da spicy bet： Hibernian defied the doubters on Wednesday night and saw off city rivals Hearts in the Scottish Cup for the second season in a row, despite a division separating them. It was a fantastic performance from Hibs and delighted a sell-out Easter Road, well most of it anyway.
da betobet： For Hearts, it was a real reality check after fortunes appeared to be turning around for new manager Ian Cathro following a few recent celebrated wins.
Goals from Jason Cummings, Grant Holt and Andrew Shinnie provided the victory and despite the murmurings of a comeback from Hearts after a 70th minute Esmael Goncalves goal, Hibs saw the game out well on top.
It’s been a whirlwind 12 months for the Championship outfit, and after waiting 114 years to taste Scottish Cup glory again it appears they’re well on their way to doing it two years in a row.
Here are THREE reasons why this year could yet be Hibs’ season in the Scottish Cup yet again…
Neil Lennon
Neil Lennon’s arrival at the club took a little bit of adjustment, but now it’s clear he’s having a massively positive impact on the Hibees. He played the Fifth Round of the Scottish Cup perfectly, ensuring they didn’t lose at Tynecastle to force the replay against Hearts before blowing them away with attacking tactics in the replay.
Let’s not forget he also has them top of the Scottish Championship, with a return to the top-flight appearing more and more inevitable as the weeks pass. It’s been three seasons in the Championship now and supporters can now finally look forward to a return to the big time.
The Scottish Cup is probably still what most supporters covet, though, so it’s just as well Lennon has plenty of credentials in that area, too. He is a four-time winner of the competition as a player and a two-time winner as a manager. Yes, he did it with Celtic, who have much greater resources, but it’s not as if the Hoops win it every year, is it?
You need a winning mentality and a character to get over the line in this tournament, especially as the pressure ramps up on the Hampden pitch. Lennon has that mentality and that determination. Can he be the driving force for a period of unprecedented Hibernian success?
An energised support
If nothing else, last May’s Scottish Cup Final win over Rangers has had a massive influence on the mentality of the Hibernian supporters. There was a sense of collective victimhood and tragedy that they had gone so long without major Scottish Cup success. It’s no surprise the lyrics to their most famous anthem, Sunshine On Leith, starts off with the lyric “My heart was broken…”, a sorrowful and somewhat ironic tune sung in times celebration and desolation.
Now though they are probably the most buoyant in support in all of Scotland outside of Celtic and that could play a massive part in the matches to come in the Scottish Cup. They’re going into matches believing they can get through, believing they can win matches, not expecting to be dumped out having “Hibsed it”.
You can see that transfer itself onto the pitch at Easter Road on Wednesday night, it’s directly impacting performances and if it continues, the Hibs train could be unstoppable.
Only one step to Hampden, and it’s winnable
There’s only one match to go until the Hampden semi-finals and it’s an immensely winnable quarter-final tie for Hibernian; a home match against Ayr United. There can be no complacency though as their form against the Ayrshire side is mixed this season with an away win, a draw and crucially a home defeat.
That’s a warning sign that they can’t take anything for granted, even riding the way of this current enthusiasm.
If they do get past that winnable tie then as Hibs well know anything can happen on the Hampden pitch. Big teams can wilt, champions can falter and the underdogs can win.
There’s no need to remind the Hibees that they were 2-1 down with ten minutes to go against Rangers last season. Miracles can and do happen at Hampden and even the likes of Brendan Rodgers’ Celtic are not immune to that.