Ian Black says Hearts' 5-1 final win was his best ever performance and sparked days of partying

Ian Black celebrates winning the Scottish Cup with Hearts eight years ago today.

The 2012 Scottish Cup final proved to be Ian Black's last hurrah with Hearts, so it was fitting that he saved his finest ever performance as a farewell gift to supporters.

The diminutive midfielder left the club he had supported since childhood following the famous 5-1 destruction of Edinburgh rivals Hibs eight years ago today.

He did so after a man-of-the-match display, days of partying and some well-deserved praise from his father, Ian Black Snr.

"Looking back through my whole career, that was the best game I ever played. To go out in the way I did was surreal. I was just glad to be part of it," recalled Black.

"My dad played for Hearts and got me to where I was. He managed to teach me that nobody can put you down. When we won the Scottish Cup that day, it was the first time in my whole career that he said he was proud of me.

"That was a special moment for me, even if it took winning the Scottish Cup to get that from him. Having him there watching it all was special."

Stephen Elliott, a team-mate on the day, agreed with Black’s assessment: “I would say Blackie is right. That was his best performance. He was outstanding,” said the Irishman.

“I watched the game back the other night and you see how he dominated the midfield. He was one of a few who were right at the top of their game for us.”

Black does not need reminding that today is the anniversary of the greatest result in the Tynecastle club's history. He managed to soak in almost every second of the build-up, the match itself and the aftermath.

Now 35 and retired from a career which included spells at Blackburn Rovers, Inverness Caledonian Thistle, Hearts, Rangers, Shrewsbury Town, Blackpool and others, May 19, 2012, remains perhaps his greatest ever day in football.

He believes Hearts seized the advantage the week before when they remained in Edinburgh to prepare as normal. That allowed them to sample the inreasing excitment within the city whilst Hibs decamped to Ireland for a pre-final training camp.

"I just remember the build-up in the city. With both teams from the Capital, the atmosphere was unreal," recalled Black. "We got to experience because we chose not to go away for training during the build-up.

"The gaffer, Paulo [Sergio], wanted to keep things normal and treat it as a normal game. He didn't want too much hype about it because of the amount of attention it was getting already.

"We just tried to keep it as normal as possible. The build-up was still crazy and I was really excited. When the day finally came, we were ready to go and that proved to be the case.

"Looking at it now, that low-key build-up benefited us. There was no need to go away because it was just another game.

"It helped us because we were relaxed, we were at home in our own beds with our families. We just went about our business as normal and enjoyed ourselves."

That enjoyment peaked during the post-match celebrations. Black freely admits he didn't get to bed until two days later because he didn't want to miss a moment of the revelry.

"The aftermath was surreal. It's something you will never, ever experience again," he recalled. "In my earlier days at Inverness, we were on pre-season in Italy the year the Italians won the World Cup. That was something to cherish but nothing compared to the Scottish Cup final.

"It was crazy. Those were scenes I'll never see again. I don't actually think I slept for two days. It was non-stop. By the time we were getting home from celebrating winning the cup it was time to get ready for the open-top bus parade.

"It was just a case of a quick change of clothes and get right back into it."