Hibs history boys fully deserved Easter Road ovation for the ages as Hearts humbled on derby day - Gray

Hibs earned that. Not just the victory but the scenes that followed, as another lusty rendition of the greatest club anthem in football knocked even the previous weekend’s post-Celtic celebrations into a cocked hat.

David Gray’s history makers, the first Hibs team to put together a 13-game unbeaten league run since 1949, more than deserved to hear Sunshine on Leith being belted out from three corners of Easter Road. In beating Hearts 2-1 on home soil, Gray’s men also became the first Hibs side to win back-to-back Edinburgh derbies in the same season since 2008-09.

The first-year head coach, his now team undefeated in 15 games in all competitions and taking great strides in their bid to be crowned Best of the Rest in the Scottish Premiership, brought assistant Eddie May – back for the first time since suffering broken ribs in a car crash, although restricted to a place in the stand for the 90 minutes – onto the pitch to join in the post-victory revelry. And savoured every minute.

Not just any club anthem

Gray, whose own special connection with a certain Proclaimers tune includes THAT special day at Hampden in 2016, said: “A lot of people will talk about that song. And you go to certain football clubs where your anthem's played before every game to try and get you up for the game and everything else.

“This has always been a song that people will say: “Why do you not play it all the time? You get the players up for it …

“You need to earn it, those moments of having it played. But they're so special when they come around.

“And I think that shows you the run we've been on, it shows you the momentum that's building, the connection between us and the fans that they're right there to the very end today, getting us over the line and driving us forward. They were driving us forward on Wednesday night and I think they're playing a massive part just now with the fans and making sure we're getting over the line and keeping this run going.

“I think Eddie was reluctant to come on. Eddie, in typical Eddie Fashion, didn't want anything to do with any limelight or anything like that. But that was a special moment for everyone.

“I specifically said to the staff right at the end of the game that Sunshine on Leith here, it's one of the greatest songs in football; I know I'm biased, but I think it is when you hear it. I've been so fortunate to hear it a couple of times as a player, now as a coach.

‘That’s why we do it …’

“And when you stand in the centre circle, it's even better. So to stand in the middle of the pitch and really feel it, and feel that connection between the players, the staff and the supporters, that's why we do it.

“These are the memories that all the staff can share; they're all a massive part of it as well. And to get Eddie on the pitch at the end there, it was emotional at the same time because he's been through a lot.”

Incentive to make history

Gray doesn’t shy away from history. He uses it to throw challenges at his players, demanding that they make a name for themselves.

“It’s one defeat in 18,” he pointed out, adding: “I've touched on that a lot with the players.

“Can we keep moving forward and can we keep changing history in a real positive way? Before we played Hearts at Tynecastle, it was five years to the day since we won at Tynecastle, so that tells you, history tells you, these are difficult games to come out on top.

“I think even today, the last team to win at Easter Road in a derby was Hearts, so we needed to make sure we corrected that. Loads of little incentives to try and drive the players on - and we're responding well to that at the minute, which is brilliant.”

Match winner is a real leader

Can we talk about Jack Iredale? Not just the absolute screamer he scored to win this game, a rarity for a centre-half. But the impact he’s had since breaking into the team, his arrival in the starting XI just happening to coincide with the upswing in fortunes that has transformed Hibs from relegation fodder to Euro contenders.

“I think he's a real man,” is how Gray described the Scots-born Aussie, the gaffer adding: “He's a guy who puts his body on the line all the time. He's 100 per center. He plays at times when carrying knocks and niggles, he'd always put his hand up to try and play.

“He had to be really patient for his opportunity. When he joined the club, he had a bit of an injury, but since he's had his opportunity and he's got in the team, I think he's very consistent, makes really good decisions.

“If he does make a mistake, he doesn't let it fluster him, he keeps moving forward and he's certainly the type of player that you need in your dressing room. When people talk about who you want sitting beside you and who's got your back going into a game, he's definitely one of them.

“He's a leader, he's a man, he's someone that gives absolutely everything every single week. You can't have enough of them in your squad, that's for sure.

“And I think it's a brilliant strike. It's very fitting to win a derby in that way. He isn't a prolific goal scorer, so it’s something for him to step forward and put in the top corner like that.

“It was a brilliant strike - and it needed to be to beat a goalkeeper like Craig Gordon from that distance. It’s special moment for him. Something that I'm sure he'll have on screensavers and constantly repeat because he certainly won't do that very often again.”

Hearts left chasing shadows

Neil Critchley’s men arrived at Easter Road with a chance to close the gap on Hibs to just a single point. They leave looking well adrift of their city rivals.

And, on the balance of play, that’s just about right. True, Jorge Grant capitalised on a mistake to equalise Martin Boyle’s opener to ensure that the home team’s early lead lasted just a little over two minutes; that halted any momentum Hibs might have acquired.

But the second half was mostly one long onslaught on Gordon’s goal. Delivering a victory that brought a perfect end to a perfect nine-point week, with home wins over Celtic and Hearts sandwiching a dramatic victory over Dundee United at Tannadice

“We now go seven points ahead of Hearts,” Gray pointed out, the former Scottish Cup-winning skipper and lifelong Hibee adding: “That's a brilliant place to be at this stage of the season.

“Between now and the split, every game's going to be huge. I think we've demonstrated now for a number of weeks that we're a really good side, we're in a good place, but there's still a lot of improvement to be done.”

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