PAUL HARTLEY destroyed his former club with a hat-trick in the most high-profile Edinburgh derby for over 100 years, ensuring Hearts secured a place in the Scottish Cup final against Gretna.
Hibs had no answer to the rampant midfielder as the Tynecastle side overwhelmed their Capital rivals at Hampden.
Tony Mowbray's side finished with nine men after the dismissals of Ivan Sproule, for stamping on Saulius Mikoliunas, and Gary Smith, for a professional foul. But even with a full quota of players Hearts were simply irresistible.
In the 28 minutes preceding Hartley's nonchalant opener, Hibs had enjoyed the bulk of possession and virtually hemmed their opponents inside their own half. Hearts, in truth, appeared most in danger of conceding the first goal of the afternoon when they promptly ran up the park and scored.
Hartley exchanged passes with Edgaras Jankauskas on the left and, when the Lithuanian stroked the ball into the penalty area, the Scotland midfielder flicked it with the outside of his right boot past Zibi Malkowski.
The second goal arrived on 59 minutes, bringing an almost impish look to the face of the former Hibs player. With Malkowski – and to be fair most of the 43,000 inside Hampden – expecting Hartley's left-sided free-kick to be curled into the penalty area to prompt an aerial contest, the midfielder caught the goalkeeper by surprise and swung the ball into the net at the near post.
His third from the penalty spot came three minutes from time after Smith had tugged the shirt of Hearts substitute Michal Pospisil. Complemented by Jankauskas' goal when he rounded Malkowski to calmly slot home, it completed one of the most convincing derby victories.
"I looked in the mirror in the morning and told myself it was going to be my day, so to score a hat-trick was tremendous," said Hartley.
"This has been a good day," said Valdas Ivanauskas, offering the understatement of the season in only his second match as interim head coach.
"It's a nice day for the players and the supporters.
"A crazy result but every game is pressure. I know my players, I know their quality and I knew they had it in their hearts to win. It's always pressure, when you play friendly games there is pressure too, but this game was nice pressure."
Hearts: Gordon, Neilson, Pressley (Fyssas 46, Webster, Goncalves (Mikoliunas 69), Cesnauskis, Aguiar, Hartley, Skacel, Elliot (Pospisil 82) ,Jankauskas. Subs not used: Banks, Camazzola.
Hibs: Malkowski, Whittaker, Gary Smith, Caldwell, Murphy, Sproule (sent off 78), Hogg, Thomson, Glass (Konte 62), Fletcher (McCluskey 82), Benjelloun (Konde 70). Subs not used: Simon Brown, Shields.
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