Performance of gritty realism begins to make amends for farce

Why give a two-fingered salute when you can hold up six instead?

Mindful that a few of their neighbours from Leith may have evacuated Hampden early in May, the Hearts fans, packed to the rafters in the Easter Road south stand, were only too happy to let their Hibernian counterparts know how the cup final had finished. Five fingers on one hand and one on the other got the message over loud and clear.

But just in case a few Hibs fans – in their rather more sparsely packed stands – still didn't get the point, the Gorgie contingent had helpfully knocked up a few banners as well. "Your Heart was Broken, 19-5-12, Sorrow Sorrow" said one. "Fringe Venue 5-1" said another, a nod to the style of poster that adorns just about every doorway in Edinburgh at this time of year (as well, perhaps, as another kind of desperate performance).

And by the noise that those Hearts fans were making in the minutes before the game, it was pretty clear that they expected something similar yesterday. And why not? They had started the season with a comfortable 2-0 win against St Johnstone, while Hibs had set their ball rolling, if that's the phrase, with an abject 3-0 loss against Dundee United. It was the best of times and the worst of times in this tale of one city last week.

Pat Fenlon, the Hibs manager, had admitted that his preparations for the capital derby had been akin to trauma counselling for those players, no more than a handful now, who had been involved in the cup final. In which light, perhaps he should consider sacking the physios and adding a platoon of shrinks to his backroom staff, for this was a passionate, inspired performance by the home side. As a piece of mental reprogramming it was right up there with anything Tom Cruise has ever gone through.

Certainly, the resilience shown by Fenlon's players in the aftermath of the horror goal they conceded in the 28th minute was admirable. There was a time when Hibs gave away soft goals in bargain packs of two or three, but they girded themselves magnificently after Alan Maybury's horribly lame nod back to goalkeeper Ben Williams found Andy Driver instead. When Leigh Griffiths levelled things with his clever goal just before half-time, having rattled the woodwork with a fierce shot a few minutes earlier, it was no more than Hibs deserved.

Much less, some might have said, a Hearts were lucky to have 11 men on the pitch at that point. It was always going to be feisty, as a clutch of yellow cards testified, but even David Templeton must have been staggered by referee Willie Collum's apparent indifference after he lashed out to catch James McPake with his foot. McPake looked astonished that the incident brought no punishment, and all but said so afterwards.

Yet while he nursed his bruises he was in no mood to dwell on any injustice. McPake put in a magnificent shift, cantering between robust defensive duties that all but eliminated the threat from John Sutton, and set-piece contributions at the other end where he twice threatened to head Hibs into the lead. It said something that he collected the man of the match award ahead of Griffiths. The expression on Griffiths' face as he handed over the champagne suggested that the decision was not exactly unanimous.

It was a game that deserved a better audience than the 12,887 souls who watched it. Yet as Fenlon said, Hibs have no right to expect fans to file in when they offer up performances like the dog's breakfast they had given at Tannadice. As he also pointed out, though, a few more displays like this could have them flocking back.

Those Hibs fans who did come along were far the happier supporters at the end. And as they took their leave, they were more than delighted to wave away their Hearts chums with a reminder of the final score. This time, two fingers were quite enough.

Taken from the Herald