Hibernian Under 19s looked to bounce back from the heavy defeat at the hands of Motherwell during the week with the first Edinburgh Derby of the season. Fergus Bell returned from injury as Alistair Stevenson and James McDonaugh made 5 changes to the side that lost on Tuesday.

A combination of melted snow and a heavy rain shower before kickoff made the underfoot conditions at the Hibernian Training Centre heavy as the home side kicked off. With just a few minutes on the clock the home side threatened after winning a freekick in the midfield, Monaghan picking up a loose ball and finding Lewis Horner, the midfielder being challenged unfairly around thirty yards from goal. The resultant freekick was cleared by the Hearts defence but only as far as Scott Taggart out wide, the winger driving at the visiting defence but his low drive was cleared for a throw in. This seemed to spark the visitors into life and they soon pressed on themselves, Jamie Walker picking up a loose pass in the Hibernian midfield and driving into the penalty area but Aaron Chalmers made the challenge to concede a corner kick.

The Hearts midfield were starting to press the home side at every opportunity and started to force errors from the young Hibernian side. One error led to a freekick for the visitors 25 yards from goal. The kick was driven at the wall which stood firm but could only deflect the ball towards Michael Deland who headed over from 12 yards whilst unmarked. Calum Burns and Scott Taggart were linking up well down the Hibernian right and another run and driven ball from Taggart won the home side a corner kick. The kick came to nothing and shortly after, Jamie Walker found himself driving into the Hibernian penalty area again. The striker appeared to kick the ground as Chalmers touched the ball out for a corner but as Walker went to ground, the referee pointed to the spot, much to the amazement of the players and those watching from the sidelines. Once the pleas from the Hibernian defence had been seen off by the referee, Michael Deland made no mistake sending Lewis Graham the wrong way to open the scoring.

The goal seemed to knock some of the wind out of the home side and Hearts continued to press forward forcing mistakes from the Hibernian midfield and the defence to play a longer ball game. Aaron Chalmers and Scott Smith were being kept busy in defence while Lewis Graham made a series of good stops from Jamie Walker, the striker benefitting from being afforded space in front of the home defence. The Hibernian coaching staff were being forced to shuffle the team around to cope with the running of Holt and Thomson. Thomas McCready was the first player to receive a booking after a late tackle in the centre circle, the midfielder beaten by the pace of his opposite number. With around 10 minutes of the half remaining, Calum Burns managed to get down the line and send the ball into the Hearts penalty area however this was easily gathered by Lyness ahead of Fergus Bell.

As Hibernian tried to push further up the park, Harry Monaghan was brought down around 20 yards from goal. Scott Smith's kick was deflected wide of Lyness' left hand post by the wall for a corner kick that came to nothing as the first half came to a close.

Half Time: Hibernian U19s 0 Heart of Midlothian U19s 1

Hearts were first to threaten in the second half as a freekick was headed across the face of goal but no-one was on hand to take advantage and Doris cleared for a throw. Hibernian were forced into an early substitution with Jamie Doris leaving the field for Mark Lancaster. Fergus Bell fed the ball through the Hearts defence for Scott Taggart to chase shortly afterwards, the winger being moved into a more central role at the start of the half, but a good tackle from Mullen prevented him from attacking the goal. Hibernian were lucky not to go a further goal behind a few minutes later as a defensive clearance rebounded back through the defence and into the path of Smith but the striker pulled his shot wide from 18 yards out.

Hearts continued to harrie the home side and were finding themselves in the ascendency again with Prychynenko shooting high and wide after some good build up play. Some good linkup play between Taggart and Monaghan set Bell through on the left but he was brought down around 20 yards from goal. McCready sent in a curling effort towards the far corner but watched as it came of the top of the bar and out for a goal kick. Shortly after, Daniel Handling replaced John Wright. The Hearts midfield continued to press and force some loose passing from the Hibernian defence and midfield. The visitors were certainly having the better of possession and Graham had to produce another fine save from a freekick 25 yards from goal as the visitors pressed for another goal.

Calum Burns found his name taken by the referee after continued complaining about a decision that hadn't gone the home side's way just after a Prychynenko shot had narrowly slipped past Graham's right hand post and Scott Taggart was to follow him into the book shortly after despite looking like he'd been pulled back off the ball himself. Another break through the Hibernian defence saw Prychynenko once again get a shot away however it flew harmlessly wide as the Hibernian defence struggled to cope with some of the movement from the Hearts midfield. Burns managed to find bell with a cross into the box on the half hour but his header was weak and directed straight to Lyness in the Hearts goal.

Hearts continued to threaten and Burns just avoided scoring an own goal as he turned the ball behind for a corner kick, his header just inches outside the post. The visiting midfield continued to remain on top, playing with 4 across the middle of the park with another sitting deep, allowing them to push on every time Hibernian had the ball. Dean Horribine was sent into the action for Lewis Horner as Alistair Stevenson and James McDonaugh looked to rescue the game in the last 15 minutes. Aaron Chalmers had to look sharp to stop another break to the edge of the Hibernian penalty area, the centre half having a solid game at the back.

With just a few minutes left on the clock, Burns found Fergus Bell with a freekick from the right side, but the striker's header came off the inside of the post and across goal before being knocked behind for a corner kick, the result of which saw another Bell header saved by Hearts' keeper Lyness. It was the last real action of a game dominated by the Hearts midfield who made life very difficult for the home side, closing them down at every opportunity and forcing the game to their pattern.

Full Time: Hibernian U19s 0 Heart of Midlothian U19s 1

Speaking after the game, Alistair Stevenson was pleased by the reaction of his side to their half time grilling. "I thought we had a slow start to the game and found it hard to get into it. We had to change the shape of the team once or twice just to get a better grip of the game. We felt the penalty kick was debatable, Aaron said he didn't actually tackle him and that the lad actually kicked the ground. You have to feel we were a bit unfortunate there. In the second half we gave it everything we had in terms of effort but we couldn't really create an awful lot of chances." He continued, "We've had a few players who haven't been training because of home circumstances and Fergus Bell's just returned from a broken bone. Chalmers and Smith both picked up knocks and should have come off but had to play on while Doris came off with a groin strain that he had to play through for the first half. I think there's a lot of things caused us problems today but at least they dug in and worked at it."