At around 4.50pm this afternoon it’s a fair bet that from somewhere up in the heavens, Wallace Mercer was sporting that smug, gleaming grin of his having watched his team do what they scarcely failed to do during his Tynecastle reign: gub Hibs!
There had been much hype before this game about the irony of Hearts’ first home game after the death of their former Chairman being against the team he nearly helped to wipe out of existence.
Hearts decided to honour Mercer with a minute’s applause, realising that a minute’s silence was likely to be interrupted by Hibs fans who have never forgiven the man they called Wallet Mercenary for the attempted takeover. This turned out to be a wise move and despite the boos coming from the Hibs end, it was a resounding and moving minute that was befitting of a man who did so much for the club.
And so to the match. This really was a match that both sides would say they had to win, both for the race to finish in the top two (for Champions League football) and also to cash in on any potential slip-ups from league-leaders Celtic.
The general feeling around our section of the Wheatfield Stand was one of concern when we heard the Hearts line-up. It seemed we were adopting a 4-5-1 formation with only young Callum Elliot up front. The last time we did this was at Fir Park on what turned out to be a spectacularly un-enthralling afternoon in November (Hearts scraped a 1-1 draw thanks to a last minute Hartley penalty).
After 20 minutes of this match that feeling of concern had most certainly not gone away….in fact the guy three seats away from us made a record number of toilet trips in that time – surely they weren’t all due to the pre-match beers?!
Hibs started the match brightly and very early on Julien Brellier found himself in the book after a challenge on Scott Brown. It appeared fairly innocuous and I wasn’t impressed at the decision to book him, but to be fair Brown had to go off for treatment and as it turned out, had to be subbed before half-time as a result, so perhaps the ref called it right for once! This was the first bad break for Hibs in an afternoon of many.
From the resultant free-kick, Gary O’Connor glanced in a header that Craig Gordon did well to parry. Two minutes later Derek Riordan broke down the Hibs right and his low cutback allowed O’Connor to get a shot in from the edge of the box, but Gordon managed to beat it away.
At this stage Hibs had taken a grip on the midfield and their passing was crisp and confident. After winning another free-kick, this time on the right, Thomson fired an inswinger across and O’Connor again got in front of his marker, but his header was too close to Gordon who clutched it comfortably.
Hearts slowly found their way back into the game. Paul Hartley and new signing Lee Johnson (who resembles a mini-Hartley!) were forcing the Hibs back-line into some basic errors. Skacel had Hearts’ first effort on target when, after he’d been played in by Johnson following an initially weak corner, he fired in a shot from the angle that was just too close to keeper Brown.
Skacel was starting to look dangerous and after some nice lead-up play he again went close with that blistering left foot, his shot being deflected just wide.
Hearts took the lead just before the half-hour mark. A lovely pass by Fyssas on the left played Skacel in behind the defence and he managed to scoop it across to the six-yard line where Paul Hartley met it on the volley to make it 1-0. Perhaps slightly against the run of play, but how the game changed after the all-important first goal.
A few minutes later Callum Elliot, who’d been playing superbly well as the lone striker, missed an absolute sitter. Played in by a shockingly loose pass out of the Hibs defence, Elliot took a poor touch but got a further break of the ball that put him one-on-one with Brown….sadly the lad just blasted it as hard as he could …wide of goal. Nightmare.
That miss could have proven very costly for Hearts, but the second goal was not long in coming. Hartley fired over a free-kick from the left that was knocked down to Rudi Skacel in the packed Hibs penalty area. Skacel showed great technique to get his left foot around the ball as it bounced up and he gleefully steered his shot into the left hand corner of the net.
The Hibs defence and midfield, who had looked so assured in the early stages, were now all over the place and the home side went in for the kill. Ever the tormentor, Skacel went on another surging run into the penalty area and was just about to shoot when he was hauled down by Caldwell – penalty! Quite amazingly referee McCurry saw fit to show Caldwell no card, despite the fact that he clearly denied Skacel a goalscoring opportunity….at the very least it had to be a yellow. Infuriating. Anyway I won’t complain too much, as Hartley duly despatched the spot-kick emphatically into the top corner and the match was as good as over as a contest.
To complete Hibs’ first half misery, centre-half Gary Smith was then red-carded for an off-the-ball swipe at Mikoliunas. I didn’t have a great view of the incident but whatever happened was right in front of McCurry who showed no hesitation in bringing out the red.
So at half-time, 3-0 Hearts and Hibs down to ten men with Scott Brown off injured. Does it get any better for Hearts? Well…yes is the answer. Hibs then emerged for the second half without star man Derek Riordan. Cue some very excitable chat around me about this being the day we’d finally win 7-0. Settle down lads!
Those hopes started to look a possibility as little as five minutes into the second half though, when Hearts got a fourth goal. Yet again Skacel was at the heart of it: his surging run down the left wing left Whittaker for dead and his cross was perfect for Callum Elliot to bury first-time behind Brown. I was delighted for Elliot as he’d played so well and you wonder what mental damage that miss might have done to him. Well done son!
We were now entitled to think that it would just be a case of how many, but to Hibs’ immense credit the ten men came battling back and made a good game of it. Ivan Sproule is quite possibly the fastest footballer I’ve ever seen and he had two breathtaking runs in the space of a few minutes, the second of which saw him beat three men and eventually force Gordon to tip a wicked shot over the bar.
Hibs pulled one back on the hour mark through Gary O’Connor. The big centre-forward made space for himself on the edge of the penalty area and rifled a great angled drive in off the post, giving Gordon no chance.
The Hibs rally did not last too long however and it was Hearts who finished the stronger side. Andy Webster went close with a header he maybe should have done better with and seconds after coming on as sub, Michal Pospisil sclaffed at a chance identical to the one that Elliot scored.
A special mention goes to Davidas Cesnauskis, a half-time sub for the disappointing Mikoliunas. He was involved in almost everything positive Hearts did in the half and is showing just the right attitude ahead of the signing of two new players to compete for the right wing place in the side.
Talking of new signings, Hibs brought on Chris Killen, a striker they signed from Oldham this week. In the ten minutes or so he was on the park, he committed three fouls and was offside twice. I think that just about summed up Hibs’ day – the proverbial bad day at the office.
Hearts on the other hand will have renewed hope that they can still challenge for the title, especially with Celtic dropping points today. Let the rollercoaster continue…..
Player Ratings
Gordon 7
Made crucial early saves and despite having little to do from then on, always looked comfortable.
Neilson 7
Delighted to see him responding so well to the criticism he got last week and after the last derby. Solid in defence and productive going forward.
Fyssas 7
Given a tough job against Sproule but handled him reasonably well. Good going forward and played a lovely pass to Skacel in lead-up to opening goal.
Berra 7
Solid performance from the young man. Rarely put a foot wrong against a strong attack.
Webster 8
Outstanding. Dominant in the air and brought the ball out well from the defence.
Brellier 7
Early booking prevented him from being overly-aggressive, but he was still able to stop the likes of Thomson and Stewart breaking forward.
Johnson 6
Showed some nice touches on his home debut and put the boot in, but the pace of the game clearly took him by surprise. Still, has good potential…..
Hartley 8
Inspirational. This man’s engine is unbelievable and he never gave Hibs a moment’s peace. Took opening goal well and what a penalty.
Mikoliunas 4
Another disappointing show from Miko. Pretty much anonymous until he got whacked by Smith for the red card.
Skacel 9
You can’t put a price on this man’s value to the team. Every time he got the ball the place was buzzing. Magnificent.
Elliot 8
Given an enormously tough task to play as the lone striker and didn’t he do well? Recovered really well after missed chance and it was great to see him scoring.
Pospisil 4
Missed a great chance just after coming on – pretty much his only contribution.
Arguably our best player in second half. At the heart of anything positive and showed a great hunger to get on the ball.
