Hearts 0 Hibernian 0: Jambos denied by woodwork in goalless derby

HEARTS and Hibs had to settle for a share of the spoils as they played out a goalless draw at Tynecastle today.

The first real chance of the match fell to Hearts with seven minutes on the clock and materialised when the ball broke kindly from Christian Nade to Andrew, who was out wide on the left. The little winger cut in to the box and unleashed a wicked effort that Yves Ma-Kalambay did well to push away with both hands at his near post to concede the corner.

When that was swung in by Larry Kingston there was never any danger of Hearts taking first blood as the big Belgian was off his line quickly and in the air to collect.

Five minutes later Hibs came close when Derek Riordan floated a cracking ball into the danger area where Chris Hogg was waiting. The Hibs defender saw his first effort come off Christos Karipidis but the ball landed for him again, only this time for Christophe Berra to come in with a brilliant blocking challenge which saw the ball spin behind for a goal kick.

Hearts almost got the breakthrough in 16 minutes when Christian Nade and Steven Thicot rose to meet Robbie Neilson's throw from the right, the Hearts striker appearing to get the vital final touch but although his header beat Ma-Kalambay but came back off the crossbar.

Then at the other end Steven Fletcher came close when O'Brien and Stevenson combined to tee him up for a left-foot shot, but he could do nothing to prevent his shot from drifting just wide of Janos Balogh's right-hand post.

They were then awarded a dubious free-kick when Michael Stewart was judged to have fouled Fletcher, but Derek Riordan's curling effort from the dead ball was straight down the throat of Balogh.

Ma-Kalambay was then forced to concede another corner when Kingston's right-foot drive caused all sorts of problems but Csaba Laszlo was forced into a reshuffle just seconds later when Thomson was forced to go off suffering from the after-effects of a head knock he'd taken in a clash with Van Zanten. The Jambos brought on Gary Glen in his place but the young striker was asked to play more of an attacking midfield role than immediately join Nade up front.

Thomson's withdrawal also meant changes in defence with Jonsson switching to left-back and Karipidis moving to the centre of defence but the Jambos had another go when Neilson sent a hopeful ball up the park and it was missed by Hogg, giving Glen hope but his effort went just wide of Ma-Kalambay's goal.

The Jambos created an opening just after the restart when Stewart played the ball into Nade and raced into the box waiting for the return. The striker chose to go it alone though and wasted the opportunity by firing weakly at Ma-Kalmabya.

They came even closer in 50 minutes when Jonsson cut the ball in from the left and Nade connected, only to see his low shot come off the base of Ma-Kalamabay's right-hand post.

With just under an hour gone Hibs escaped lightly when referee Calum Murray waved away claims for a penatly, despite Sol Bamba clearly leapt over Nade in to the box, landing the striker a blow on the back of the neck in the process.

The woodwork was to blame for the game remaining goalless when a great ball from Stewart fell perfectly for Glen and the young hitman was unfortunate to see his looping effort from 20 yards bounce back off the top of the crossbar.

The miss of the match came with 15 minutes left when Cesnauskis did well to set up Nade in the box but the big striker could only produce a poor effort that went high over the goal from just seven yards out when it looked easier to score.

Hearts: (4-5-1) Balogh; (r to l) Neilson, Jonsson, *Berra, Thomson (Glen 34); Kingston (Cesnauskis 53), Karipidis, Stewart, Palazuelos, Driver; Nade. Unused subs: Kello, Rapnik, Mole, Templeton, Brown.

Hibs: (4-4-2): Ma-Kalambay; (r to l) Van Zanten, Hogg, Thicot, *Stevenson; O'Brien (Shiels 71), Bamba, Murray, Johansson; Fletcher, Riordan. Unused subs: McNeil, Yantorno, Nish, Keenan, Rankin, Chisholm.