TOLD YOU THIS ONE WOULD BE SPECIAL

VALDAS IVANAUSKAS doesn't give the impression he has ever dressed up in a beard and red suit to hand out presents - but he was delighted to give Hearts fans a fantastic Christmas.

There was even a small smile, honest, which spread across the Tynecastle head coach's normally stony face when he spoke about his first derby match at home and one he will never forget.

The scoreline of a 3-2 Hearts victory told only a small part of an incredible story of a game which had everything.

But the most important things after all the excitements, goals and Dean Shiels' sending off, was that Hearts have got themselves going again in this league campaign and can begin to look at that second place which they reached last season.

This was a fantastic three points for Hearts on the back of last Saturday's win at Tannadice and for the first time in a long time, the Jambo fans had something to cheer about when they headed for a beer after yesterday's game.

And that was something which made Ivanauskas a happy Lithuanian.

He said: "I said before the game that this was a special derby match. This was my first at Tynecastle and I really enjoyed it. The match was hard but I thought we deserved to win. Have I ever seen a game like that before? This is football. It was interesting for the supporters and it was a big Christmas gift for our players and the fans.

"Saulius Mikoliunas scored a beautiful goal to win the game and the whole team showed great spirit. Miko has had a hard time but I know him very well and he is a young boy who has shown me that he will be professional.

"We need to continue to work hard. It is more important what we do after this game. The players understand that it is more pleasure for them when they work hard and take the three points."

While Hibs had their problems with the officials Hearts could also point to the penalty which looked soft at best. Shields went down when Nerijus Basara's hand went across him.

Ivanauskas said: "I spoke to Nerijus and he said it was nothing. But I will look at it on television. It was the referee's decision and it was a difficult game for him."

It was Robbie Nielson's turn to watch from the Tynecastle stand yesterday, although Ivanauskas said: "He was rested, the same as Takis Fyssas. The Dundee United game was hard, so some players were left out."

Paul Hartley was man of the match and deservedly so after a performance full of energy and aggression.

He would have got more than his one goal if some of his team-mates had been more alive and spotted his many runs.

Hartley said: "I always seem to score a goal in the derby games. It was a fantastic game, real end-to-end stuff and I thought we just deserved to win in it.

"I have never seen a game like that. It was really frantic. We started really well, got two goal ahead and then seemed to switch off.

"Hibs got back into it and fair credit to them. But the sending off changes the game and we managed to get a brilliant winner by Saul on his wrong side."

Roman Bednar made his first appearance in a Hearts jersey for almost two months and, like the rest of us, could not quite believe what had just taken place.

He said: "It was a little bit crazy but everyone I have played in has been like that. It wasn't bad to play in. Hibs started off with a little chance and the nwe ran up te park and scored a goal.

"We got a second and then everyone thinks we will easily win the game. But we lost a goal at a set-play and it's difficult to mark Chris Killen because he is a big lad.

"Then Hibs got their penalty. I think it was a sending off. Shiels didn't punch Craig but he did shove him and you can't do that to the best goalkeeper in Scotland.

"It was lucky I was at the halfway line because I might have got involved in all the craziness.

"I thought we deserved to win and I was happy to be back after being out for seven weeks with an Achilles injury.

"But we can't keep going 2-0 up and then lose two goals. It was great to win at Dundee United and it was fantastic to win the derby as well.

"We have the team who can win most of the games this season."

Taken from the Daily Record