THE irony of it all wasn’t lost on Craig Levein. A mere two games after emerging unscathed in a home Edinburgh derby when Oli Shaw’s effort was wrongly deemed not to have crossed the line, here the Hearts manager was, mischievously celebrating a giant William Hill Scottish Cup fourth round win against their city rivals courtesy of an 87th minute flick from Don Cowie which trickled inches over the line at the same post in front of the same Gorgie Stand before the despairing efforts of John McGinn finally managed to hack it clear. “I was almost hoping it wasn’t in – that would have been brilliant!” he joked.
An obsession with ten-in-a-row is more frequently observed at the other end of the M8 but how Hearts revelled in this one. It allowed them to say cheerio to their rivals hopes of stretching their unbeaten run in this fixture into double figures and ‘here we go’ to their own unbeaten domestic run to the ten-game mark. It is Hearts, without having conceded a goal in seven outings, who live on to face Albion Rovers of St Johnstone in the fifth round of the Scottish Cup. Levein’s side are building serious momentum.
For all the romance of the cup, there is no love lost between these two near neighbours, for whom familiarity generally only breeds contempt. Remarkably, this was the seventh meeting in the cup competitions since that fateful day in May 2012 when Hearts routed their rivals 5-1 at Hampden. Generational bragging rights or not, Hibs have got their own back with a vengeance, famously claiming the cup for the first time in 114 years then compiling a lengthy unbeaten run in this fixture, including draws at the home of their city rivals, then replay victories at Easter Road at roughly this stage in each of the last two seasons.
There was some novelty factor, though, arriving in the familiar form of Steven Naismith, who was pitched into action immediately after agreeing his loan deal from Norwich City. With Kyle Lafferty suspended and Jamie Walker departed for Wigan, there was never any likelihood of his old gaffer Craig Levein breaking his big new signing in gently. Demetri Mitchell, recruited from Manchester United, also started at left back and grew into a fine game.
Hibs had a more settled look to them, apart from the turmoil surrounding Anthony Stokes, the wayward Irish striker whose non-inclusion in the squad here further strengthened the impression that he has finally burned his bridges. But they were almost in arrears early here, as Naismith – lining up off the front – produced the kind of stealthy run which has become his trademark. David Milinkovic’s clever pass found him perfectly and the Scotland player tiptoed past Ofir Marciano - preferred to Scott Bain in the Hibs goal – before sending in a low finish which trundles inches past the gaping goal.
While the tight confines of Tynecastle aren’t exactly conducive to Hibs’ dashing wide players, Shaw got a touch on an identical Martin Boyle cross to that controversial goal that never was back in December, only for Jon McLaughlin to claim, then Boyle himself really should have opened the scoring after Vykintas Slivka had helped on the striker’s low cross. Instead of use his left foot to roll the ball into the empty net, the normally sure-footed Boyle used his right and only sent it into the hoardings.
If the two teams had carved out one glaring chance apiece in the first period, the second half belonged to Hearts. They began it with vigour, new boys Naismith and Mitchell working a smart free kick routine which led to the on-loan Manchester United youngster blazing a shot wide. The 21-year-old would have had a debut goal to celebrate had Marciano not got down well to save a fine angled drive shortly afterwards.
Perhaps sensing this match was getting away from them, Neil Lennon introduced Simon Murray for Marvin Bartley, the attacking ambition leading to a purple patch which almost led to a goal, as Jon McLaughlin saving well from a Boyle volley. But it was the boys in maroon who were to be the talk of the toon. When Hibs got caught up the park and conceded a corner, Harry Cochrane – playing with an assurance well above his 16 years - swung over a deep set piece, Christophe Berra won a head at the far post, and the combined efforts of Marciano and McGinn on the line couldn’t keep out substitute Don Cowie’s flick. After what happened in December, the veteran midfielder was savvy enough to double checked with the linesman before he felt safe enough to celebrate. “It took an eternity,” said Cowie. “It bobbled along the line and I think it was John McGinn trying to clear and he maybe didn’t move his feet and it’s just nicked off the post and fallen over by a couple of inches. I didn’t know if the linesman was going to give it but luckily he did. He was in the right spot so fair play to him.”
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