It may seem strange but, despite this game being arguably the biggest Edinburgh derby in decades, myself and most Hearts fans I knew had little or no hint of nervousness as soon as we took our seats in the South Stand today. Something was definitely in the air that said 'Hearts are winning this - no question'. This was definitely sensed in the Hibs end too: they're normally an extremely noisy bunch at derby games but today, even when the game was in the balance, they were as quiet as I'd ever witnessed, like they knew what was coming. There were also quite a few empty seats in the Hibs end, which was both surprising and a little disappointing. I still say the game should have been at Murrayfield, where there would have been a far bigger turnout in my opinion.

Hearts started the match brightly and within a few minutes of the kick-off, Skacel had gotten in behind the Hibs defence only for cross to be cleared.

The first 20 minutes were predictably scrappy, with Hibs adopting more of a long-ball game than normal, no doubt trying to use the pace of Ivan Sproule to good effect.

Hearts were playing the better passing game, but Hibs were looking very threatening from set-pieces, where they had at least three free headers that could and probably should have resulted in Craig Gordon having work to do.

Thankfully for Hearts those chances were wasted and they took full advantage of this just before the half hour mark with a classic counter-attack. Rudi Skacel played a nice pass out of defence to Hartley and with maroon shirts bombing forward from all over the place, he picked out Jankauskas on the left. From the Lithuanian's low cross, Hartley arrived late to flick the ball with outside of his right foot into the corner of the net, via the post. Bedlam in the Mount Florida end!

In the dying seconds of the first half, Steven Pressley suffered another head knock that required treatment that would eventually force him to miss the second half. It was tough luck on Elvis as he'd been immense in the match until that point.

Half time, 1-0 Hearts.

Hearts re-shuffled their defence in the absence of Pressley, with Goncalves moving to centre-back and Takis Fyssas coming on at left back.

Paul Hartley, now with the captain's armband, had tested Hibs 'keeper Malkowski in the first half with a long-range free-kick and he brought out an even better save from him shortly after the re-start. Hartley's shot took a huge deflection and Malkowski got across to somehow claw the ball out of the top corner - great stuff.

However the Hibs 'keeper did not have as much joy after 59 minutes, from another Hartley set-piece. From wide on the left side of the Hibs penalty area, everyone seemed set for what would surely be a cross by Hartley. But instead the little midfielder went for goal and managed to squeeze the ball home at the near post, with Malkowski getting hands to it but not enough to keep it out. It's difficult to tell whether or not it was a piece of brilliance by Hartley or a goalkeeping error, but let's give credit to the scorer here!

Hearts were now coasting and Hibs, who badly missed a striker with presence, were showing little signs that they could get back into this game. Frustrations started to boil over a little and this was exemplified more than ever when Ivan Sproule had a wild kick at substitute Saulius Mikoliunas after 78 minutes, giving referee Dougal no choice but to issue the red card. Game over.

Edgaras Jankauskas then rubbed salt in Hibs' wounds with a third goal a few minutes later. He latched onto a long ball by Fyssas that really should have been dealt with by Malkowski. However he hesitated and allowed Jankauskas to nick in front of him and walk the ball into the net to send the Hearts fans into dreamland.

Just when it seemed that things couldn't get any better for Hearts, or worse for Hibs, they did! A mishit long pass by Hartley ended up putting sub Michal Pospisil clean through on goal, however Gary Smith pulled the Czech down, for what resulted in a penalty and another red card. Again Dougal had no choice with the red card, but I'd like to see the incident again as it looked suspiciously outside the box! On a day when everything went his way, Hartley duly buried the spot-kick to give him a hat-trick he's not likely to forget in a hurry.

All in all a great day to be a Hearts fan. It is fair to say that Hibs were under-strength and they definitely missed O'Connor and Riordan, but you can only beat what's put up against you and Hearts did that with some style in the end. The only downside were injuries to Pressley and Jose Goncalves, who was also badly concussed. Hopefully both of them fully recover soon for the crucial matches ahead.

In the meantime, Hearts fans can bask in the glory of this result, knowing that only Gretna now stand between them and the Scottish Cup. No complacency here though, 'it's a funny 'ol game' as one wise man once said!

Star Player
Has to be Paul Hartley: three goals, covered every blade of grass and even his bad passes turned out to be good ones!
Player Ratings
Gordon 6
Had very little to do but was generally solid, with only one communication breakdown in the first half in his negative column. Booked for pointing out that Goncalves might have a serious injury!
Neilson 7
Had a fine game down the right.
Goncalves 6
Solid enough performance at left-back in the first half and was looking excellent at centre-back after the break. Shame he had to go off so soon, but just thankful that his injury wasn't worse - looked quite bad at the time.
Pressley 6
Was absolutely immense in the first half, but sadly after taking his second head knock in a week, was unable to play in the second.
Webster 6
Had a very ropey first half where he lost quite a few headers from set-pieces. Was more like his normal, reliable self in second half though.
Aguiar 6
Deployed in the midfield holding role and although he lacks the presence of Brellier, he held his own in there today. Some nice short-range passing.
Cesnauskis 5
Threatened to skin the full-back several times but it never really happened for Davidas today. Never stopped trying though.
Skacel 4
Had a couple of nice passes in first half but apart from that, Rudi was again largely anonymous. Probably needs dropped for a couple of games.
Hartley 9
Just the perfect game today. Three goals, captain in the second half and all over the park. Clear man of the match.
Jankauskas 7
Held the ball up well as always and scored yet another goal in a big match. He's really proved his worth in recent times.
Elliot 7
Gave the Hibs defence a very difficult game, showing physical presence beyond his years and some excellent close control.
Fyssas 5
Came on for Pressley at half-time and slotted into his usual left-back position well. Finished the game at centre-half after Goncalves went off.
Fyssas 5
Came on for Pressley at half-time and slotted into his usual left-back position well. Finished the game at centre-half after Goncalves went off.
Mikoliunas 5
Did much better when he came on than the last few times he'd been playing. Great tackle on Sproule that eventually resulted in the Hibs man losing the plot.
Pospisil 4
Only on for last 10 minutes but won the penalty for the fourth goal when he was fouled when clean through on goal.

http://www.hearts.vitalfootball.co.uk