Ground 23: Tynecastle

Tynecastle under the lights is one of the best ways to watch a game in Scotland

Game: Heart of Midlothian 0 v 0 Hibernian

Date: Thursday 3^rd January 2013

Competition: Scottish Premier League

Attendance: 17,062

Admission: £30

Programme: n/a

In lieu of the Old Firm games, the Edinburgh derby is this season’s biggest game. Sadly, it was a spectacle that didn’t do this season’s entertaining SPL much justice.

I didn’t get a ticket to the match until just a few hours before kick-off. I’d been unsuccessful a few weeks before from the Hibs ticket office, but fortunately I was helped out by a friend Ian, who had a spare ticket for the Roseburn Stand. So I had a quick dash home from work to get changed and back on the bus towards the Gorgie area of Edinburgh where Heart of Midlothian call their home.

I got to Roseburn to meet the guys I was a little shocked. It was a strange mood in the air as there were a lot of people who had been drinking for hours. Truthfully, Roseburn looked a little like a war-zone. It certainly added to the atmosphere late on in the stadium but there was no doubt that it created a little edge in the air.

I’ve managed to pick up a programme at every ground so far but both clubs in Edinburgh have let me down! I’m sure there were programme sellers around but I didn’t see them.

We found our seats up the back end of the Roseburn Stand, but the only time they had people sitting on them was at half time, 3,000 odd Hibs fans stood and sang their lungs out for the whole game. The Hearts fans responded with good voice too. It was a shame that the next 90 minutes on the park was an utter disappointment. It says something when a penalty shoot-out between club legends at half time it probably the highlight of the match.

Both sides are capable on their day of playing attractive football, but both managers lined up their sides to play stuffy, agricultural football. The ball was hammered back and forth without any real cutting edge. Hearts substitute Jason Holt was the only player who looked like he had potential to change the game, but even that wasn’t enough.

Things could have been very different if Hearts had been given a penalty which they should have had in the first half, or if Ryan Stevenson had been sent off for his wild, reckless lunge on Hibs captain James McPake.

£30 will probably be the most I’ll pay for a game this season and without doubt it was the worst match I’ll see, however, the game had what has been missing from a lot of grounds this season: atmosphere. And this game had it in abundance.