“It’s another big one for the fans and if we get through that it will be even better than winning it at first time of asking.”
Asked what the performance had revealed about his Hibs players, Alan Stubbs said: “It didn’t tell me anything because I already knew. It is other people who have questioned them.
“I have said all along that I have 100 per cent belief in this team. They are really good. I enjoy coming to work, I enjoy being around them and I enjoy their company, believe it or not.
“They have great team spirit, a fantastic bond between themselves and when you have that, and ability which is most important, anything is possible.”
Both the weather conditions and the venue fulfilled the old description of Edinburgh as East Windy and West Endy. In the packed stands of Tynecastle, the spectators stoically endured a viciously gusting gale which lashed their faces like a South African cattle herder’s sjambok.
The fans had not seen the intense labour required to fork the penalty areas earlier in the day as the pitch was scoured by icy showers, but the wind performed a service by evaporating excess water before they arrived. It also added a capricious element to the proceedings by veering the ball into unexpected trajectories.
In other circumstances that might have explained the appearance of nine yellow cards, but even had the zephyrs been banished – a rare occurrence in Scotland’s capital – the cautions would have been administered and there were a couple of instances when Craig Thomson could have directed the culprits towards the dressing room.
Djoum put Hearts ahead with a delightful curling drive across the box and in off the post and Nicholson doubled the margin before the break by taking the ball down inside the area and placing his finish precisely behind Mark Oxley. Both players could have been better marked and it seemed that Hibs had put contracts out on them in the second half, to judge by the challenge by Marvin Bartley on Djoum, who was lucky that the English midfielder did not connect properly.
Nicholson subsequently felt the clatter of Darren McGregor’s studs on his shin – an incident that nearly triggered a mass brawl on the pitch – ehich left the Hearts man limping for quarter of an hour. “We had a couple of guys - Nicholson and Pallardo - carrying knocks all the way through and really struggling in the game but because we had to take Bauben, Ozturk and Djoum off we didn’t have the opportunity to change that,” said Neilson.
Still, it took Thomson’s last gasp clearance to guarantee a rematch. “We nearly lost it at the end,” said the veteran defender. “Typical Hibees isn’t it? But if the game had gone on three or four minutes longer I think we were the team likelier to win it.”
Now the capital’s cavalcade moves on to Easter Road a week on Tuesday. What a bracing prospect – with or without another winter storm in attendance.
Match facts
Heart of Midlothian (4-4-2) Alexander; Paterson, Ozturk (Oshaniwa 50), Augustyn, McGhee; Buaben (Cowie 9), Pallardo, Djoum (Walker 81), Nicholson; Reilly, Dauda.
Subs Hamilton (g), Souttar, Delgado, Zanatta.
Booked Augustyn, Ozturk, McGhee, Nicholson, Oshaniwa.
Hibernian (4-4-2): Oxley; Gray (Gunnarsson, 54), McGregor, Hanlon, Stevenson; McGeouch (Thomson 30), Henderson, Bartley, McGinn; Cummings, Stokes.
Subs Virtanen (g), Fontaine, Boyle, Keatings, Dagnall.
Booked McGregor, Hanlon, Bartley, Stokes.
Referee Craig Thomson.
- Telegraph