CRAIG Levein’s name has been synonymous with Edinburgh derby success. In 52 previous involvements in this fixture as first player and manager – discounting his period as plain old director of football – he had lost just six. So it will be an unfamiliar and rather unpleasant sensation for the 63-year-old this morning as he rakes over derby day defeat number seven, a setback which stretches Hearts' winless run in this fixture to eight. His mood is unlikely to be helped by the fact that Hibs move to fifth in the Premiership table, leapfrogging Hearts in the process.

The Edinburgh derby always crackles, but maybe there was a little more pop than usual as these two best of enemies met in the Premiership for the first time since April 2014, the atmosphere at kick-off under the lights pitched somewhere between a rave or a night at the darts. The denizens of the Famous Five stand displayed a banner reading The Hibs Go Marching On. And ultimately they did, although perhaps in a more fraught manner than the home fans might have anticipated when they raced into a third-minute lead.

Remember Simon Murray? The flame-haired former Dundee United front man who was tearing defences asunder in the first couple of weeks of the season? The man who plundered eight goals in the club’s BetFred Cup run but whose form had shaded to the extent that he wasn’t even one of the 14 men used in their semi-final defeat on Saturday?

Well – with Anthony Stokes posted missing with an ankle injury - he was back with a vengeance here, taking a return pass from Brandon Barker, flicking the ball between the legs of John Souttar, and firing high into the top corner before the match was three minutes’ old. Considering how he started the campaign, it seemed remarkable to relate that this was his first goal since he notched in a win at Ibrox in August.

Murray’s return was one of three changes from that brave yet ultimately futile visit to Mount Florida on Saturday. There was little surprise when Ross Laidlaw, who had made the most of an opportunity to supplant Ofir Marciano in the Hibs goal, surrendered that privilege after an unconvincing showing at the national stadium, while Martin Boyle, who had made an impact on that match from the subs’ bench, also came into the starting line-up. Hearts used Kyle Lafferty as a lone striker, with Esma Goncalves and young Harry Cochrane having to be content with a spot on the bench.

In those opening stages, it seemed as though the home side might just blow the visitors away, the pace of Martin Boyle and Brandon Barker down the flanks causing Michael Smith and young Jamie Brandon palpitations. But with Levein in charge, who had spoken pre-match about the importance of having ‘Hearts-minded’ players like Christophe Berra in the ranks, you kind of guessed that wouldn’t be the case.

Instead Hearts hung in there, and might have had a penalty when Paul Hanlon dived in needlessly on Jamie Walker on the edge of the box. Lafferty ran onto a raking long pass from Souttar to lob the ball onto the roof of the net, then Walker fired in a low shot which was too close to Marciano.

But it was still Hibs – and their three-pronged midfield of John McGinn, Dylan McGeouch and Marvin Bartley - who generally held the whip hand. Their best chance of that killer second arrived shortly before half-time, Jon McLaughlin diving bravely at the feet of Boyle from McGeouch’s cute pass, then Whittaker leaning back as the rebound fell to his left foot and scooping wastefully over.

The second half began as the first ended, with Hibs on the front foot, McGinn firing in a shot which flew narrowly over. Levein had thrown 16-year-old Cochrane in amongst the wolves by now, and only a saving tackle by Michael Smith prevented his Edinburgh derby debut from ending in the most unfortunate manner, after he was caught on the ball by McGinn. That aside, the young man did fine. By the end, as he dumped McGinn on his backside on the touchline to pick up what seemed like the night's umpteenth booking, he must have felt like he belonged.

Anyway, this narrow lead held into the last 15 minutes, leading to a harum scarum ending which seemed to last for an eternity. As Berra and substitutes Cole Stockton and Isma Goncalves attempted to cause chaos from high balls, and referee Andrew Dallas tried to keep a lid on things, a low McGinn strike on the counter attack might have brought the house down had Jon McLaughlin not saved well.

As the match got stretched and the big men piled forward, it was the kind of scenario where a few Easter Road sides in the past might have Hibs-ed it. With Neil Lennon around, though, it never looked likely. Hibs saw matters out in the Hearts corner flag, before this stadium entered Proclaimers mode. Forget about Craig Levein's record, Neil Lennon's unbeaten run in this capital showdown is three and counting.