Hearts and Hibs face action by SFA after fan trouble at derby

Hibs and Hearts were today set to be hammered by the SFA after the first Edinburgh derby of the season descended into mayhem as flares were thrown onto the Easter Road pitch while Gorgie stars Kevin Kyle and Rudi Skacel were pelted with coins and lighters.

• Hibs skipper Derek Riordan was red carded

Both referee Willie Collum and SPL match delegate George Douglas will include details of the trouble during a match which also saw Hibs skipper Derek Riordan red carded in the dying minutes after he kicked out at Skacel.

And those reports are certain to land both Capital clubs in trouble with the Hampden authorities.

• Hearts vs Hibs: Edinburgh Derby in pictures

Hearts boss Jim Jefferies revealed how he feared his captain Marius Zaliukas might have his foot blown off as he went to kick one of the flares away after it had been thrown from the away end into goalkeeper Marian Kello's penalty area as Jambo fans celebrated David Templeton's opening goal.

In all, the Evening News understands five flares were thrown although one failed to ignite.

However, stewards were prepared with buckets of sand to extinguish the flames as both clubs had been warned during the routine pre-match briefing that police intelligence led them to believe such incidents might occur, although it wasn't clear from which quarter.

Just how the flares were smuggled into Easter Road will be an obvious cause for concern but the logistics of trying to search 17,767 supporters, 3,950 of them visiting fans, most of whom were wrapped up for the wintry weather, would have been an obvious problem for the authorities.

Kyle and Skacel were targeted by Hibs fans in the East Stand as Hearts cruised to victory, Stephen Elliott adding a second goal for the Tynecastle club to leave Hibs rooted to the foot of the SPL table, just two goals better off than bottom club St Mirren.

While Jefferies condemned both sets of supporters for their senseless acts, Hibs insisted they'd await the contents of the reports from Collum and Douglas before making comment.

Meanwhile, Riordan will be hit by a two-match ban following his red card and could be stripped of the captaincy, handed to him by boss Colin Calderwood only the previous week.

Riordan will automatically miss Wednesday night's league clash with SPL leaders Rangers at Ibrox but, assuming he will have 12 points added to his disciplinary record, he'll break the threshold to pick up a further one game ban,

He won't serve that, however, until a fortnight from yesterday meaning he will be free to face Motherwell this weekend and Caley the following Saturday before missing the visit of St Johnstone on November 27.