JASON IS ACE IN THE PACK

Cummings breaks Hearts with winner as Hibs take spoils in Capital cracker

Is anyone still smirking at Stubbs’ boast of chance to lift Treble?

DOMINANT, dynamic, at times devastating and, when it mattered most, dogged. Time will tell if this is finally Hibs’ year in the Scottish Cup — but this was most certainly their night.

That they only won it through Jason Cummings’ fourth-minute volley in no way tells how Alan Stubbs’ men bulldozed a path to a quarter-final meeting with holders Inverness.

For all Hearts rallied to make a game of it in a frenetic second half, the display of the Championship side i n the f i rst period was so superior to that of their Premiership and city rivals that it was nothing short of remarkable the tie was still alive at the break.

Robbie Neilson, the Hearts head coach, will long ponder why an apparently legitimate equaliser by Abiola Dauda midway through the first half was not allowed to stand but it would be churlish to pick holes in a famous triumph for the green half of Edinburgh.

If Cummings’ goalmouth instinct proved to be the difference between the sides, then Stubbs could also lay claim to having virtually every star performer on his side.

John McGinn not only instigated the move that led to the only goal but produced a display that belied his tender years. Liam Henderson, Anthony Stokes and Marvin Bartley also made sterling contributions.

There never seemed much chance of a typically robust encounter ending with a full quota of players although the second bookings picked up by Hearts’ Blazej Augustyn and Cummings were for schoolboy antics rather than heinous crimes.

There seems to be no limit on Stubbs’ powers of restoration at Easter Road. With the League Cup Final against Ross County to come, and the small matter of the Championship title still up for grabs, is anyone still smirking at the Englishman’s boast his side are in contention for a Treble?

It wasn’t just the lack of TV cameras at the capital derby for the first time in a decade that saw a capacity crowd shoehorned into Easter Road. The stirring comeback Stubbs’ men had produced nine days previously had served to strengthen the notion among the Leith faithful that the end of the wilderness years for their club was in sight.

What a riot of noise and colour awaited the sides as they emerged from the tunnel, a proper antidote to that modern-day scourge — the lunchtime kick-off.

It was the most tempestuous of openings. Amid a blur of bone-shuddering tackles and misplaced passes, McGinn’s vision and composure took a grip of the game to help edge his side in front in just four minutes.

His left-to-right run across the midfield left a glut of maroon figures in his wake. David Gray, the recipient of his pass, missed his initial chance to cross. He went backwards, retrieved the ball from Kevin Thomson and tried again. It was a peach. Cummings caught the ball on the half-volley with his left foot to claim a fourth successive goal in this fixture.

Given the intensity of the fixture, some of Hibs’ one-touch football was a marvel. Hearts’ i nitial response was minimal — Dauda’s header connecting with Callum Paterson’s cross but drifting narrowly wide.

Stubbs would soon be cursing the fact his side weren’t two goals to the good. Stokes’ majestic defence- splitting pass released Henderson. He fed Cummings yet, for reasons best known to himself, the striker elected to try and sidestep Neil Alexander rather than put his laces through the ball. A fine stretch by the Hearts keeper kept the deficit at one.

Despite being second best all over the pitch, Hearts arrived at the midway point in the first half nursing a deep sense of grievance. Dauda appeared to have levelled the contest when his back-post header converted Jordan McGhee’s i nch- perfect c r oss but t he celebratory roar from the other end of the stadium was to be cut short by an offside flag.

As mysterious as the decision was, an equaliser would have been harsh on the hosts. McGinn and Stokes peppered Alexander’s goal with low strikes from the edge of the box. Stokes’ workrate and sharpness would have impressed the watching Ireland assistant Roy Keane, while McGinn could scarcely have done more to outline his Scotland credentials.

Miguel Pallardo will probably be seeing McGinn in his sl eep for some days to come. He was everywhere his opponent had just been. The Spaniard picked up a booking for a cynical scything of the Scot before the break, joining team-mate Augustyn and Hibernian’s Cummings and Bartley in John Beaton’s notebook.

Hearts r e - emerged s everal minutes before their opponents, doubtless with Neilson’s harsh words still ringing in their ears. Nothing but a drastic improve- ment would keep them in the tie.

Now playing towards their own supporters, a combination of Jamie Walker, Paterson and Igor Rossi, f ashioned one decent opening but the latter smashed his volley into the side net.

Only the leniency of Beaton saw Hearts keep a full contingent on the field. Another McGinn surge ended when Pallardo barged him into the advertising boards but there was to be no second booking.

Pallardo was then replaced by Sam Nicholson. Thomson’s frustrations led to him becoming the third home player to be carded for a lunge on Walker with Paul Hanlon soon becoming number four.

The only thing of concern to Stubbs was the lack of a deserved second goal. Henderson had come close to providing it in the opening seconds of the second period only to be denied by Paterson’s block, while McGinn had also raked a 25-yard volley inches wide.

As Hibernian increasingly looked happy to hold on to what they had, Hearts’ belief grew. Paterson’s cross could only have been millimetres away from Juanma’ s outstretched leg. The Spaniard thought he’d made amends seconds later when he bundled home a cross from the same source only for the offside flag to crush him, too.

Danny Carmichael replaced Thomson but it was a wonder Stubbs didn’t make further changes to relieve the tiring limbs. Respite for the home side came when Augustyn was dismissed for a second booking for back-chatting, yet it lasted all of four minutes. Cummings j oined him up the tunnel after a second caution for kicking the ball away. It made for a frantic last 12 minutes.

Carmichael and sub James Keatings each missed chances to end the agony, while Darren McGregor’s ti mely defensive header at the other end repelled another maroon surge.

When the five minutes of additional time had expired, three quarters of the stadium exploded in joy. The impossible dream of a domestic Treble lives on.