Fenlon at a Loss About Cup Loss

Manager Pat Fenlon apologised to the Hibernian supporters after watching his side's drubbing in the Scottish Cup final against Hearts.

Pa Kujabi was sent off in the 5-1 defeat at Hampden as Hibs collapsed in the face of a Hearts onslaught.

"We didn't turn up, we didn't shine, we didn't deserve to win the game," said Fenlon.

"We didn't show anything. I apologise to the fans for having to sit and watch that."

The defeat means Hibs' drought without a Scottish Cup final victory will now stretch to at least 111 years.

“There's no desire and we've got to change the players to change the outlook of the club”Pat Fenlon

James McPake pulled a goal back just before the break after Darren Barr and Rudi Skacel had given Hearts a two-goal lead.

However, Hibs' hopes were dashed at the start of the second half when Kujabi was adjudged to have fouled Susa in the box.

The Hibs defender was given his marching orders with a second booking and Danny Grainger scored from the spot.

Ryan McGowan's header and Skacel's second compounded a miserable afternoon for Hibs in the first all-Edinburgh Scottish Cup final since 1896.

"The club has been like this for a while," added Fenlon.

"There's no desire and we've got to change the players to change the outlook of the club.

"We'll work as hard as we can to turn things around."

Scottish Cup Final - Preview

Hibernian manager Pat Fenlon has a near fully-fit squad to choose from for Saturday's Scottish Cup final meeting with Edinburgh rivals Hearts.

James McPake, Tom Soares, Pa Kujabi and Jorge Claros have been nursing knocks of late but are all fit to feature.

BBC Scotland understands striker Craig Beattie will start on the bench after overcoming a hamstring problem.

Midfielder Ian Black continues to nurse a hernia but should play while full-back Jamie Hamill is definitely out.

Winger Danny Galbraith and goalkeeper Graham Stack are confirmed absentees for Hibs.

Hibernian captain James McPake: "It's a great honour to be walking out at Hampden and leading a team out for the Scottish Cup final and it's an even bigger honour that it's probably the biggest game in derby history.

"We go into it confident and looking forward to it. What an honour it would be for us to be the first [Hibs] team in 110 years to lift that cup.

"We've not beaten them in 10 derby games. I don't look took much into that. This is 90 minutes of football, or it could be more with extra-time.

"We'll go out and give it the best 90 minutes of our lives and hopefully that'll be enough at the end of the day."

Hearts captain Marius Zaliukas: "It's probably the biggest game in the club's history. I wouldn't say that anyone is nervous, everyone is excited. Everyone is very confident.

"With this, the last three years [of unbeaten derbies] don't count. It's one day, a big day.

"I don't think a lot has to be said to the team because everyone understands the importance of the game and we're going to be ready for it.

"Every derby game is like a little present for our fans and for the team and if we win it's the same."

Fenlon's Hibs Suffer Killies Loss

Hibernian were unable to further distance themselves from relegation as they lost at home to Kilmarnock, whose win came from a Dean Shiels penalty.

Honduran midfielder Jorge Claros brought down Killie's Liam Kelly as half-time approached and Shiels beat Mark Brown from the spot.

Hibs' strike duo Leigh Griffiths and Garry O'Connor began confidently but the supply from midfield was poor.

The three points for Killie means they leapfrog Aberdeen into seventh spot.

Dunfermline, the Scottish Premier League's basement side, earned a point from their 4-4 draw at St Mirren on Saturday, reducing the gap on Hibs to six.

But Pat Fenlon's side were poor against the Ayrshiremen, especially in the second half, and seldom truly threatened Cammy Bell's goal.

Hibs fans will look for a big improvement for the Scottish Cup final against Hearts in May.

Graham Stack's leg injury meant a start for home goalkeeper Mark Brown, with Lewis Stevenson also making a return.

Killie's sole aim in the remaining games is to finish the "best of the rest" and they look a reasonable bet to hold on to that seventh spot after their win at Easter Road.

Manager Kenny Shiels made four changes to his team that lost 6-0 to Celtic on 7 April - Lewis Toshney, Ryan O'Leary, James Dayton and Danny Racchi returning in the away team's yellow shirts.

Hampden semi-final hero Griffiths attempted to go by Michael Nelson on the edge of the area after nine minutes but went to ground and was booked for diving by referee Craig Thomson.

Griffiths was allowed space to shoot from 25 yards, and forced Bell to turn the ball over the bar, then an O'Connor header from a corner hit team-mate James McPake inside the six-yard box and the visitors scrambled clear.

A fierce Isaiah Osbourne shot appeared to hit a sprawling James Fowler on the arm 20 yards out but nothing was given as Hibs went forward once more.

Close to half-time, Kelly was felled in the box and Thomson had no hesitation in pointing to the spot. Shiels made no mistake from 12 yards.

After the break, Roy O'Donovan came on for O'Connor when the big striker went off with a foot injury and he was joined by Danny Racchi who was stretchered off after a Claros tackle.

Killie's Dayton mis-hit a clearance from a corner on to his own arm inside the area and the ball fell for Claros, whose effort was narrowly off target.

Bell held a 30-yard free-kick from Griffiths as Hibs again failed to find a way through and their dismal record of one home win all season remains

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Celtic Go Nuts with Crabbies

Celtic stretched their lead over Rangers at the top of the SPL to 17 points, with Gary Hooper scoring twice in a 5-0 win at Hibs on Sunday.

Goals from Anthony Stokes and former Scunthorpe striker Hooper gave the impressive visitors a commanding interval lead and there was no let-up from Celtic in the second half.

Hoops defender Charlie Mulgrew fired in a free-kick just after the break and Hooper grabbed his second before substitute Ki Sung-yueng added a fifth to extend the Parkhead side's winning domestic run to 18 games.

With such a commanding lead over their Old Firm rivals, who look likely to get weaker by getting rid of players in cost-cutting measures, the title is almost certainly in the bag for Celtic.

Sorry Hibs, though, were simply swept away and look set to continue their battle with Dunfermline to avoid the drop.

Celtic boss Neil Lennon's growing reluctance to tinker too much with his side in recent weeks saw only two changes.

Defender Thomas Rogne returned from a calf injury at the expense of Daniel Majstorovic while striker Stokes came in for Georgios Samaras to partner Hooper, a move which was to provide rich dividends.

Striker Leigh Griffiths and defenders Paul Hanlon and James McPake returned from suspension for the Leithers as Sean O'Hanlon, George Francomb and Garry O'Connor dropped to the bench.

Hibs had kept a clean sheet in their previous two home matches which gave them some confidence but the travelling fans behind the goal were in party mood and anticipating a Hoops win.

There was less than a minute played when Hibs keeper Graham Stack had to save from Hooper's close-range flick after he had been set up by Stokes, with the home side forced to defended a couple of early corners.

Hibs rallied but there was an inevitability about the opener in the 14th minute which saw Stokes head in Mulgrew's corner from the right without much interference from the home defence.

The second goal six minutes later came from a quick Celtic break, Hooper playing the ball out to Stokes on the left and then racing into the Hibs box to take the return pass and shoot low past Stack from 10 yards.

Already it looked all too easy for the league leaders.

Hibees midfielder Lewis Stevenson, though, had a good chance to bring the Easter Road men back into the game when he dispossessed Celtic right-back Adam Matthews just outside the box but he volleyed weakly straight at Hoops keeper Fraser Forster.

The home side kept at their task and on the half-hour mark David Wotherspoon failed to connect with Isaiah Osbourne's cross right in front of goal before Griffiths crossed from the other side for Osbourne to head wide of the far post.

Moments later, in another swift Celtic break, Stokes went down after turning inside McPake, but referee Craig Thomson ignored claims for a penalty.

Celtic threatened every time they went forward and in the 37th minute midfielder Joe Ledley drove towards the Hibs goal before driving over the bar, before Stack had to make a save from Parkhead skipper Scott Brown who had been set up by Stokes.

Francomb replaced Matthew Doherty for the start of the second half but Fenlon's switch was rendered almost immediately pointless.

There was barely a minute played when Hanlon fouled Hooper 20 yards from goal and Mulgrew curled in a delightful left-footed free-kick to make it 3-0, although questions may be asked about Stack's positioning.

Celtic were rampant and Stack had to make a good block from Stokes after he had been played in by Hooper but the fourth was on its way.

In the 52nd minute, when Hooper flashed in a drive from the left-hand side of the box, Stack looked favourite to save but the Hibs keeper watched in dismay as the ball escaped his grasp and ended up in the corner of the net.

O'Connor had replaced Eoin Doyle before midfielders Ki and Kris Commons came on for Victor Wanyama and Hooper respectively.

As Celtic dropped down a gear momentarily, Emilio Izaguirre replaced Rogne as Lennon took the opportunity to give the left-back some much-needed match practice.

In the 77th minute Commons' wayward shot from the left cannoned off Ki and behind Stack for number five before Ledley saw a header come back off the bar following a Ki corner as Celtic hunted more goals.

Celtic fans wanted six but will have been satisfied with the result and a storming performance by a Parkhead side who now look almost unstoppable in their quest to wrest the title back from Ibrox.