David Gray hailed Hibs history boys after they met his challenge to rewrite the derby narrative in a ferocious capital clash at Tynecastle.
Dwight Gayle slotted home a second half winner as the Easter Road side lorded it over Hearts in Gorgie for the first time in five years. It was also only their second win in 16 derbies. Gray is now unbeaten in his two meetings with Hearts as boss. And as the Jambos fans turned the air above Tynecastle toxic at full-time it was left the 2800 away fans to party in the away end.
Gray, who saw his side move up to seventh in the Scottish Premiership, said: “Delighted. You see that with the scenes at the end. It’s a real difficult place to come. History tells you that. It’s been five years to the day since we’ve done that. That was the message to the players. That’s something that I’ve challenged the group a lot in the last few weeks, creating our own history and changing the history as much as we can and try to build on that together. You’ve seen that today and delighted for everyone involved.
“I remember the last time we won here was five years ago to the day and this squad of players had an opportunity to change that. We’re now looking at it as we’re the last team to come here and win and the next time we come here we’ve got the opportunity to try and do it again. It’s about creating our own history and making sure that we keep moving forward. We’ve underachieved up until this point in the season.
“We know that and we’ve come under a lot of criticism, but as I’ve said for a long time now, I’ve been quietly confident that given the time we will turn this around. Days like today can only strengthen that. It was fantastic for the players especially to enjoy that moment with the fans.”
Hibs led through Kye Rowles own goal but Rocky Bushiri slashed a clearance into his own net to level matters in first half injury-time. That gave Hearts momentum after the break. But Gray’s troops dug deep and in the end deserved to nick it. And the boss reserved praise for Bushiri – as well as match winner Gayle.
He said: “To be able to bring Dwight on and affect the game the way he does shows exactly why we brought him to the club. The level he’s played at, the experience he’s got, his movement in the box, but that quality and that last action was superb. Model professional, him and a few of the other senior players have been fantastic on that front.
“I’m delighted for Rocky. He”s someone that the level of professionalism he’s shown – not playing at the start of the season during difficult times – but he’s always been ready, he’s always trained to the best of his ability. He’s always been really professional and he gets his rewards for having put all that hard work in now and I’m delighted for him.”