New stand is a winner, but where was 'Sunshine on Leith'?

HIBS fans longed for the day they'd finally have a stadium that's among the best in the league - and the new stand certainly gave the ground a completely different look and at times it was easy to forget that you were at Easter Road.

The steep new structure, filled with bright green seats, has taken just a few months to build and Rangers' players and supporters must have done a double take when they arrived at the ground as there was only a heap of rubble on the site when they last played there back in May.

While there is still some work to be done - it looked like the flooring inside the concourse might still have to have the finishing touches done to it and the catering outlets sold food brought in from the other stands - Hibs will be hoping the addition of the 6,500-seater stand will help turn their stadium into something of a fortress this season.

Fans from the old East Stand bought tickets for the match, and a number of them have already purchased season tickets, while others simply switched for one match so they would be able to tell their grandchildren they'd been there for the opening day.

As had been the tradition in the old bucket-seated East, some punters wanted to stand up to watch the game and while most of them got away with it, or half sat/half stood on their upturned seat, the rest were told to sit down by the stewards who it seemed had been employed simply to make sure no-one succeeded in staying up on their feet longer than five minutes.

Despite the occasion, there were a number of empty seats though and there was a feeling among the fans who were in the crowd that the Easter Road club could have done more to make sure that the game - or the new stand at least - was a sell-out. Some fans claimed that friends had been unable to buy briefs because the ticket office it had been closed early on Saturday afternoon and there had been a lack of information on opening hours for the Sunday.

The major disappointment though, not only for those sitting in the East, was that for the second home match in a row there was no Sunshine on Leith played over the PA system ahead of kick-off.

As had been the case before the Europa League qualifier with Maribor a couple of weeks ago, the Proclaimers' classic was missing from the pre-match playlist and you couldn't help but wonder just what kind of racket the 17,145 supporters could have made if only that one had been given a spin by the DJ.

The four stands now enclose the pitch in a way that can only help amplify the crowd noise for the players on the park, however there was a strangely subdued atmosphere for periods in the opening minutes.

The first time that the Hibs fans were heard to raise their voices in earnest didn't come until just after the half hour mark, and Allan McGregor was their target.The Rangers goalkeeper clearly feigned being injured by Derek Riordan, collapsing to the ground a full second or two after the Hibs striker had gone in with his head inside the six yard box.

There was a cacophony of noise from then to the half-time whistle and they were just starting to get going again after the break when Kenny Miller hit home the first of his hat-trick goals just after the hour.

He netted his second ten minutes later prompting some supporters to head to the exits before the former Hibs hitman rounded off the scoring as the final seconds ticked away in stoppage time.