The first Edinburgh derby of the season ended all-square at Easter Road this afternoon with Hibernian and Hearts fighting out a 1-1 draw that was a thrill-a-minute encounter that could easily have ended up something like five apiece.
The home side could not have got off to a better start, opening the scoring in EIGHTY SECONDS when Derek Riordan's reverse pass released Colin Nish down the left, his cutback being stabbed into the net by Steven Fletcher.
The Tynecastle men tried to respond immediately with Christophe Berra seeing his header from a Larry Kingston chip come back off the crossbar in six minutes.
Riordan might have added a second goal two minutes later when he shot into the side-net from a David Van Zanten cross.
It was end-to-end action in these early stages - and Laryea Kingston wasted a golden opportunity to equalise in ten minutes when he shot over after the ball had broken to him after Christian Nade's thrust through the middle from Kingston's own through ball was blocked by home goalkeeper Yves Ma-Kalambay.
Riordan was relishing his first derby since his return to Leith - one thirty-yard free-kick flashed just wide in seventeen minutes, then seven minutes later came a crucial turning-point in the game when the former Celtic player was clearly tripped by Eggert Jonsson. It seemed a certain penalty - but Referee Eddie Smith waved play on.
Hibs were to pay for that decision - for the scores were levelled before the break when Bruno Aguiar netted with a free-kick from eighteen yards in 41 minutes. It was a special moment for the Spaniard, making his first-team comeback after an eighteen-month absence.
Sixty seconds later Nade tested Ma-Kalambay with a 25-yard shot that the goalkeeper parried.
Hearts made an enforced change at the interval with Janos Balogh replacing the concussed Marian Kello in goal. The young Hungarian was soon called into action, clawing away a Riordan header from Van Zanten's cross in 48 minutes.
Two minutes later Nade headed home from a Kingston corner only for the goal to be disallowed for a foul on Ma-Kalambay.
Nish sent a volley into the side-net on the hour from a Lewis Stevenson throw-in.
Six minutes later Andy Driver's pace carried him through the home defence - the ball breaking to Nade who in turn laid it into the path of Kingston whose effort was blocked.
There were not so many chances being created as in the first-half, but it was still anyone's game as the clock ticked on into the final quarter.
Riordan twice came close to giving his side the lead - in 71 minutes his free-kick from the edge of the box was held by Balogh, then four minutes later his shot from a Van Zanten cross was touched wide by the Hungarian goalkeeper.
Hibernian were now pressing for the winner - Fletcher's volley from a Nish knockdown flashing just over in 84 minutes.
Three minutes later Marius Zaliukas almost gifted the home side the winner when his passback was intercepted by Riordan, only for Balogh to come to the rescue by diving at the forward's feet.
Within seconds at the other end Nade missed a pinch when he shot over from Andy Driver's cutback.
A draw was perhaps in the final analysis a fair result, and afterwards Hibs Manager Mixu Paatelainen reflected:
"We created more chances and should have won. The second-half could have gone either way. We should have had a penalty. That was a big turning-point."
Meanwhile his Tynecastle counterpart Csaba Laszlo took a slightly different approach:
"We had chances to win, but could also have lost. Tactically we played well. We dominated the game, but couldn't score another goal."
HIBERNIAN Ma-Kalambay; Van Zanten, Bamba, Jones, Stevenson; Shiels, Thicot (Yantorno 79), Murray, Riordan; Nish, Fletcher
UNUSED SUBS McNeil, Keenan, Rankin, Chisholm, Pinau, Cropley
HEARTS Kello (Balogh 45); Jonsson, Zaliukas, Berra, Wallace; Kingston (Thomson 90), Aguiar, Karipidis, Stewart, Driver; Nade (Mole 89)
UNUSED SUBS Palazuelos, Mikoliunas, Makela, Ksanavicius
REFEREE Eddie Smith