STAGE FRIGHT
Hearts recover from derby nerves to boost title hopes
ROBBIE NEILSON conceded his players had to overcome a rare case of the jitters in order to preserve their unbeaten record in yesterday’s Edinburgh derby.
Thankfully for the Hearts boss, his players’ resolve told in the end as they withstood a shaky opening and some slick Hibernian play to earn a draw that maintained the 19-point gap between the teams and will surely count as another staging post en route to automatic promotion from the Championship.
The Tynecastle team went into the traditional New Year contest harbouring hopes of claiming a 10th consecutive home league win but were up against it as Hibs took advantage of some slack home play to grab control and take the lead in the 23rd minute through Jason Cummings.
Jamie Walker drove home a spectacular shot five minutes before the interval to restore parity and, although Hibs remained the better team after the break,
Neilson was the happier manager at the finish.
He said: ‘It was a great point for us. It keeps our unbeaten run going.
‘It was a difficult game because Hibs had to win today to get their title chance running again.
‘You want to win every game but sometimes a point will do.
‘I thought in the first half, especially the first 25 minutes, we were a bit nervous.
‘We had asked them to pass the ball but when you are playing in a derby match, there is a lot of tension.
‘The easiest thing in the world is to kick it up the park, so, if you ask them to pass it, you have to accept you will get mistakes, especially in a game like this where there is a lot of pressure.
‘But that is us 19 games undefeated now and we go to Dumbarton next week. We dropped our first points against them this season and we want to right that wrong.’
Hibs boss Alan Stubbs was left unhappy at referee Steven McLean’s decision not to award a penalty for a second-half challenge on Danny Handling.
However, Neilson declined to make a similar claim about an incident that saw Morgaro Gomis topple under a challenge from Scott Allan.
‘I have not really seen it,’ said the Hearts boss. ‘There were a few challenges that could have gone either way.
‘I thought the referee had a really good game, the best I have seen this season. He spoke to the players well, too.’
Neilson added that McLean had also been right to caution both goalscorers for their excessive celebrations.
He said: ‘Both of them were the right decisions. I spoke to Jamie about it.
‘He did OK going to our supporters but, as soon as you go to the opposition fans, then you will get booked. As soon as you start gesturing, it is a booking.’
Walker admitted he had got carried away in the moment, not least because he couldn’t recall scoring a better goal for the club.
‘I was over-excited,’ he admitted. ‘I know you can’t do that any more, so I deserved a yellow card.
‘It’s probably the best goal I have ever scored and I’m just delighted it brought us a point.
‘I think we have shown an ability to dig out results throughout the season.
‘Hibs played well but we managed to stick in there because we did not want to lose our unbeaten run — especially not at home against Hibs.
‘We go out every week and expect that we are going to win the match.
‘Can we stay unbeaten? I think we have the talent and the ability in the team to do so but there are still a lot of hard games to go.
‘No one here is thinking that things are done and dusted.
‘If Rangers were to beat us in a couple of weeks at Ibrox, it would make things tighter and the boys will just keep focused.
‘We also have to return to face Hibs at Easter Road, so there are tough places left to visit.
‘No one at this club will start celebrating anything until it is mathematically impossible for us to be caught.’