By Barry Anderson

Copyright scotsman

Beni Baningime needs no excuse to smile at any time. His cheesy grin is a constant feature at Riccarton, impossible to miss even after disappointing Hearts results. He is beaming even more than usual following Saturday’s win over Rangers. The magnitude of the achievement is still sinking in, for this was Baningime’s first success against the Ibrox club four years since arriving in Edinburgh. Only three times this Century had Hearts beaten Rangers in Glasgow. Those came in 2004, 2012 and 2014. The 11-year wait for the fourth seemed like an eternity for supporters who repeatedly gathered in hope in the away corner at Ibrox, only to leave disappointed time after time. At the first attempt, new Hearts head coach Derek McInnes put to bed a hoodoo which lingered for too long. “I believe it’s my first win against Rangers. It’s a good feeling,” said Baningime, that smile appearing wider than ever as he spoke exclusively to the Edinburgh News. “They are a great club with good players. To go there and win away at Ibrox, it had been 11 years, so to break that is a nice achievement. I feel like we just need to continue in the trajectory that we’ve been going in.” When informed that Saturday’s result was only Hearts’ fourth Ibrox triumph in 25 years, Baningime drew a sharp breath. “When you say it like that, it’s sinking in,” he replied. “I spoke to a few people after the game and I don’t think it sunk in what we’ve actually done it. Of course, it’s not a final or anything. You need to try and move on from it as quickly as possible and to continue in the form that we’ve been in. For a couple of days we had to let that soak in, enjoy it and move on from there. “I was speaking to Gall [Hearts goalkeeping coach Paul Gallacher] after the game. He said: ‘Beni, enjoy this moment because you don’t get it all the time.’ This is what football’s all about. One little moment, enjoy it as a professional. As a professional, you have to move on very quickly because there are many more games. I think teams are now seeing the way that we’ve been going. The games are going to get harder. For us, we can’t be complacent and we need to continue to go on the way that we have been going.” Lawrence Shankland’s two goals secured a historic win in Glasgow to keep Hearts joint-top of the Premiership alongside Celtic. An efficient and intelligent away performance left Rangers sitting 10th. Baningime can recall many difficult afternoons against Rangers, making this one all the more enjoyable. “I think it was a different game to the ones that I’ve played in the past, in terms of being camped in our own box,” he explained. “Of course, they did have the majority of possession, which is normal. With the way that they’re managing to play and the players that they have, it’s normal for them to have a little bit more possession. “I felt like there wasn’t really a lot in terms of our new goalkeeper [Alexander Schwolow] wasn’t peppered. There were shots but it didn’t feel like we were constantly sinking back. There were times where they were coming, there were a few breaks and blocks from our defenders. So, yeah, it was a different feeling. I feel that’s credit to us, the way that we play the game, credit to the manager’s tactics and the way he wanted us to play. I feel like all of those things come into play and I feel like we did that well.” Fury from the home support was impossible to miss, even for players on the field. “Yeah, it’s pretty funny to hear,” said Baningime. “But Rangers is a big club and I’ve also been at Hearts when we were playing poorly so I know the feeling. I think their fans know the standards and they know what they want to be. They have their reactions, which is fine, and from our perspective it was the other way round this time. We were the ones who were looking at it and hearing it, and it wasn’t us, and it’s because of the way that we’ve been playing “The one thing that I’ve learned in Scotland is, especially with the big clubs like us, Rangers and Celtic, if you’re not at it, the fans are going to make it known to you. So, you don’t play at Rangers if you can’t handle that, and you don’t play at Hearts if you can’t handle that, or even Celtic, or Aberdeen, or whatever. These are the bigger clubs so they are going to have to handle it. Also, we have to keep going and we have to handle that.” Keeping going involves maintaining the kind of consistency which has earned Hearts four wins and a draw from their opening five Premiership games. Supporters are engaged and fascinated by McInnes’ leadership as he looks to keep them challenging until next May. “I think there’s no reason to get carried away,” stressed Baningime. “For us, we have to continue to put the work in, as we have been doing in training, and to take it forward. I know it’s a cliché thing, but Aberdeen had a great start last year, and they came to a point where they just kind of fell away a bit. For us, it’s to look at what they did well, implement that in our own way, and obviously try to see their downfall from last season, where they kind of struggled a bit, and to make sure that we don’t do that. I know it’s a cliché answer to say, ‘take it game-by-game, but that’s the reality of it because it can turn very quickly.” READ MORE: Hearts players get results from surgery and scans