the Redinburgh DERBY
Ginger Ninja Simon the hero as early strike sinks Maroons and gives Lenny vital victory
HIBS fans call him the Ginger Ninja but Simon Murray was a derby destroyer as the Easter Road hitman put Hearts to the sword.
The carrot-topped attacker delivered his devastating blow inside the opening three minutes to fire the Leith men above the Jambos in the league table and make it eight on the bounce without defeat in the Edinburgh clash.
Murray’s sensational winner split the sides and Neil Lennon’s men came out on top in the first capital collision in the top flight since April 2014.
But the Easter Road side were the length of Leigh Walk ahead of their fierce rivals as Craig Levein went down in his first city square-go on his return to the dugout.
No one could say Hibs weren’t worth it. Murray stole the show after a two-month dry spell and John McGinn, Marvin Bartley and Dylan McGeouch ran the show in the middle. But it was the green and white wide boys who ripped Hearts to bits.
Martin Boyle on one flank and Brandon Barker on the other had the Jambos in pieces down the sides – and with a bit more cutting edge Lennon’s men could have been out of sight.
It was a sore one for Levein, though, who doesn’t need to be told what a derby doing does for either half of the capital.
Lenny’s men ran Celtic close after half-time in Saturday’s League Cup semi-final loss at Hampden and he stuck with his second-half star turns.
Anthony Stokes was ruled out with an ankle knock but Steven Whittaker, Murray and Martin Boyle all started after being on the bench at the weekend – while David Gray and Vykintas Slivka replaced them among the subs.
The big change was between the sticks, though it was hardly a shock to see Ofir Marciano back in after Ross Laidlaw made a hash of Mikael Lustig’s Hampden brace.
The Jambos, who drafted in Rafal Grzelak and Euan Henderson, had been ticking along fairly nicely under Levein but this was always going to be where it mattered.
Edinburgh bosses can live or die by these games, ask Robbie Neilson. There are some Jambos who never forgave him for losing a two-goal lead to their neighbours in the Scottish Cup a couple of seasons ago.
Those kind of painful memories don’t fade but Levein has plenty of positive pictures to call on when he strolls down his own derby Memory Lane.
The Tynecastle legend lost just six out of 52 as player and boss – not counting his director of football days – but you’re only as good as your last one in this city.
Easter Road was packed and bouncing – as if it was ever going to be anything else. The sparkly display in the Famous Five Stand before the game set the tone but Murray dazzled inside just three frantic minutes after an immediate green and white blitz.
The attacker had a blistering start to the season blasting 10 goals before the middle of August. But the trail went cold after he helped sink Rangers at Ibrox – and he didn’t even get on to the pitch at Hampden at the weekend.
He was red hot right from the off last night. He cut into the box from the left, nutmegged John Souttar and smashed the ball high into the net. Keeper Jon McLaughlin didn’t get a sniff.
Hearts had to come to their senses quickly as Hibs were clearly in the mood. Levein’s men couldn’t get on the ball but they did threaten when Paul Hanlon wiped out Jamie Walker just a couple of inches outside the box.
A yellow was fair enough but Grzelak’s free kick was smashed into the wall. Hibs were in charge with Barker a constant threat down the left, while Boyle was doing likewise on the other flank and the middle of the park was a total green zone.
Jambos full back Michael Smith took a booking after chopping down the borrowed Man City wide man and Hearts were forced to shovel away a couple of dangerous corner kicks.
The visitors were being forced to hang on and go long but a hoof up the park saw Kyle Lafferty break and clip one just over the top as a reminder.
Walker then hit the target with a low 20-yarder which didn’t bother Marciano too much but it lifted the noise levels in the away end.
It should have been 2-0 at the break
when Dylan McGeouch superbly flicked the ball past his man then teed up Boyle who was blocked by McLaughlin before Whittaker scooped over with the goal at his mercy.
Levein lobbed on hit kid Harry Cochrane for the struggling Grzelak after the interval but it was Hibs who kept their boot down and it took a last-ditch lunge from Christophe Berra to keep Murray from nabbing another at the back post after a wicked low cross from McGinn.
Whittaker’s deflected effort spun just wide soon after and when the full back was blocked on the six-yard line from the corner there was a sense Hearts were under siege. They were fighting hard to hold firm but they couldn’t get deeper without using a JCB.
They just couldn’t dig their way out of their own half and any time they did Marvin Bartley simply mopped up and if he wasn’t around, McGinn and McGeouch were also snapping at heels.
But the lack of a second goal had nerves jangling in the home stands the longer it went on – derbies can have that effect on folk.
Boyle was released by McGinn but couldn’t get the ball out from under his feet when he cut inside and it led to howls of frustration and another couple of finger nails being gnawed.
The rising tension seeped on to the pitch as well and a few tasty tackles from both sides started to creep in with ref Andrew Dallas working overtime to keep a lid on things.
Hibs raged on though. Murray’s whipped ball flashed across the face but there was no one to stick it away while Berra’s header at the other end was straightforward enough for Marciano to deal with.
That chance caused the Jambos to stir though and Connor Randall got in behind and his drive needed to be smuggled out of the Hibs six-yard box.
The Jambos were done, though, and it was Hibs who went close to inflicting more pain on their rivals.