Hibee History: Mighty Quinn steals the show

Hibs beat Hearts after it was revealed they were recieving a special league bonus if they finished in the first six, and the sum was being graded according to their position. After this result they stood third with a clash with Celtic coming in the next month.

They were to meet Raith Rovers and Partick Thistle at home and Dundee United away in the coming weeks.

Hibs weren't handing out individual bonuses, but, if they did, Pat Quinn would have been at the head of the list after his magnificent hat-trick.

Quinn was not a regular on the score sheet - his previous to these goals were in October 1965, yet here he provided the midfield finesse and the finishing punch to write his name over the result - and earn his mates that extra money. No wonder some Hibs fans were roaring "We want Quinn" outside the dressing room after the match, because this was one of his greatest shows in his four years at Easter Road.

Quinn took complete charge of midfield and his dainty passes kept a good Hibs team moving smoothly. Our reporter in 1967 watched Hibs work out at Easter Road on the Friday when the accent was on fast first-time passing. The benefit of that training could be seen throughout this game.

Hibs were too speedy for a Hearts defence that was sluggish in parts.

Anderson and Cruickshank were never commanding and young Sneddon, with hardly any experience behind him, was as good as any defender, while Miller gave maximum effort and had woeful luck with a drive that smashed against the bar when there was only a goal in it.

While Quinn was the goal hero, I reckon Hibs' second goal was the vital one.

Hearts, who had equalised through Tommy Traynor just before half-time, were making headway on Hibs' left flank, where Davis was often struggling.

But in 55 minutes, right-back Bobby Duncan took a hand and played a brilliant part in squaring the ball for Cormack to head a clever goal.

Duncan moved into attack and his smart running into the open space was rewarded with a pass from Stein, and that's how the goal was made. Late on, Duncan showed the same intelligence in bolstering several raids.

However, it was not until the last minutes that Hearts were prepared to concede that they were beaten.Quinn tapped home a rebound in 81 minutes and rounded off his sparkling day with a glorious left-footer five minutes from time.

Hearts played with commendable determination, and perhaps their biggest disappointment was the finishing of Jim Irvine, who had chances to make an impact in his first derby encounter.

Except for his slick free kicks, Willie Hamilton was easily subdued by McGraw and, like Macdonald, he was booked in the second half.

Hearts were hoping to benefit from the return of Jim Fleming, who would add strength to a small attack, but manager Harvey's first priority was to make his defence more secure, especially against teams with nippy, aggressive forwards like Stein and Cormack.

Hibs inside-left Murphy was not overawed in any way and gave further proof of his class. He and Sneddon were a good advertisement for the younger school.