.

“The nervous energy took over towards the end and we did a professional job.

“Hibs wouldn’t have felt sorry for us if it was the other way round.”

The Englishman barely slept in the build-up the final and was a bag of nerves all week.

When Hibs made it 2-1 just before the break he feared his big day would turn into a nightmare – but the Jambos’ second-half display blew the Hibees away.

Driver said: “It was amazing, a crazy game. You could feel our nerves in the dressing-room at half-time.

“But what happened in the first five minutes of the second half was absolutely crazy. It was weird knowing we’d won the Cup with 40 minutes still to play.

“It was weird last week. I’ve been so nervous and I’ve lost so much sleep over this game.

“That’s the most nervous I’ve been before a match – but then the history riding on the final was unbelievable.

“I could never have imagined we’d get a 5-1 win against our biggest rivals in a Scottish Cup Final. This is the biggest achievement of my career, the biggest day of my life.”

Driver might not have seen the Cup Final win after deciding he wanted to leave during the wage crisis earlier this season. But he had a change of heart and has now begged boss Sergio to keep the side together.

Ian Black, Suso Santana and Skacel are all on their way out but Driver is adamant the Jambos must build on yesterday’s trophy success in the derby.

He said: “It would be good to keep everybody together after what we’ve achieved.

“We want to kick on next year but it’s out of the players’ hands. We’ll go on our holidays and see what happens.

“It seems a long time since it looked like I wouldn’t be here. I think my hard work since then shone through against Hibs.

“It’s been a tough season but to win the Scottish Cup at the end of it is brilliant.

“The turmoil and constant change hasn’t done us any favours in the past. We’ve had some decent teams but not the consistency.

“Hopefully the gaffer will stay but we might struggle to keep hold of him after what he’s achieved this season.”

Driver revealed Hearts’ victory followed a pre-match pep talk from Lithuanian owner Vladimir Romanov – who was wearing a kilt.

He said: “He just came in and said he believed in us and told us to believe in ourselves. All the players appreciated it.”

Taken from the Daily Record