Scottish Cup final: Rudi Skacel savours ‘day to be remembered for another 100 years’

HEARTS midfielder Rudi Skacel was left celebrating a “memorable” achievement after his side won the Scottish Cup final with a commanding 5-1 victory over rivals Hibernian.

In the first all-Edinburgh Scottish Cup final since 1896, Darren Barr and Skacel put Hearts 2-0 ahead before James McPake pulled one back.

However, Danny Grainger converted a penalty conceded by Pa Kujabi, who was sent off for a second bookable offence, and Ryan McGowan added a fourth before Skacel struck a fifth as Hearts extended their unbeaten run to 11 games against Hibs, who remain without a Scottish Cup win since 1902.

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Skacel told Sky Sports 4: “This day will probably be remembered for a long time, for another 100 years. I’m so happy - we’re taking the cup home.

“Every trophy is fantastic. This was the derby and we beat our rivals in the final.”

Midfielder Ian Black, who is leaving Hearts at the end of the season, was proud to end on a winning note.

“It’s perfect, outstanding, unbelievable,” he said.

“I came here to the final to bow out with a win. I’m speechless.

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“It was a tough game but we knew if we went about our business in the right way we could do that to them.

“At this moment it’s the greatest day of my life. You dream as a kid of doing something like this and it’s happened for me.”

Grainger feels manager Paulo Sergio deserves credit for his part in Hearts’ success.

“Words can’t describe it, to be honest,” he said.

“We always knew we were the better team, we knew that from the start. I can’t explain how much it means to me, my family and all the lads as well.

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“Things have been difficult for us on and off the pitch so a lot of credit goes to Paulo.”

Sergio himself added: “It’s fantastic. The players deserve this more than anybody so I’m very happy with that performance.”