Kerr deepens Hearts misery

With Gordon in line for a £9million switch to Sunderland or Aston Villa, his replacement Steve Banks saw just two minutes of action before Kerr headed home the only goal of the game.

Hibs celebrate the only goal, scored by Brian Kerr

Hearts struggled to create chances in their opening Clydesdale Bank Premier League fixture and their city rivals could have added to their total as they ended a three-game losing streak against the Jambos.

Both sides handed starts to three summer signings and it was two of Hibernian's debutants - Kerr and former Chelsea goalkeeper Yves Ma-Kalambay - who stole the show.

In a fixture where Hibs were badly let down last season by goalkeeping errors from both Andy McNeil and Zbigniew Malkowski, Ma-Kalambay came for and caught every high ball into the box.

Inside two minutes, former Motherwell midfielder Kerr showed the travelling fans there is life after Scott Brown with a run into the box that was the trademark of Celtic's new signing in his time at Hibs.

Steven Fletcher reached David Murphy's long ball to the left corner and his hooked cross found its way to the back post, where the onrushing Kerr stooped to head home.

Banks could do little after his defence failed to cut out the excellent centre.

The game continued at a frantic pace - and the Hibs midfield coped with far more composure than their counterparts.

Hearts played their two new loan signings from Kaunas, and while Andrius Ksanavicius showed some good touches, lone striker Ricardas Beniusis looked isolated before his poor debut ended with a substitution and boos from the home support.

There was no let-up in the pace throughout the first half and Hibs newcomer Clayton Donaldson was booked along with Hearts trio Michael Stewart, stand-in captain Robbie Neilson and Christos Karipidis as the challenges flew in.

Hearts began to push forward in the second quarter but most of their threat was coming from set-pieces and Ma-Kalambay dominated his area with some confident takes.

Stewart was then set up by Ksanavicius after Hibs skipper Rob Jones dallied on the ball - but his left-footed effort sailed over.

Ma-Kalambay's only real save in the opening period was comfortable as he held Marius Zaliukas' header following Stewart's free-kick.

But Ksanavicius was finding his feet and some space behind the Hibs midfield and his clever reverse pass found Andrew Driver's run, only for the left winger to fire well wide of the far post.

Hibs twice handed Hearts shooting opportunities in the opening stages of the second half after Merouane Zemmama and Guillaume Beuzelin were caught in possession, but Ksanavicius and Saulius Mikoliunas failed to test Banks.

The visitors came close to a second goal when Fletcher's cross found substitute Abdessalam Benjelloun but his well-struck volley just cleared the far post.

Hibs were looking more comfortable while still playing their normal expansive game and Murphy forced Banks to pull off a good diving save from a 25-yard free-kick, before Benjelloun shot narrowly wide from 20 yards.

The Hearts fans grew more frustrated every time Beniusis gave the ball away and his miserable night was ended in the 70th minute when he was replaced by Michal Pospisil.

With Juho Makela also on, Hearts sampled more possession in the final third but they failed to carve out a clear-cut chance in the final stages.

Pospisil saw a shot on the turn easily saved from 16 yards but they were mainly reduced to long-range efforts which failed to hit the target.

Indeed, Hibs still looked the hungrier side, with Benjelloun involved in some good build-up play but lacking the end product.