HIBEES MISERY HASN’T KILLED BUZZ

MATT DOHERTY won’t allow his own personal Hampden Park trauma trouble him when he returns to the iconic football arena on Saturday night.

The Spurs’ star is tipped to slot into the right wing back role for Ireland having missed the four June Nations League games because of the April knee injury he sustained against Aston Villa.

It’s a decade since Doherty played for Hibernian (left) against Hearts in the Scottish Cup final in an all-edinburgh decider that the Jam Tarts won on a 5-1 scoreline. On a day that left Hibees’ fans peering disconsolately into their empty pint glasses, it was Hearts’ Dubin-born striker Stephen Elliott who enjoyed the postmatch champagne at the expense of his fellow Irishmen.

Doherty – on loan from Wolves at the time – was one of five Irish players in manager Pat Fenlon’s (inset) Hibs’ squad although keeper Graham Stack was injured and Richie Towell and Roy O’donovan didn’t feature in the final defeat.

It was left to Fenlon, Doherty and Eoin Doyle to field the flack after the final whistle as Hibernian’s then Scottish Cup hoodoo once again saw them flop at the final hurdle – a century-long run of defeats that only ended with their 3-2 win over Rangers in 2016.

“It could not have gone worse,” smiled Doherty as he recalled the 2012 final.

“I had a tough game and we obviously lost the Edinburgh derby 5-1 in the end.”

“Was I booked? Thanks for reminding me!

“That was pretty tough but I was young then . When you’re young like that you kind of just forget about it once it was over. I learned a lot from that long spell.”