Lennon has final word on night of sheer drama
THE Edinburgh Playhouse last night played host to a production of Blood Brothers. less than a mile away at Easter Road, the curtain was rising on the latest act of cut-throat sporting theatre involving the capital’s two big rivals.
Hibs v Hearts is big box-office at any time. But the exchange of barbs between rival bosses neil lennon and craig levein this season only served to heighten the drama ahead of this first-ever Friday night meeting of these fierce foes.
after lennon had criticised what he saw as the overly physical approach of Hearts in the first two derbies of the season, levein’s withering come-back was that the former celtic captain had made a career out of kicking opponents.
then, when Hearts had knocked out Hibs from the Scottish cup in January, levein claimed a first victory in ten derbies had ‘restored the natural order’ in Edinburgh.
lennon duly declared: ‘the gloves are off’ and warned levein that comments like those: ‘come back to haunt you’.
In the run-up to last night’s encounter in leith, lennon had played it cooler, declaring the Edinburgh derby to be a ‘lot tamer’ than the old Firm rivalry he graced as player then manager at Parkhead.
‘the last time we were down there, when he did his lap of honour, he looked like he was enjoying himself...,’ shot back levein, a veteran of this fixture, with seven defeats in his 55 derbies as a player and manager before last night.
Yet, while the quality of quotes flying between leith and Gorgie has been champions league standard, when these two tribes collide the football has often left a lot to be desired.
Hibs won a forgettable first encounter back in october thanks to a Simon Murray goal.
at tynecastle in december, a shot by Hibs striker oli Shaw that crossed the line but was not given as a goal was the only real highlight of a scoreless bore.
the narrow victory for Hearts in the cup, courtesy of an 87thminute don cowie winner, was another physical war of attrition.
always gritty, rarely pretty, so it proved again last night. Straight from the off, some typically meaty challenges made the opening stages not for the faint-hearted.
Indeed, it was a minor miracle that referee Bobby Madden did not flash a yellow card until cautioning Michael Smith of Hearts in the 48th minute.
on a night of robust tackles, though, it was a wild cross that caused the first injury of the night, to Hearts wunderkind Harry cochrane.
a hamstring pull meant one 16-year-old made way for another as anthony Macdonald was introduced into the heat of battle.
But both sides continued to cancel each other out in front of watching Scotland boss alex Mcleish and celtic’s former Hibs forward leigh Griffiths.
the jet-heeled Martin Boyle, so impressive down the right flank, looked the most likely to pierce a hole in a solid Hearts backline.
But in fact it was defender Paul Hanlon, making an unlikely raid up the left flank, that led to the winner.
His ball dropped perfectly for Scott allan to volley into the far corner from the edge of the box.
It was a finish of the highest calibre. But team-mate Jamie Maclaren nearly bettered it by smacking a beautiful shot off the underside of the bar and away to safety.
But the big australian international striker — whose family are Hearts fans — had his big moment when his low left-foot shot put the game beyond doubt.
once more it had been an Edinburgh derby that scored high on effort but low on artistic merit.
But at curtain down, with the Easter Road side now 12 points clear of Hearts, all that was missing was the bouquets as the adoring Hibs fans chanted ‘one neil lennon’ and ‘cheer Up craig levein.’