Hibs must replicate derby effort against Dons

2 hours ago 1

What a weekend it was to be a Hibee with an unlikely derby win giving us the bragging rights heading into 2026. Hearts fans will take comfort that they're still top of the league, but a Hibs win was not in the script as far as they were concerned as they piled into Easter Road expecting a comfortable win.

I have to say it never entered my thoughts on Saturday morning that Hibs would do anything other than win, usually I'm a bag of nerves for this fixture but I was sure the team would turn up this time – thankfully I shared this prediction with others before the match, so I'm not being Captain Hindsight here!

I didn't expect it to be so comfortable, though – the early goal totally rattled Hearts and Hibs were so much on top in the game that Hearts didn't muster a shot on target until almost 70 minutes had been played.

The only blemish on a great afternoon was not taking the chance to really run riot with the scoreline – we missed chances to make it 4-0 and again to put the tie beyond Hearts late on after they'd rallied with a couple of late goals.

For all the scoreline looks like the game was close, Hearts' only real attacking moments came when the game was lost, at 3-0 down they threw the kitchen sink at us and tactics went out the window as they hoped for a way back into the game.

Thankfully, and despite an error for Hearts' second goal, Hibs have unearthed a diamond in goals, with Raphael Sallinger pulling off an incredible save in the dying moments to ensure all three points stayed with the sunshine in Leith.

David Gray deserves plenty praise for getting that performance out of a team that was minus three internationalists missing because of Africa Cup of Nations participation, which meant he had to play young Kanayo Megwa at right-back in what must only be his third or fourth top-flight start, and when Nicky Cadden had to be replaced early in the game, Gray relied on the excellent Jamie McGrath to play out of position at left wing-back.

Both Megwa and McGrath put in stunning performances and more than deserved to come out on the winning side of a pulsating derby.

With Aberdeen up next for Hibs, Gray must use the work rate and effort shown on Saturday as the benchmark for what's demanded of the team in every match from now.

You can find Matty Fairnie at Longbangers podcast