Hibee history: Ref is the villain but O'Connor is the hero

A LATE Garry O'Connor goal gave Hibs boss Bobby Williamson his first win over Hearts at the sixth time of asking. The climax to the match was marred by a spectator running on to the pitch to "celebrate" but to many supporters the villain of the piece was referee Stuart Dougal, who made a rod for his own back with early bookings for Mathias Doumbe and Scott Severin. It seemed the referee failed to recognise that derby matches need to be handled in a certain manner.

But even his heavy-handed approach didn't explain the red card shown to Hibs' Grant Brebner after 37 minutes for a foul on Robert Sloan on the halfway line. Brebner later said he thought the referee had made a mistake in the colour of card, his incredulous look mirrored on the faces of virtually everyone in the ground, Hibs and Hearts fans alike.

At that moment Hibs were in the ascendancy after a nervy opening few minutes, Jarkko Wiss having fired a terrific shot off Tepi Moilanen's right-hand post before the Finnish goalkeeper managed to block Derek Riordan's angled shot only for the ball to rear up over the head of the in-rushing Brebner.

There were points during the second half when the ten men of Hibs rocked although, credit to them, they ran around like dervishes, throwing themselves into tackle after tackle to cover the absence of Brebner.

Doumbe and Yannick Zambernardi were immense, as was goalkeeper Daniel Andersson, who recovered from a couple of poor kick-outs early on to ensure Hibs made it six points out of six at the start of this new season with a superb block from Steven Boyack.

That stop came within 90 seconds of substitute Garry O'Connor firing Hibs into a seemingly impossible lead, latching onto a pass from Stephen Dobbie to drill a low shot under Moilanen's body at his near-post. O'Connor's finish sent three-quarters of Easter Road into ecstasy but the work of Dobbie and 18-year-old Scott Brown in chasing down Scott Severin before dispossessing him said more than a little about the fitness of Hibs.

Hibs: Andersson, Orman, Doumbe, Smith, Zambernardi, Brebner, McManus (Dobbie 62), Wiss (Glass 85), Murray, Brown, Riordan (O'Connor 59). Subs not used: Hyldgaard, Whittaker.

Hearts: Moilanen, Maybury, Pressley, Webster, McCann, Hartley, Severin, Stamp, Sloan (Boyack 46), Wyness (Kirk 75), De Vries (67). Subs not used: Gordon, MacFarlane.