Leith is packed full of fancy restaurants but you don’t need to stumble far from Easter Road to find a good chippy on derby day.
Kevin Nisbet handed Hearts their dinner at the weekend and it turns out revenge is best served bold. The Hibs hitman battered the Jambos and then slapped some salt ’n’ sauce into the Gorgie wounds. Nisbet was mortified here back in January, when the bitter rivals ran amok in a 3-0 Scottish Cup win to make it nine derbies undefeated. Hibs were in a right pickle and Jambos chanted about going for 10 in a row.
“I don’t forget stuff,” the striker said afterwards. Nisbet pounced in the second half to give his side the victory they more than merited while sending the old foes tumbling into the deep fat fryer. He said: “It was nice to get it off our backs. The last time we played in the Scottish Cup their fans were shouting about 10 in a row.
“I felt embarrassed. I just knew, ‘when the next derby comes around I’m going to change that’– and I did.
“Losing four on the bounce at the business end of the season wasn’t great. But it was about the performance as well as the result. We absolutely battered them – it should have been more. It’s the most we’ve battered Hearts in a while.
“We were up for it, we were on second balls, playing in behind, bullying them. To see it out was great. It was brilliant. I was due one against them as well. I’ve not scored in this game the past few years. I was delighted but the biggest thing was winning.”
The result was huge. Hibs has suffered a season ravaged by injuries to key men and wild inconsistencies, and this win ended a run of four defeats on the spin to give Lee Johnson his first derby success and remove some of the heat from a guy who has existed on a tightrope at times this term.
And, incredibly, the Leith men can finish above Hearts and nab a European place. It wasn’t straightforward, of course. Hibs should have been out of sight yet punters were hiding behind their fingers in stoppage time when Stephen Kingsley’s left peg was lining up a free kick.
By then Nisbet was in the tunnel and fearing the worst. He said: “I thought it was going to be another one of those days when I saw the free kick. The boys did brilliantly to see it out, so I was delighted.
“It was great at the end. I was desperate to get on to celebrate – and to hear Sunshine on Leith. That was my first proper experience of it after a derby and it was great.
“We lost four games previous to this, but it brings that connection back with us and the fans and they will come out in their numbers against St Johnstone and hopefully we can finish as high as possible.”
Hearts are just two points ahead now, having been out of sight not so long ago. The collapse in Gorgie has been mind-blowing. Hearts were cruising to third but have completely imploded.
Five losses on the spin resulted in Robbie Neilson being ushered out of Tynecastle with the plant pot under one arm and his jotters under the other. The decision looked harsh but Steven Naismith was handed the reins – and couldn’t get a reaction.
The Jambos were woeful. They were lucky to reach the break level but it got worse in the second period.
Take nothing away from Hibs. They bossed it from the middle, where Joe Newell, Jimmy Jeggo and Jake Doyle-Hayes were governors. Up top Nisbet ruled and Elie Youan was just a few final decisions away from making club folklore.
Hearts ran about and got stuck into tackles, but they look desperate for the season to be over. So much for third being sewn up. Europe now isn’t a given. If it wasn’t for Livi needing a 19-goal swing next week, the top six could even be smoked.
But Nisbet said: “That was all talk, wasn’t it? Halfway through the season people were saying they’d finish third but they could finish a lot lower now.
“It’s all about the business end of the season. This league is about hitting form at the right time and it’s up to us to win as many games as possible and see where we are. It would be massive to get third but right now it’s all about securing top six.”
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