David Gray praised his side for seizing control in the second half of their 2-1 victory over Hearts after he became the first Hibernian manager to win back-to-back Edinburgh derbies in the league since Mixu Paatelainen in 2009.
Hibs extended their unbeaten run to 15 matches and strengthened their hopes of finishing third in the William Hill Premiership when centre-back Jack Iredale popped up with a stunning 74th-minute winner.
Martin Boyle had given the home side a sixth-minute lead but it was swiftly cancelled out by Jambos midfielder Jorge Grant.
Gray – named Premiership manager of the month for February ahead of kick-off – said: “When you think back to the week we’ve had, three real tough games, to beat Celtic here, to go up to Dundee United and win and then to finish that off by beating your local rivals at home, I’m delighted.
“First half we looked a wee bit nervy, turned the ball over too much, second half we were much more like ourselves. We really deserved the game based on our second-half performance and we saw the game out really well.”
Hibernian enjoyed a rousing rendition of Sunshine on Leith for the first time this season after last weekend’s victory over Celtic and they were able to experience that thrill once more – this time with coach Eddie May, who was recently involved in a car accident – after backing up their Boxing Day triumph over Hearts at Tynecastle.
It was the first time they had won back-to-back derbies since 2017, when they won in the Scottish Cup and then the league under Neil Lennon, and the first time they had achieved the feat in the league alone since 2009.
“I think we’re building something here all the time,” said Gray. “Yes, it was a derby against your local rivals, but there’s loads of records that we’ve set and broken today.
“Back-to-back for the first time in 16 years in a league game or something like that. And also it’s one defeat in 18 (in all competitions since late November).
“I’ve touched on it a lot with the players about can we keep moving forward and can we keep changing history in a real positive way? Before we played Hearts at Tynecastle it was five years since we won at Tynecastle, so that tells you – history tells you – these are difficult games to come out on top.
“And before today, the last team to win at Easter Road in a derby was Hearts, so we needed to make sure we corrected that. Loads of little incentives to try and drive the players on and we’re responding well to that at the minute, which is brilliant.
“To stand in the middle of the pitch (at full-time) and really feel that connection between the players, the staff and the supporters, that’s why we do it. And to get Eddie on the pitch at the end there, it was emotional at the same time because he’s been through a lot.”
Hearts failed to muster a notable chance in the second half as Hibs took control and Neil Critchley admitted his side, who are now back in the bottom six, got what they deserved.
“Look, it’s a bad defeat,” he said. “It’s a derby defeat so it’s not nice at all. The players have had enough praise in the last few months. Today we’ll get criticised and rightly so for the way we played in the second half. That was not us on the pitch.
“First half, we were the slightly better team. And then in the second half, I think we just lost belief in what we were doing a little bit, which is not like us.”
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