Hearts 1 Hibs 2
Substitute Dwight Gayle produced the decisive blow with a crucial goal to give Hibs the spoils in the Boxing Day Edinburgh Derby.
It’s our fourth win from our last five games and victory takes us up to seventh in the Scottish Premiership table.
We earnt our first victory in five years at Tynecastle with a brave performance and could’ve won by a greater margin had Hearts goalkeeper, Craig Gordon, not made a string of stunning saves to keep his side in the contest.
We took an early lead when Kye Rowles diverted a Nicky Cadden corner kick past Gordon and although it was initially ruled out for Rocky Bushiri impeding the goalkeeper, VAR interjected, and the goal stood.
We dominated the first half with Gordon making a series of stunning saves to thwart us before Hearts levelled against the run of play when Rocky diverted a Lawrence Shankland header past Jordan Smith.
The loss of the equaliser in first half stoppage time could’ve negatively impacted us however the boys were resilient and with 12 minutes remaining Gayle popped up with a deserved winning goal.
David Gray went with an unchanged starting XI following our 3-1 victory over Aberdeen last weekend at Pittodrie.
Both Warren O’Hora and Joe Newell overcame knocks picked up in the win against the Dons as we lined-up in a 3-4-1-2 formation.
The home side carved out the first opportunity of the afternoon when a James Penrice cross from the left was met by the head of Musa Drammeh, however his glancing effort was well wide of goal.
We would silence the home support in just nine minutes by taking the lead. Nicky Cadden’s corner kick was diverted past Gordan by Rowles, under pressure from Josh Campbell, as the Roseburn ended erupted.
Referee Nick Walsh would then consult his assistant before chalking off the effort for Rocky blocking the goalkeeper, however the official would be sent to the monitor by VAR to review the footage and the goal was eventually given.
Hearts tried to respond quickly, and a Penrice shot was comfortably gathered by Jordan Smith before the goalkeeper was again called into action to hold a Drammeh header.
On 18 minutes Gordon was fortunate not to be punished by Martin Boyle after spilling an angled Nicky Cadden shot as Hearts only just managed to clear their lines.
Despite that slip, Gordon would prove Hearts most crucial player during the first half with a series of big saves to keep his side in the match.
First, he bravely saved at the feet of Chris Cadden after Boyle had picked out the full back with a clever cut-back then, he acrobatically kept out Campbell’s header before producing another stunning stop to thwart Elie Youan’s rising shot on the angle.
Those saves would prove crucial as Hearts levelled against the run of play in time added on when Blair Spittal’s cross found Lawrence Shankland; his header was going wide only for Rocky to slice it into the net from close range.
The goal gave the hosts a lift and Smith was called into action to deny Shankland at his near post in the final action of note from the first half.
Whether the loss of the equaliser impacted our play or not at the start of the second half, the game was certainly far more balanced after the break.
It developed into a scrappy contest with niggling fouls breaking up play and preventing either side gaining any meaningful momentum.
On the hour Hearts carved out a couple of chances with Daniel Oyegoke and Shankland trying their luck from the edge of our box yet, neither proved anything more than routine saves for Smith in goal.
As the second half progressed, we began to gain a foothold once more and it took another stunning save from Gordon to prevent the home side falling behind again.
Nicky Cadden whipped in a wonderful delivery into the back post where his brother, Chris, rose above James Penrice to power a header goalward that Gordon saved brilliantly at his near post.
We were not to be denied and with 12 minutes remaining we deservedly restored our lead when Gayle came on the blindside of Halkett to met Nicky Cadden’s cross and steer the ball past Gordon into the far corner of the net.
Both sides made several changes with Hearts throwing caution to the wind in search of a late leveller only for our defence to stand tall.
In the third of five additional minutes at the end a slip from Rocky presented Shankland with a shooting opportunity 12 yards out, as he pulled the trigger Jack Iredale slide in to make a huge defensive block with the challenge greeted like a goal by the Hibs support.
Moments later the final whistle sounded to spark wild scenes of celebration at the Roseburn end as players and supporters enjoyed the moment.