Jim Jefferies hails ten-man Hearts after fightback stuns Hibs

That goal made amends for several missed chances by Elliott in an opening half-hour which was dominated by Hearts, despite the fact they were missing several first-choice players. Ryan Stevenson gave the visitors the lead midway through the first 45, but the balance of play changed after Marius Zaliukas was sent off for denying Akpo Sodje a goalscoring opportunity in the box.

Liam Miller's 33rd-minute equaliser from the penalty spot was followed by a second half in which Hibs patiently piled the pressure on their city rivals, and that pressure paid dividends when Ricardo Vaz Te scored with 11 minutes remaining. But Hearts hit back quickly, to the delight of their manager, who could not praise his squad highly enough for the attitude they showed in adversity.

"We were fantastic, when you consider that Hibs were probably at their strongest today and Hearts were without quite a few key players," said Jefferies, who himself should have been absent from work last week because of illness. "The way the opening half-hour went, we should have been three goals up and we were by far the better side. Hibs got the break because the penalty decision changed the game and they got that lift they were looking for. They were sadly needing one, because they were outplayed in that opening half hour."

Although he accepted that Zaliukas had conceded a penalty, Jefferies said he was not convinced referee Iain Brines should have awarded a red card to the Hearts captain. "I'm not complaining about the foul, because I thought it was a penalty. It's whether it was a sending-off I'm not sure. You've got to deem the boy was going to get the ball. (Hearts full-back] Craig Thomson said it was going into the goalkeeper's hands. But if the referee deems it as a goalscoring chance then he's got to go. We came in at half-time and said let's not panic. Each player just had to give a little bit more to make up for the missing player. We showed fantastic spirit to go one down so late after doing so well until then and then coming up with the goal. If anyone deserved it, Stephen Elliott did." As Jefferies added, the striker should have scored in the first half, in which several chances fell his way. But the manager also thought that Elliott should have been awarded a penalty in the opening ten minutes after a challenge with Hibs captain Paul Hanlon, and the Irishman agreed.

"I think it was (a penalty]," Elliott said. "He's flicked my foot."

A penalty and a red card for Hanlon then could have produced a very different match, but Hibs survived that scare and the loss of the first goal to gradually get on top of the game. Once they held the lead, however, they could only hold it for a few minutes.

"That was Hibs' chance today," said Jefferies, who still has an unbeaten record in the derby since returning as Hearts manager. "They shouldn't have got the chance, because they should have been dead and buried within half an hour. I just hope they get into the top six so we can get them again at Tynecastle." The two points Hibs dropped as a result of Elliott's equaliser, however, make that extremely unlikely. They are now seven points behind sixth-placed Motherwell with three games to go before the split, and therefore must win at Celtic Park on Wednesday to keep their chances alive.

"It is becoming increasingly difficult to get into the top six," Hibs manager Colin Calderwood conceded. "We have missed an opportunity today. I haven't really digested it yet. I need to look at the table, but we now need to go on and win a couple of games."

In fact they need to win three, and rely on Motherwell failing to win either of their remaining two. Even if both those things happen, Inverness Caley Thistle and St Johnstone are also still in the mix. Two incidents of crowd misbehaviour marred a relatively peaceful match. In the first half, objects were thrown from the Hibs end towards Hearts defender Ismael Bouzid, while after Elliott's equaliser two away supporters encroached on to the pitch.

Taken from the Scotsman