Griffiths eyes end of cup drought

Leigh Griffiths is ready to bring an end to the taunting from Tynecastle after his late Scottish Cup semi winner for Hibernian over Aberdeen.

Griffiths' winning striker has given Hibs the chance to end their 110-year Scottish Cup drought.

Strike-partner Garry O'Connor had given Hibs an early lead but Rory Fallon levelled just before the hour mark with a stunning volley.

However, with five minutes remaining Griffiths latched onto a pass from O'Connor and drove low past Dons keeper Jason Brown to set up a final meeting next month against either Hearts or Celtic who play in the other semi-final on Sunday.

"Obviously being brought up a Hibs fan you get taunted by the Hearts fans, it's 1902, 1902," he said.

"Now we are only 90 minutes away from being the first Hibs team in 110 years to do it so I'm very proud.

"To score at that end, in front of the thousands of Hibs fans is a dream come true.

"When I was being interviewed right after the game you heard them singing 'Sunshine on Leith' like they did after the 2007 League Cup final.

"It was a great moment and the hairs stood up, it was great to watch and hopefully they will be doing it on the 19th of May.

"I am not bothered who we get in the final. There would be an appeal to an Edinburgh derby but as I say, I don't care who we get, we are in the final and it's up to Celtic and Hearts to battle it out to join us."

Griffiths, on loan from Wolves, praised O'Connor for the perfectly weighted through ball which gave him the chance to clinch the final spot when extra-time was looming.

He said: "With me and Garry up front we have always goals and the big man slipped me in and I put it away. It was a great pass.

"I don't think he was even looking, he knew where I was, and thankfully he put it on a plate for me and I put it past the keeper.

"I always thought there was going to be one more chance, either for us or them but thankfully it broke to me. But I didn't care who it fell to as long as it hit the back of the net."

Griffiths, however, believes securing Scottish Premier League survival is paramount before Hibs can look forward to the end of season showpiece.

The Leith club are seven points ahead of bottom side Dunfermline with five games remaining.

"We have to put it to the back of our minds and focus on the league," he said.

"We still have games to go and hopefully we will get a few wins on the board, and Dunfermline will lose a couple and we can get away from relegation and look forward to the final.

"I think it is going to be hard to put the final to the back of our minds but it has to be done, the SPL is our bread and butter and we need to make sure we are away from relegation as quickly as possible, then we can look forward to the final."

Hibs keeper Graham Stack had to be replaced by Mark Brown in the second half after injuring his thigh and he faces a race to be fit in time for the final next month.

"I will go in on Monday and have a scan and fingers crossed it is not too bad," he said.

"Of course it is a worry, no one likes missing games, certainly not the ones we have coming up - a relegation battle and cup final on the horizon.

"So I will be trying my utmost to get myself fit."