The Hearts moment Calum Elliot will never forget as he insists Robbie Neilson is hellbent on Scottish Cup glory

Sixteen years may have passed but Calum Elliot can recount his first and only Edinburgh derby goal as if it happened yesterday.

Rudi Skacel racing down the wing and throwing in a perfect cross, himself bursting into the box and shaking off the attention of Gary Caldwell with a shimmy before unleashing a volley high into the net.

It was the clinching goal in a 4-1 Tynecastle rout late in January 2006 as Hearts stormed towards a second-place finish.

Three months later they’d thump another four goals past Hibs at Hampden in a semi-final thrashing on their way to Scottish Cup glory.

It remains Hearts ’ best season of the millennium.

But parallels are already being drawn in the maroon class of 2022 – not least with a monumental league and Scottish Cup semi-final double-header looming on the horizon.

Elliot was a key man in that Jambos side of 2005/06, making 34 appearances. But the first two names on the team sheet for the majority of the season were even more important.

Craig Gordon and Robbie Neilson.

Two figures who drove that side to glory and who 16 years later, as captain and manager, are doing exactly the same.

Elliot – now managing himself at East of Scotland League high-flyers Tranent – said: “That 2005/06 season was special in so many ways. It was my second as a professional.

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