‘Hearts fans couldn’t have asked for more’

Football, as the saying goes, is a game of two halves. And never was it illustrated more starkly than this weekend.

Hearts fans couldn’t have asked for more. A Scottish Cup final with six goals, five of them in their opponent’s net. A Hibs player sent off and the Easter Road manager banished to the stand. One of their own winning £1 million on the Lottery. And a victory parade bathed in sunshine. A perfect weekend.

For Hibs the 110 years of hurt goes on. Their team failed to rise to the big occasion. The referee did them no favours. Many left Hampden long before the final whistle feeling short-changed. And Sunday was spent trying to forget all about the historic cup final they had just witnessed.

But both sets of supporters can be proud of one thing. They did their bit and turned the Scottish Cup final into a truly great spectacle. The sight of Hampden split down the middle between green and maroon before kick-off will live long in the memory.

The giant crests of both Edinburgh sides floating over the pitch was a sight to behold. We had waited 116 years for this, but it was worth it.

Fans of both sides travelled through together on train and bus – the banter irrepressible, but the respect and togetherness obvious.

This was our day. Edinburgh’s day. And while we couldn’t control the quality of the football, the supporters did the Capital proud.

The hope now must be that both teams will meet again in the final sooner rather than later.

Well done Hearts. Commiserations to Hibs. Let’s go for a repeat in 2013.

Switched on

it will never win a ratings battle with any of our Saturday night favourites, but the launch of “city council TV” might yet prove a hit.

Just imagine that the council is debating controversial proposals to close your local school or build on your local park.

You are interested, of course, in what gets decided, and what your local councillors have got to say for themselves, but it’s tricky to get the day off work or someone to look after the kids.

Live streaming of the council’s most important meetings means you will be able to see for yourself how important decisions that affect your community are taken.

The £30,000 cost is a small price to pay for making local government that little bit more open and accountable.