 The cover of the match programme, which commemorated the fact the match was the firstEdinburgh derby in a Scottish Cup Final since1896. | |||||||
| Event | 2011–12 Scottish Cup | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||||
| Date | 19 May 2012 | ||||||
| Venue | Hampden Park,Glasgow | ||||||
| Man of the Match | Ian Black (Hearts)[1] | ||||||
| Referee | Craig Thomson | ||||||
| Attendance | 51,041 | ||||||
←2011 2013 → | |||||||
The2012 Scottish Cup Final was the 127th final of theScottish Cup. The match took place atHampden Park on 19 May 2012 and was contested by theEdinburgh derby rivals,Hibernian (Hibs) andHeart of Midlothian (Hearts). It was Hibs' 12thScottish Cup Final and Hearts' 14th. It was also the first time the clubs had met in a Scottish Cup Final since1896.[2][3]
AsScottish Premier League (SPL) clubs, Hibs and Hearts both entered the competition in the fourth round. Hibs won all four of their ties at the first attempt, defeating two other SPL clubs and twoScottish Football League clubs. After winning againstJunior clubAuchinleck Talbot in the fourth round, Hearts defeated three other SPL clubs to reach the final. Hearts needed areplay to eliminateSt Johnstone then they beatSt Mirren, then beat cup holdersCeltic in the semi-final.
The match was Hibs' 12th appearance in the Scottish Cup final and Hearts' 14th. Hibs had previously won two finals and Hearts had won seven. Because both teams were fromEdinburgh, many of thecity councillors requested that the final be held in Edinburgh atMurrayfield Stadium, instead of the traditional venue of Hampden, inGlasgow. The previous final between the two clubs in 1896 had been held in Edinburgh but on this occasion it stayed in Glasgow.
Hearts won a one-sided match 5–1. They took an early 2–0 lead by goals fromDarren Barr andRudi Skácel. Hibs reduced the deficit to 2–1 at half-time through captainJames McPake. Soon after half-time, however,Pa Kujabi was sent off and conceded apenalty kick, which was converted byDanny Grainger. Hearts scored two further goals with their one-man advantage to complete the scoring.
| Round | Opposition | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Fourth round | Cowdenbeath | 3–2 |
| Fifth round | Kilmarnock | 1–0 |
| Quarter-final | Ayr United | 2–0 |
| Semi-final | Aberdeen | 2–1 |
Scottish Premier League clubHibernian entered the competition in the fourth round. They began their campaign againstSecond Division leadersCowdenbeath atCentral Park, which was suggested as a possible cup upset due to Hibs' poor league form.[4] Cowdenbeath took the lead after just 15 seconds, but Hibs recovered to win 3–2.[5] Hibs then took on fellow SPL clubKilmarnock at their home ground,Easter Road, having made several signings in January 2012.[6] An early goal by Irish strikerEoin Doyle was enough to give Hibs a 1–0 win.[7]
In the quarter-final Hibs were drawn against the other senior club fromAyrshire, away toAyr United. Again the match was tipped as a possible cup upset, as Ayr had beaten Hibs (after a replay) in the2010–11 Scottish Cup competition.[8] Hibs scored two early goals and progressed to the semi-final with a 2–0 victory.[9] In the semi-final, Hibs took onAberdeen atHampden Park.[10]Garry O'Connor scored an early goal, andRory Fallon equalised for Aberdeen in the second half with a spectacular looping volley.[10] Hibs won 2–1 thanks to a late winning goal byLeigh Griffiths.[10]
| Round | Opposition | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Fourth round | Auchinleck Talbot | 1–0 |
| Fifth round | St Johnstone | 1–1 |
| Fifth round replay | St Johnstone | 2–1 |
| Quarter-final | St Mirren | 2–2 |
| Quarter-final replay | St Mirren | 2–0 |
| Semi-final | Celtic | 2–1 |
Heart of Midlothian, also aScottish Premier League club, entered the competition in the fourth round. They began their campaign againstJunior clubAuchinleck Talbot in a home match atTynecastle Stadium.[11] A late goal byGordon Smith gave Hearts a 1–0 victory.[11] Hearts then faced fellow SPL sideSt Johnstone in the fifth round. Hearts led 1–0 after aDavid Templeton goal. Despite St Johnstone defenderDave Mackay being sent off after 74 minutes,Cillian Sheridan equalised to force a replay.[12] In the replay,Murray Davidson put St Johnstone in the lead with an 83rd-minute goal. St Johnstone then could have been further ahead beforeJamie Hamill converted a controversial stoppage-timepenalty to forceextra time. During extra timeMarius Zaliukas scored the winning goal from a corner.[13]
In the quarter-final Hearts faced another SPL side,St Mirren. Hearts conceded early on after aGraham Carey free-kick beforeCraig Beattie scored and then set upRudi Skácel to put Hearts in front. Zaliukas then scored a late own goal after deflecting aNigel Hasselbaink shot into his own net to level the match.[14] In the replay atSt Mirren Park, Carey had an early penalty saved, after a handball by Zaliukas, and Hasselbaink then scored a goal which was ruled out because the referee had not given St Mirren anadvantage. Hearts then came back into the match as Hamill and Skácel scored to give Hearts a 2–0 win.[15] In the semi-final atHampden Park, Hearts were drawn against cup holdersCeltic. Skácel scored shortly after half-time for Hearts beforeGary Hooper scored a late equaliser for Celtic. Hearts were then awarded a stoppage-time penalty which former Celtic striker Beattie converted. There was controversy around both Hooper's goal and Beattie's penalty after the match as Hooper had looked offside when he scored his goal and Hearts' penalty was considered to have been wrongly awarded by the referee.[16]
This was Hibs 12th appearance in the Scottish Cup Final. They had previously won two Scottish Cups (in1887 and1902), and been beaten in nine finals (in1896,1914,1923,1924,1947,1958,1972,1979 and2001). Hearts were appearing in their 14th Scottish Cup Final. They had won seven Scottish Cups (in1891,1896,1901,1906,1956,1998 and2006) and been beaten in the final six times (in1903,1907,1968,1976,1986 and1996). The only previous meeting of the two clubs in a Scottish Cup Final was in1896, when the match was played atNew Logie Green (home ofSt Bernard's) inEdinburgh.
With two clubs from Edinburgh qualifying for the final, someCity of Edinburgh Council members called for the match to be played atMurrayfield Stadium instead ofHampden Park, the traditional venue forScottish Cup Finals.[17] A survey by theEdinburgh Evening News found that 37 of 58 councillors favoured Murrayfield, with nine favouring Hampden.[17] Supporters of moving the game to Murrayfield cited its greater capacity, convenience for the majority of fans and the precedent of the1896 Scottish Cup Final.[17] TheScottish Football Association stated that no venue other than Hampden would be considered.[17] Supporters of keeping the game at Hampden cited that the players would prefer to play at the national football stadium and that some fans had already begun to make arrangements for the tie being inGlasgow.[17]First ScotRail provided additional capacity on their routes between Edinburgh and Glasgow.[18]
Both clubs received an allocation of approximately 20,000 tickets, out of a total capacity of 52,063.[19][20] The remaining seats are accounted for by Hampden Parkdebenture holders, hospitality, sponsors, media and segregation areas.[19][21] In excess of 1,000 unused debentures were distributed to each club.[22] The allocation was enough to provide for the season ticket holders of each club, with Hearts having 10,000 and Hibs 7,500 approximately,[23] although both clubs anticipated that there would be little or no need for a general public sale.[21] Hearts decided to sell tickets using their loyalty points system, while Hibs connected their allocation to sales ofseason tickets and memberships.[19][20] Due to high demand, Hearts tightened the criteria needed for a ticket during the sales process.[22] Regular tickets cost £35 or £28 for adults and £10 for children under 15 years old.[19][20]
Hibs suffered an injury during the semi-final, when their regulargoalkeeperGraham Stack had to be substituted due to a thigh injury.[24] A scan following the match showed that he would be unable to play for between 10 and 12 weeks, and therefore would miss the final.[24] Hibs secured their place in theScottish Premier League with one game to spare and rested several players for the final game of their league programme.[25] DefenderMatt Doherty suffered a foot injury in that league game, but managerPat Fenlon said he was confident Doherty would be able to play in the final.[25] Fenlon then took his squad to his home town ofDublin to prepare for the cup final[25] and told the media that he had almost finalised his team selection.[26]
Having finished in the top half of the2011–12 Scottish Premier League, Hearts were involved in the battle to qualify for the2012–13 UEFA Europa League competition.[27] A victory againstSt Johnstone in their penultimate league match lifted Hearts into fifth place, a qualifying position.[27] Hearts then rested some players for their final league match, a 5–0 defeat byCeltic.[28] Entering the week before the cup final, Hearts had concerns about the fitness of strikerCraig Beattie, who was unable to train due to a hamstring injury.[29]
Craig Thomson was appointed to referee the match.[30] Thomson decided to donate his match fee of £1,000 to a hospice inPaisley, where his late mother had been treated.[31]
Hearts started the match as the brighter of the two teams.Rudi Skácel headed wide early on from anAndrew Driver cross. Hearts took the lead throughDarren Barr in the 15th minute, scoring from close range. Hearts continued to control the match andPa Kujabi picked up a booking for foulingSuso Santana. Skácel then doubled Hearts' lead after receiving the ball on the edge of the area and turning to hit a shot which deflected offJames McPake before going in. Hibs then had an opportunity as Kujabi's cross came toGarry O'Connor, but he hit his shot over the bar. McPake then made a goal-line clearance from a Suso shot which had beaten Hibs' keeperMark Brown. McPake got Hibs back into the game from a corner.Tom Soares' initial delivery was cleared but he got the ball back out on the wing and put in a low cross which McPake converted.
Almost immediately after the start of the second-half Hearts were awarded a penalty kick.[32] Kujabi fouled Suso by pulling his jersey and catching his heel, but television replays showed that the foul had taken place outside the penalty area. Hibs were also reduced to ten men as Kujabi received his second yellow card, resulting in a red.[32]Danny Grainger converted the penalty, which was also his first goal for Hearts.[32] Soon afterwards,Ryan McGowan scored with a header after Hibs keeper Brown had initially saved fromStephen Elliott.[32] Skácel finished the scoring with another shot from just outside the box to make it 5-1 for Hearts.[32]
         Hibernian |     Hearts |
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Man of the Match: |
Match officials
| Match rules
|
Hibernian managerPat Fenlon received a four-match ban for being sent to the stands during the match.[34] He later described the result as a 'disaster' and that he would look to address some of the problems highlighted in the Hibs team during his summer rebuilding of the squad.[35]
In the United Kingdom, the match was broadcast live onBBC One Scotland andSky Sports.[36][37] Radio commentary of the match was aired onBBC Radio Scotland.[37]
