No joy for bookies as favourites cruise

BOOKMAKERS took a heavy hit on Saturday as Hearts comfortably lived up to their tag as big-match favourites in the William Hill Scottish Cup by beating Hibernian 5-1, although they did save themselves from further damage in correct score and first goalscorer bets.

Hearts were the pre-tournament third favourites, behind perennial front-runners Celtic and Rangers, at 9-1 and were well fancied at 6-5 to win Saturday’s match in 90 minutes.

Tournament sponsor Hills now make the 2012 winners 8-1 to win next year’s tournament, while defeated finalists Hibs are 33-1. “Hearts were fantastic on Saturday and thoroughly deserved their win, so I would like to congratulate them on their victory, but commiserations to Hibernian,” said Hill’s spokesman Tony Kenny.

Hearts supporters were confident of beating Hibs beforehand, having already won the three previous 2011-12 derbies in the SPL, but they were an incredible 100-1 to win the game 5-1, while Darren Barr – who notched his first goal in a Hearts shirt – was 40-1 to net the first goal of the game.

Over the course of the sponsorship, Hills took the Scottish Cup all over Scotland, from Coldstream to Wick in the first round, before embarking on a tour that took in Alloa, Wigtown, Bladnoch, Stranraer, Peterhead, Edinburgh and many more. Kenny added: “It’s been a fantastic journey to Hampden this season, with plenty of upsets, and we cannot wait for next year’s competition to begin.”