Michael Weir: Zaliukas news put derby in perspective but game passed some Hibs players by

The awful news about Marius Zaliukas put everything in perspective on Saturday. Hibs might have lost an Edinburgh derby but a young man has lost his life at 36 years old.

Dejection for Kevin Nisbet, Christian Doidge, and David Gray

I was watching the game when I heard and while it’s always horrible to lose a derby it’s nothing compared to someone losing their life at a young age. It doesn’t matter whether it’s a Hibs player, Hibs fan, Hearts player, or Hearts fan – it’s terribly sad news, and my thoughts and condolences are with his friends and family.

I just hope it puts things in perspective for any Hibs fans feeling down about losing a football match.

As for the game itself, it was one of those where you’re left scratching your head. I think Jack Ross will find it hard to believe that Hibs lost the game because of the amount of chances they had and didn't take, especially in the first half.

The game could have been over by half time if they had taken the chances they created but all credit to Craig Gordon, he kept Hearts in the game and it just wasn’t Hibs’ day.

I don’t think the players could have given much more, it just ended up being one of those matches.

It was disappointing but you need the rub of the green on any given day in a cup tie and Hibs didn’t have it. They came up against a goalkeeper on top of his game who made numerous saves but if teams don’t take their chances, they pay the price.

The penalty was the game-changer; if Hibs had scored I think it would have been game over. But for me, it shouldn’t have reached that stage anyway given the amount of chances Hibs created.

Hibs let Hearts off the hook time and again and when they got in front it gave them that bit more belief because up until then it looked as though Hibs were going to win the tie.

There aren’t many positives to take from being beaten in a semi-final, and dumped out of the Scottish Cup. I think there were three or four players in the Hibs line-up who haven’t played in a derby, and it showed. Hearts had a few in the same position but they also had players with experience of playing at Hampden and I think Hibs lacked that experience in certain areas of the pitch.

Hearts had a wee bit more about them, a wee bit more guile in terms of how to win the game late on. In these types of games, you can’t have players who don’t perform. You need the whole team to deal with the occasion and perform on the day and Hibs had three or four who just didn’t reach the heights. It was the same in the last derby, at Easter Road.

It’s not complacency; I just think a lot of players underestimate what the Edinburgh derby means to people, and how to approach it.

If you don’t have the experience of playing in the derby then it can pass players by and I certainly think that happened to a few Hibs players at Hampden.

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