IF this was nicknamed the “salt and sauce” final in advance of the Hampden meeting between the great Edinburgh rivals, both sets of fans were describing it in very different terms by the end.
For Hearts it was memorable. For Hibernian supporters, forgettable – instantly. Not that they were ever going to get the chance to erase these 90 minutes from the memory.
Both had been underdogs in their respective semi-finals, Hibs when faced by Aberdeen, Hearts against Celtic.
Nevertheless, the capital clubs recorded 2-1 wins to set up the first all-Edinburgh cup final derby since 1896, won 3-1 by Hearts.
More than a century on, and before 50 minutes had been reached at Hampden, they had surpassed that performance. Darren Barr netted first for Hearts, stabbing home from close range, the advantage doubled when Rudi Skacel’s deflected shot flew past the outstretched left arm of Mark Brown.
Before the interval, James McPake, the Hibs captain, pulled a goal back.
Hibs were in the game, but not for long. Two minutes after the break, the Easter Road side were hit by a double-whammy – Pa Kujabi adjudged to have fouled Suso Santana to concede a penalty and collect a second yellow from referee Craig Thomson.
Danny Grainger sent Brown the wrong way from the spot to make it 3-1, which became 4-1 within minutes when Grainger’s corner was helped on, via a couple of touches, allowing Ryan McGowan to net with a diving header from close range.
The rout ended in the 75th minute when Skacel, on the edge of the Hibernian box, clipped a low shot in off Brown’s upright for his second and the fifth of the day for the Tynecastle men.
Those in maroon celebrated. Many of those in green were already on the M8 or east-bound trains.
“Phenomenal, outstanding,” Hearts midfielder Ian Black called the performance. He wasn’t wrong, but something was. Three weeks later, manager Paulo Sergio had quit – at odds with owner Vladimir Romanov’s vision of the future at Tynecastle.
Teams
Hibernian: Brown, Doherty, Hanlon, McPake, Kujabi,
Claros (Sproule), Soares (Francomb), Stevenson, Osbourne, O’Connor (Doyle), Griffiths
Substitutes: Grant, O’Hanlon
Hearts: MacDonald, McGowan, Webster, Zaliukas, Grainger, Suso (Beattie), Black (Robinson), Skacel, Driver (Taouil), Elliott
Substitutes: Ridgers, Prychynenko
Stewart Weir’s reflections
Whoever came off second-best in this final was always going to suffer. It was just that no-one quite expected the margin of victory – or defeat – to be this wide.
As good as Hearts were, Hibs were inept, although there is little doubt going down to 10 men with almost half the game to run did them no favours.
Two stand-out memories live with me. One, just how quickly the Hibs players came up the Hampden stairs to collect their losers medals. They did not want to be there, or in the spotlight.
The second was Rudi Skacel, resplendent in a maroon and white curly wig, standing up on the VIP box, signalling a ‘V for victory’ with one hand, the Scottish Cup in the other.
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