Derby Cup heroes urge current Hibs stars to show spirit of '79

Published on Thursday 8 January 2009 08:50

SCOTTISH CUP heroes George Stewart and Gordon Rae today urged Hibs to invoke the spirit of '79 to dump Hearts on Sunday.

Stewart and Rae scored the goals which not only knocked Hearts out of the Cup 30 years ago but sent Hibs on the road to Hampden.

Incredibly that day, March 10, 1979, was the last time Hibs defeated their Capital rivals in the Cup at Easter Road. But today both former stars insisted Mixu Paatelainen's players can rewrite the history books by clinching their place in the fifth-round draw.

Stewart, who skippered Hibs to victory, and Rae agreed that, while it will be tough, Paatelainen's team, complete with Steven Fletcher, Derek Riordan and Colin Nish, carries just too much firepower for a Hearts side which even manager Csaba Laszlo admits struggles to score goals.

And both insisted Paatelainen's players should have the self-confidence to ensure the tie is decided without recourse to a replay. Stewart said: "I am a great believer in that, if you have home advantage in a Scottish Cup match, you have an ace up your sleeve. I am quite confident of us winning, at the very least we shouldn't be beaten.

"But I think Hibs will win because of Fletcher, Riordan and Nish while the arrival of Jonatan Johansson has added a different dimension to the side."

Rae, who went on to captain the Easter Road side, agreed adding: "All of them have that ability to do something a bit different.

"I've always believed your best opportunity is your first, you don't want a replay. You have to be really positive, the opposition will always pick up very quickly on any negative vibes. Having said that, you also need to be careful as the first goal can often prove crucial.

"It's important to realise, and the fans must also do so, that the game doesn't need to be won in the first ten minutes. We all know derby matches can be settle by one mistake or one touch of brilliance.

"While Hibs have a bit of firepower with four decent strikers to choose from, I also think big Rob Jones could be an important figure if he can shake off his hamstring injury. At 6ft 7in tall, Hearts won't welcome him in their penalty box for corners and free-kicks.

"Whoever scores what proves to be the winning goal – if there is to be such a thing – will be regarded as a hero but to win a derby you need everyone putting in a shift, eleven strong performances."

The pair insisted that, while time may have moved on, nothing has changed in regard to a derby – particularly a Cup showdown.

Stewart, who now lives in Yorkshire, said: "I get up to matches from time to time and was at the last derby at Easter Road but I'm kept in touch with what's going on by being sent clippings from the Evening News.

"I was interested to read an interview with Drew Busby before that last derby at Easter Road when he was talking about when men were men. There was no diving, you didn't give in to injury.

"If someone hit you hard you just got up and got on with it rather than show them you were in pain. Drew talked about one tackle which left me needing seven stitches and that, while he'd forgotten he'd done that to me, I hadn't.

"Donald Ford was a terrific guy and a terrific player but you'd never believe it if I told you how many times I lumped him. But he never complained, he just got on with it. We also had forwards who were a bit dainty and they got kicked about as well."

Many years may have passed, but both Stewart and Rae have vidid memories of 1979, the latter recalling: "George had got the first with a header while I was detailed to keep Drew Busby quiet.

"He went off injured so I was given a bit more licence to get forward with us shooting down the slope. I scored a left-foot volley, a screamer from the edge of the box with the orange ball."

Although Derek O'Connor scored a late consolation goal for Hearts, Rae, pictured celebrating his goal, below, revealed he knew that at that point Hibs were heading for a momentous victory. He said: "When you were 2-0 up and had the likes of big George and Jackie McNamara at the back you were always fairly confident you weren't going to lose many goals."

Stewart added: "I wouldn't say we were a hundred miles ahead of Hearts then but I think we deserved the win. We were very fortunate in that we had a great manager in Eddie Turnbull.

"He was seen as a dour character but I would have gone to the moon and thought I could win with Eddie. He never spoke about who we were playing, whether it was Hearts, Rangers or Celtic or whoever.

"He only spoke of how we were going to win the match. At half-time during that game, with us a goal up, he just told us to be professional, to go back out and finish them off.

"Eddie never got excited about anything but afterwards he came into the dressing room and said he was away to cheer up his old pal Willie Ormond (his Famous Five team-mate who was Hearts manager at the time] with a couple of drinks."

The Cup game was the first of three Edinburgh derbies in the space of 18 days, although such clashes were something of a rarity at that time with Hibs and Hearts missing each other after being relegated.

In fact, Hearts suffered the ignominy of taking the drop at the end of that season as Hibs marched on to the Cup final only for an Arthur Duncan own goal to gift Rangers victory at the end of a second replay. And Stewart admitted that, to this day, falling at the final hurdle remains one of his biggest regrets. He said: "When the boys get together and we've may be had a couple of drinks we tell ourselves that we could have been in the history books.

"We lost it in the final few minutes of a second replay but to me our best chance was in the first game, that's when we should have won it."