Many wounds in derby pitch battle

IF you look at the calendar, it might still officially be the season of goodwill and peace on Earth - but just try telling that to the players who did battle in the Edinburgh derby at Tynecastle.

This was the first clash between the two Capital clubs to take place on New Year's Day in 13 years and there was an added edge to the atmosphere among a well-oiled crowd as well as the players waited to kick off.

There's no doubt that the fans want this fixture to be restored permanently to January 1 and the party season certainly brings something special to the occasion.

Stadium announcer Scott Wilson had the place at fever pitch as he urged the home fans to "make some noise" but both sets of supporters did more than enough on their own played their part in making Tynecastle rock before, during and after the match.

Mind you, the racket would have been a sore one for those nursing a hangover to take and some of those who shuffled into the ground admittedly looked a bit peely wally after partaking in a Ne'er Day drink or three the night before.

There would have been more than a few fans who slept off their sore head through the game from their seat in the stand or even missed it completely because they had overindulged but to be fair, the majority made it an atmosphere to remember as they packed into a sold-out Tynecastle for the clash.

The streets outside the Gorgie ground were littered with empty chip wrappers and Irn Bru bottles as supporters tried to delay their pain until the end of the match at least - but for the Hibs fans drowning their sorrows in one of the many pubs on Leith Walk was probably the only option after the 90 minutes after Kevin Kyle's late, late winner.

Christmas and New Year has is always something of a non-event for Scotland's footballers, who can't afford to have a celebratory drink until well after the festivities because there are so many games crammed into such a short space of time.

But, on the pitch as well as off of it, there were major headaches as both sides put any thoughts of peace on Earth behind them and proceeded to kick lumps out of one another in the first half in particular.

Ian Black is most likely to still be popping the paracetamol this morning after being put up in the air less than ten minutes into the game.

Hearts fans were screaming for a red card for Ian Murray after that sickening clash between the Hibs captain and the Hearts midfielder.The Jambos player was left flat out when Murray went in with his arm leading for a crunching challenge in mid-air and received several minutes of treatment before returning to the fray looking a little worse for wear.

Despite the severity of the blow Black took, referee Calum Murray opted only for a yellow card for Murray, much to the fury of those in the home stands and dug-out.

It did look a sickener but, to be fair to the Hibs player he did seem to have his eye on the ball, rather than the opposition player.

That thought wouldn't have been much comfort to Black, who then took a kick on the ankle within just a minute or two, this time winning a free-kick after being brought down by Liam Miller.

Therer was certainly no love lost between the two sets of players and before the half hour was even out, Hibs striker Valdas Trakys was next in the book for a late tackle on his buddy Marius Zaliukas that was slower than a week in the jail and left the Hearts defender rolling around on the turf.

Hibs had been accused of being bullied out of the last derby - Colin Calderwood's first match as manager at Easter Road - but there was no danger of that happening this time around.

Despite there being more blood and guts about their performance though, it's the green and white half of the city who are left to lick their wounds again today.

The Hibs fans who poured out of the ground early would have been glad they didn't hang around for the final whistle - which was greeted by a blaring rendition of Nothing's Going to Stop Us Now by Starship.

One of the lines of that song proclaims "we can build this dream together" and Hearts definitely look like there could be something special on the cards for them in the SPL this season.

They ground out a victory over St Mirren last week and then refused to give up until they bagged the points against Hibs.