SO MUCH was made of the sides' respective luck in the build-up to this one. Had Hibs enjoyed a greater break of the ball? Had the decisions gone their way? Had they avoided more than their fair share of injuries? Michael Stewart seemed to think there was an element of all that in the Easter Road team's ascent to second place in the league, while also feeling aggrieved that the opposite could be said of Hearts. It sparked a war of words but the Hearts captain found an ally in Hibs manager
He accepted his team had been able to ride their luck but added that people often make their own good fortune. That view was backed up by his goalkeeper Graham Stack after the game. "I'm a great believer that the harder you work, the luckier you get
and if that's a true saying then given how hard we work, we have deserved that luck. We know we have had a bit of luck on side in recent weeks when we have had decisions go for us, i.e. the late penalty and the sendings off that maybe played in our favour but long may that luck continue."
The view on whether it held up yesterday will depend on the vantage point. But if fortune favours the brave, there seemed a slight reticence on Hibs' part to really stick their necks out during the first half of this head-to-head.
In fact, they had reason to bemoan both faces of Lady Luck as they struggled to find their way into the game. The misfortune came in the form of injury to Merouane Zemmama. The Moroccan has been their most creative and incisive force in the early part of the SPL campaign but he was an observer at Tynecastle yesterday, having failed to recover from a groin strain. They also had to leave Derek Riordan on the bench, unsure whether the injury he picked up through the week, in an unconfirmed incident where he toppled over his dog, would see him through the full 90 minutes of hustle and bustle.
But where good fortune did smile fondly on them was the absence of a real cutting edge in the Hearts team. It's not a new phenomenon but it was a blessing for Hughes and his players yesterday.
Mixing it with the Old Firm in the higher echelons of the league standings brings its own pressure but surely nothing compared to the sustained pressure applied by Hearts throughout the opening two thirds of this encounter.
Michael Stewart was in the kind of form that silenced even his biggest detractors. And at full-time it was his manager talking of misfortune, saying his captain can consider himself unlucky not to feature in George Burley's plans.
"This performance showed that he could also play in the national team. The will, the running for 93 minutes, he never tired, always trying to push the team. If you look back on 16 months he does it in so many games. He has maybe been frustrated but we need him and we need his attitude and today when Mike Stewart fulfils this role even the supporters must accept his performance even if we don't win a very, very important game."
But luck was still willing to contribute in this match. A late penalty shout came when Jamie Mole tumbled in the box but the referee waved it aside. Then Janos Balogh pulled off the save of the match, tipping David Wotherspoon's deflected strike on to the post. Good fortune that it found the upright, or bad luck that didn't nip in? When it comes to such calls, everyone has their own opinion.
