Christ what a day! i am still buzzing, that was fantastic. From start to finish that was brilliant.
Really really could not have hoped or dreamed of a better semi-final against Hibs than the one we got.
It all started so quietly as well. Like i said in the last entry, after the dream i had my guts were upside down and i didn't feel any better as we turned up on Wheatfield to get on bus 20 at 8:30am on Sunday morning. Got to say that is a bloody ridiculous time to be heading to a football match but there you go.
Traffic was quiet and we found ourselves outside the west stand at Hampden at 10, with a good 2 hours to go before kick off and nought to do, it was cold as well. Immediately tho you could feel that this was a good day, there were already thousands of Hearts fans around and we were in good voice and good mood and already ready to party.
Got into the ground with an hour to go and got a bovril and sat down in our seats and started to wait, amazing how quickly that hour went, the Hearts end was already pretty full and the singing started soon enough. The excitement and the noise was rising by the minute as this long awaited game drew closer. The Hibs crowd low and a bit sad as it was, was trying also to drum up some enthusiasm for the game, to overcome the trepidation they must have felt. Then the genius moment that started the whole snowball that ultimately rolled over Hibs, a moment of pure comic genius. The DJ at Hampden or whatever you call the guy that decides what noise to blast out of the speakers, chose to put on The White Stripes - 7 Nation Army and the bass riff........... The Hearts support immediately jumped on it and blasted "All The Hibees are Ga..ay, All The Hibees are Ga..ay" and on and on continued this for a good ten minutes after the song finished, by this time all 22,000 of us blasting this ditty eastward across the stadium. I think you will agree that this is about as petty and childish as you can get - fantastic. I swear the Hearts support had beaten the muppets 4 - 0 before a ball was kicked, with no answer they shut right up and kept shut right up for the rest of the day.
The game kicked off and Hearts were immediately on the attack down the left with a good ball to Skacel who turned well to lose his marker and hit the by line. The trademark low cross in from the left nearly paid off in the first minute. After that tho the game went scrappy and if anything Hibs were getting the better of things. They managed a couple of opening 20 yards out and had a couple of pops, i mentioned to Claire tho that it would take something special to beat Craig Gordon from there, we looked at each other and nodded like we knew what the hell we were talking about. I was nervous.
There were quite a few niggly fouls creeping into the game and most seemed to be going against Hearts and i was getting more nervous. I had concluded that the longer the game went without Hearts scoring the more chance Hibs would have, given Hearts now regular self destruction in the latter part of matches. Hibs managed once in the first half to get behind the Hearts defence, on the right and cut back for Sproule. Maybe things could have been different on Sunday and maybe this was the moment when fate played it's card. He really should have buried it but he weakly passed the ball into Gordon's arms - within a couple of minutes Hearts were 1 up and about to cut loose. Hibs had to bring in a new striker a young Moroccan bloke who's name is irrelevant, he seemed a bit overwhelmed tho as he lost possession and then had to foul Goncalves on the edge of the box. The resultant free kick was Beckham-esc and very well saved by the Hibs keeper. We should have known then that Hartley was in the mood.
The Moroccan striker again lost possession, this time in midfield and Hearts had a break, Hartley passed out to Jankauskis on the left, who made the yards into the box and passed back in for the trademark low cross from the left for Hartley to clip the ball into the far corner of the net. Hearts 1 Hibs already beat. The rest of the half continued scrappy at best and ended with Pressley taking a head knock at the end of the 45.
Half time was more of the same from the Hearts crowd with many questions being asked of the Hibs support's gardening orientation. Clearly delighted with the world at the moment i was still unconvinced and still very nervous.
Pressley did not come out for the second half, don't think i was too worried tho because Goncalves really looks the part and on came Fyassas to take up his usual left back berth as Goncalves moved inside with Webster. The second half was different from the first from the off as Hearts had moved up a gear, Hibs were looking tired by the 50th minute and were giving away free kicks around the box. Hartley had another effort again Bekham-esc, a slight deflection and another good save. A few moments later another free kick, this time a bit tighter angle on the left. Looked more like the kind you would cross to the back post as was understood by Hibs only putting one in the wall and the keeper moving to the centre of his goal. Hartley clipped the ball over the one man wall and into the goal at the near post, keeper flailing. Signal the collapse, well nearly, 2 - 0 up and ten minutes later i was worried. A clash between Goncalves and Craig Gordon leftn Goncalves knocked out and looking in a really bad way. Gordon got booked for time wasting when he was obviously trying to attract attention for Goncalves crumpled in a heap on the by line, ridiculous! Fyassas now had to move into the middle and Skacel moved to left back ( this is also what happened when Fyassas got sent off against Celtic in the new year game ) like i said i was worried. Hibs however couldn't really hurt us and even with Hearts weakened defence really didn't know how to break Hearts down. Sproule's lack of any real quality in the end boiled over in his frustration as he stamped on Mikoliunass's back after a touchline tussle. Miko made the most of it for sure but a red card was the only option. A few minutes later a speculative ball forward was chased down by Jankauskis ( Hibs defender gave up because he thought his keeper was getting it ) keeper made an arse of it and Jankauskis nipped the ball away from him. He seemed to take an age, he turned like an aircraft carrier with a spare weekend to maneuvre, but he got his body round the ball and stroked it into the net and the party started.
Hearts 3 Hibs 0 and already half way back along the M8
Nearing the end now and the party is in full swing and i am for the first time in the day no longer nervous or worried, instead i am jumping up and down and asking the few remaining Hibees about their sexual orientation. Another speculative ball over a collapsed Hibs defence allows Pospicil in, he has his shirt pulled and is brought down ( this was outside the box but was definitely a red card). Hibs down to 9 men and Hearts 3 up with a penalty and a few minutes to go and i am thinking... it just doesn't get any better than this, whatever this season has brought, the highs and the lows, it just can't get better than this. Hartley sinks the penalty and again for the second time this season against Hibs.......... Four nil we only won four nil.
Hit this link for a sample of the party, donated by a bloke in the work. He made a late decision to pretend to have a back injury so he could go to the game instead of play his hockey 1/4 final. He made the right decision, his team done a Hibee and got horsed 7 - 1
http://www.blakdreem.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/images/nananana.3gp
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