Hibs' last-minute derby win marred by referee drama Police are forced to thwart fan's attempt to confront Dougal

Scorer: O'Connor (90)

Passion inflames each and every Edinburgh derby but yesterday at Easter Road such emotions spilled over in sad, dramatic scenes which marred an unexpected victory from

10-man Hibs.

It was a Sunday afternoon of extremes which ranged from the worst refereeing display for many years from Stuart Dougal to a sublime last- minute winner from substitute Garry O'Connor.

Events over the weekend have also reopened the debate over whether the time is right for barriers to be erected to keep supporters off the pitch.

On Saturday at Pittodrie, an Aberdeen supporter ran 40 yards to try to attack Fernando Ricksen of Rangers. Yesterday at Easter Road a fan, believed to be a carer for a disabled supporter who was trackside, ran on at half-time to try to confront Stuart Dougal and only the swift action of Hearts goalkeeper Tepi Moilanen stopped a major incident.

At the final whistle, two minutes after O'Connor's winning goal, hundreds of Hibs supporters invaded the park to taunt the Hearts fans in the south stand. They responded by throwing plastic bottles and other objects.

Afterwards, the animosity spilled out on to the streets with confrontation between both sets of supporters breaking out after a gate keeping them apart outside the main stand was kicked open. Police struggled to shut the gate and regain order and it was only when mounted officers arrived that the situation calmed down.

David Forsyth, the Hibs spokesman, said that they would be liaising with Lothian and Borders police and appropriate action would be taken against supporters who had been on the pitch.

With all the madness going on it was easy to forget that there was a game of football going on. In a way, the last-minute O'Connor goal switched the headlines away from Dougal, who still has to be taken to task for the way he spoiled the game. By full time he had handed out seven bookings for reasons best known to himself and dished out an unjustified red card to Grant Brebner.

He also managed to miss a challenge from Andy Webster on Scott Brown when the Scotland internationalist raised his fist to the youngster and was lucky to escape with just a booking.

Once Brebner was sent off in 37 minutes for a mistimed tackle on Robert Sloan you expected Hearts to go on and win the game. However, as Craig Levein, the Hearts coach, said afterwards: ''We maybe had more chances but they had more will and desire to keep going than us.

''We had a chance to equalise at the very end through Steven Pressley but if that had gone in it would have simply papered over the cracks in our performance. We can have no complaints.''

From a Hibs perspective it was an unlikely win which had been a long time coming. It has taken Bobby Williamson six attempts to beat Hearts and that, plus the fact the Tyne- castle side stole a last minute win through Phil Stamp in the same fixture last season, made the success all the more sweet for the long-suffering Easter Road supporters.

Williamson chose his words carefully at the end regarding the Brebner sending-off and the performance of the referee, his comments clearly lightened by the win.

''The referee will work out whether he had a decent game or not,'' said Williamson. ''I did not see it as a straight red card as I felt the player cut across him and Grant felt the same.''

It usually takes a lot to get a get a smile on the face of Williamson but with two league wins on the bounce he will be thinking he has at last turned the corner with a team who have under-performed since his arrival.

Ian Murray, the Hibs captain, was one of the inspirations behind the win but his over-exuberant celebrations in front of the Hearts support at the end did himself little favours.

''I felt the sending-off of Grant was a poor decision but it brought the best out of us,'' said Murray. ''I saw a few fans on the park at the end but it happened during the 4-4 game when Hearts fans were jubilant on their own patch. It was to be expected.''

Murray may be guilty of naivety making such comments but there was no denying the incredible atmosphere which gripped Easter Road yesterday. Despite Dougal trying to strangle the encounter, it was still a decent contest with Hibs hitting a post through Jarkko Wiss and Yannick Zambernardi missing with an easy header.

Hearts looked much stronger in midfield throughout with Stamp, Scott Severin, and Paul Hartley running the show. However movement up front was poor with Mark de Vries looking unfit and Dennis Wyness still struggling to cope with the pace of the SPL to such an extent that Levein will be getting concerned about his below-par performances.

In the end the day belonged to Hibs and although the pitch invasion and the attempted attack on the referee marred proceedings the character they showed was second to none.

What made the victory even more unlikely was the fact that despite Williamson making five summer signings none of them started yesterday and he relied on last year's under-achievers to bring him his most savoured victory as the Hibs manager.

It has been a long time coming but in the end the drama-tic events could lead to a bit of sunshine of Leith after a long, bleak period of drizzle.

Hibernian (4-4-2) Andersson; Orman, Doumbe, Smith, Zambernardi; McManus (Dobie 63), Brebner, Wiss (Glass 85), Murray; Scott Brown, Riordan (O'Connor 60). Subs: Hyldgaard, Whittaker. Sent Off Brebner (37). Booked Doumbe, Orman, McManus, O'Connor.

Hearts (4-4-2) Moilanen, Maybury, Pressley, Webster, McCann; Hartley, Severin, Stamp Sloan (Boyack 45), de Vries (McKenna 68), Wyness (Kirk 76). Subs: Gordon, MacFarlane. Booked Severin, Webster, Boyack

Referee S Dougal