For the second time this season the fixture failed to produce a goal. However, just like at Tynecastle, a breathless contest produced a lot of goalmouth action during 90 entertaining minutes.
Both teams had spells on top as we had a first half goal chalked off and a second half effort from Josh Campbell cleared off the line, whilst Hearts will look to three fantastic saves from Kevin Dabrowski to deny Ellis Simms, who should have taken at least one of them.
The latest instalment of this famous rivalry was played in bitterly cold conditions as Easter Road came alive with noise and colour this evening.
Shaun Maloney made five changes to the side that faced Livingston at the weekend with the biggest surprise coming between the posts.
Goalkeeper Matt Macey missed out through injury and that meant 23-year-old Dabrowski was handed his Hibs debut this evening.
Chris Mueller and Rocky Bushiri sampled their first taste of an Edinburgh Derby as they returned to the starting XI, alongside Joe Newell and Josh Doig.
Deadline day signing Sylvester Jasper was amongst the substitutes on the bench where he was joined by former Hearts man, Demetri Mitchell.
With Paul Hanlon once again missing out through injury, Lewis Stevenson – a veteran of this fixture - was given the honour of leading out the boys.
We started in a 3-4-1-2 formation as the match opened in pulsating fashion with Kevin Nisbet latching onto a Doig lay-off before spinning his man and curling an effort wide of the far post.
The opening exchanges were lively and energetic as both sets of players fought for their cause and gave their all as the full-blooded tackles quickly became a staple of the match.
Robbie Neilson’s side should have broken the deadlock in the sixth minute when Beni Baningime played a wonderful ball over the top of our defence for Cameron Devlin to latch onto, however with only Dabrowski to beat he snatched at his shot and hooked it well off target.
On 17 minutes we had the ball in the back of the visitors’ net when a Hearts player turned it in from close range after a spot of head tennis, however the celebrations were short-lived as Nisbet was flagged offside.
We were certainly on top and had another good opportunity soon after when Chris Cadden whipped over a terrific cross that was head wide by Christian Doidge under pressure from Toby Sibbick.
A Newell corner kick was met powerfully by the head of Bushiri as we again went close only for Simms to deflect it wide for another set piece.
As half-time loomed Hearts counter attacked and Liam Boyce’s angled drive was beaten away by the diving Dabrowski and from the rebound Simms should have scored. He could only head over the crossbar with the goalkeeper grounded.
Hearts had the final chance of a breathless opening 45 minutes when Devlin let fly with a rasping drive from the edge of the box that flashed just over Dabrowski’s bar.
We were forced into a change during the interval with Doig unable to shake off a knock picked up just before half-time and he was replaced by Mitchell for the second half.
Our defence stood tall to everything the Hearts attack could muster and on the rare occasion they were breached, Dabrowski was on hand to deal with it.
One such occasion came in the 51st minute when the visitors countered, and Barrie McKay spotted the run of Simms in behind our defence. For the second time this evening the expectant Hearts support held their collective breaths only for Dabrowski to spread himself and save brilliantly.
Moments later the young goalkeeper got down quickly to get a strong left hand to another Simms effort as the visitors kept up their early pressure.
Simms was getting on the end of some terrific opportunities however he was struggling to find a way beyond Dabrowski. He had another chance on 71 minutes when we were dispossessed in our half and Simms powerfully held off Josh Campbell before striking a low effort into the near post that the keeper beat away.
We were not playing with the same fluidity that we had in the first half however with 15 minutes remaining we could have made more of a counter attack. Mitchell brilliantly picked the pocket of Nathaniel Atkinson before releasing Nisbet who delayed shooting just long enough for Sibbick’s deflection to take all the sting out of his shot and allow Gordon to gather.
The longer the second half went, the more we grew into it and the greater our attacking threat became, as we finished the match strongly.
With seven minutes remaining substitute Ewan Henderson drew a save from Craig Gordon with a powerful shot from 22 yards following clever link-up play between Mitchell and Nisbet.
We were pushing hard for a late winner when we almost shot ourselves in the foot as Rocky’s back pass forced Dabrowski into saving with his hands. Hearts were awarded an indirect free kick with Atkinson’s shot blocked by a charging wall of green.
As the match entered five additional minutes, we went agonisingly close to a goal that would have blown the roof off Easter Road as Josh Campbell lashed Henderson’s knock down beyond Gordon only for Sibbick to clear it off the line.
The final opportunity of the evening also fell to us with Henderson’s cross into the back post just evading Cadden’s late run into the box as the second Edinburgh Derby of the season finished in stalemate.
Hibernian: Dabrowski, Doig (Mitchell 46’), Porteous, Doidge (Henderson 79’), Newell (Campbell 68’), Mueller (Wright 59’), Nisbet, Stevenson, Doyle-Hayes, Cadden, Bushiri. Substitutes not used: Mitchell, Jasper, Allan, McGregor, Scott, Henderson.
Heart of Midlothian: Gordon, Kingsley, Banningime, Boyce (Ginnelly 79’), Atkinson, Devlin (Haring 90’), Moore, Halliday (Cochrane 68’), McKay (Woodburn 68’), Simms, Sibbick. Substitutes not used: Stewart, Mceneff, Mackay-Steven, Henderson, Pollock.
Referee: Don Robertson.