HIBERNIAN.....3, HEARTS.......1 At Easter Road.

Sauzee, Hughes an inspiration

WITH a few minutes still left in the game at Easter Road on Saturday, John Hughes was already celebrating. With his arms aloft he looked like a Roman Emperor satisfied that he had seen off the last of the Christians to be eaten by the lions.

At the final whistle he got even more animated. It looked like he was going to run into the crowd in The Famous Five Stand or even out the stadium to his local pub, which isn't too far away, to celebrate with his mates. With a smile as long as Leith Walk, the life-long Hibs fan, who lives within a 15-minute walk of the ground, realised that in the twilight of his career this was a moment for him to really savour.

At 35 years old, big Yogi could be in his last season at Easter Road and, by his own admission, is ''just happy to get a jersey'' from now on in.

He may not grab the headlines like other thirtysomethings in the Hibs side, such as Franck Sauzee, but in a team with its fair share of dominant characters his influence can't be underestimated.

He has forged a strong

relationship with recent signing Martin McIntosh at the back and although Mixu Paatelainen was the clear man-of-the-match against Hearts, Hughes ran him a close second.

He may not be the most

technically gifted player and has more than a few rough edges, but is an inspirational leader of a side which Alex McLeish has taken from the first division into the SPL where they are now

challenging for third spot in the league and are one game away from the Scottish Cup final.

From McLeish's point of view the Edinburgh derby is something he clearly relishes as he has the impressive record against Hearts of three wins and a draw in the four matches he has been involved in as manager.

While Hughes could be in his last year at Easter Road, Sauzee certainly is. The Frenchman, who has come into the place like a whirlwind and enhanced the Scottish game, has stated he will be off at the end of the season.

Hughes is desperate to play on, while big Franck, who is a year younger at 34, is adamant he will return to France to pursue his business interests.

Not for him the possibility of having to spend time on the bench as some younger bucks take his place when his legs go.

Against Hearts, on only one occasion, there was the sight of Sauzee running for a ball he had no chance of catching, something he never does, such is the

intelligence of the player and the discipline of his game.

McLeish has admitted he accepts that the Frenchman will return home and that he will be lucky to find a player who could match his talent anywhere in the world that he can afford.

In a sport renowned for its hyperbole, the Hibs manager's statement isn't over the top such is the value of him to his team.

It was only the final Hibs goal from Paatelainen four

minutes from time which the Frenchman wasn't involved in.

For the first goal in 37 minutes, he pulled the Hearts defence wide allowing Russell Latapy to sell Fabian Leclerq an outrageous dummy before the Trinidad and Tobago internationalist slotted home. The goal equalised an exquisite strike from Darren Jackson after 26 minutes.

After the Jackson goal Hearts had some good chances to pull even further ahead with Gary Wales and Gary McSwegan

missing great opportunities but, in the second-half, it was Hibs who were the more dominant in every area of the pitch.

On the hour mark, Sauzee rose at the back post to glide a magni-ficent header back across Antti Niemi into the Hearts goal. In doing so, he took a heavy knock to his mouth.

Such is the character of the man who won a European Cup winners' medal when Marseille beat AC Milan back in 1993, he kept on playing only realising at the final whistle the severity of his injury which resulted in him having surgery to remove four teeth.

Even a player of the experience of Hughes seems in awe of Sauzee and afterwards the Hibs captain conceded that he would have loved to have seen him play at his peak and admitted that back then it would have taken millions of pounds to secure his signature.

From his point of view the chance of Hibs making Europe next season is all the incentive Hughes needs to try and secure a new contract, and there are some at Easter Road, more in hope than expectation certainly, who believe the lure of European football may yet entice Sauzee to have one last hurrah.

While Sauzee has numerous business interests back home, Hughes admits he doesn't have that much behind him for his retirement.

''I haven't made much from football, but I have enough to get by and that's what it's all about,'' said the Hibs captain. ''I am savouring everything and enjoying it and I am just happy to get the strip.

''I'm out of contract at the end of the season and there are a few of us like that but, whatever

happens I want to play on. I'm still physically fit and still have an appetite for the game.''

Certainly, the way he strutted across Easter Road, which he turned into his very own modern- day Coliseum, was testament to that.

From a Hearts point of view Jim Jefferies will be relieved that Motherwell's defeat against Rangers means his side still sit in third spot in the league table and he will realise he has quality players like captain Colin Cameron and young talent like Gary Naysmith -who was hit by a coin during the game with the incident being reported to police - to get their season back on track.

Next league matches: Hibs - Dundee (h, Tues); Hearts - Aberdeen (h, Wed).

Quote

Franck Sauzee has done things in football that some of us can only dream about. He lost his front teeth in the game so that means he can get into the boozer I go to.

- John Hughes