Hearts Women slumped to a 1-0 defeat to city rivals Hibs at Tynecastle Park on early Sunday evening.

A tight, tense and too often tame Edinburgh derby struggled to get going for long parts with goal-mouth action at a premium. It only came to life in the closing stages after Hibs substitute Rosie Livingstone was all alone at the back post to slot a shot past Rachael Johnstone.

Hearts searched for an equaliser but couldn't find a way past their opponents.

Joel Sked looks back at the action from Tynecastle Park.

The state of play

A win for Hearts would have taken them back to within a point of league leaders Glasgow City. In the build-up to the fixture head coach Eva Olid talked about mentality coming into the derby.

“I feel the group this time is more prepared in terms of mentally and play than previous years,” she said. “Especially mentally because in previous years I think that was a mental thing. Every time that we were playing at Tynecastle, emotions were too much, and that affected our performance. I have total confidence that this time will be totally different.”

It's hard to say that the mentality affected the team's performance but the team certainly dropped below the standards set by them this season. It put a dent in their title aspirations and a slight dent in their aim to finish in the top three and split the Glasgow trio. The good news, heading into their next fixture away to Aberdeen, is the team still sit third but the league is bunched up with five points separating the top five making it a hugely exciting league.

Disappointing derby doesn't deliver

You are always loath to compare the women's game with the men's game but an exception can be made in this case. The women's derby followed suit of what is often the case in the men's fixture between the clubs, a difficult watch. For the 5,132 fans in Tynecastle Park, including a healthy away support, plus those watching live on BBC, there was little excitement, little drama and little to get their teeth stuck into. While both defences were on top, some of that can be put down to poor build-up play with too many errors as the ball was often traded back and forth in the middle of the pitch. It was therefore a disappointing advert for two teams who have improved on last season and are duking it out with the three Glasgow teams who have dominated the league in recent years. Such matters mean little when you win a game but that wasn't the case for Hearts as they struggled to step up and perform in front of a big home crowd once more.

Hearts' attacking troubles

There will be plenty of frustration amongst the Hearts camp around the result and performance but perhaps the biggest disappointment will be how little threat they posed throughout the match. Erin Clachers between the sticks for Hibs was quiet throughout and rarely called into action, beyond claiming a couple of crosses. The home side were guilty of moving the ball too slowly, especially in the middle third where too many touches were taken before a pass was executed. On other occasions moves simply broke down because a pass went astray, whether it was turned over to Hibs in play or played out the park. It was unlike the Hearts side that have done so well this season. Bayley Hutchison cut an isolated figure in attack. There were a couple of moments in the first half where Hearts got the ball to her feet and she caused some concern in the Hibs backline but nothing would materialise. The introduction of Georgia Timms was expected to add further pace and urgency to the attack but she rarely saw the ball on the right of the attack.

Experience

Hearts have plenty of younger players in the squad and in the starting line-up. Playing in front of such a crowd and such a game should stand them in good stead in terms of the feeling of not only the experience of the environment but also the taste of defeat where it is clear this fixture really matters to the players, which, of course, it should. That could be seen from the celebrations at the end amongst the Hibs players and staff and the disappointment emanating from the losing side. If there were any positives to take from the Hearts performance, the composure on the ball and range of passing from young goalkeeper Rachael Johnstone was positive while the defensive trio were solid for the majority of the match keeping Hibs at arm's length, from open play and set pieces, until the late goal.