Killie put through
the mill
Sweet revenge for Under 21's
by Mike Burns
One
week ago, Kilmarnock U21’s put six past the wee Hibees at Rugby Park so not much was
expected of the lads tonight and maybe that showed in the rather small crowd, that and the
fact it was absolutely baltic. However, football is a game full of surprises and tonight
it was the turn of Hibs to put Killie through the mill, but not before a succession of
early corners threatened to turn this into a ‘here we go again’ affair.
These corners all came to nothing
though and Nick Colgan in goal was never troubled. Nick lined up alongside some other
familiar ex-first team faces with the Hibs team being.
Nick Colgan, Alan
Dempsie, Alan Reid, Ryan Harding, Mathias Doumbe, Derek Townsley, Kevin Nicol, Grant
Brebner, Garry O’Connor, Frederic Arpinon and Lyndon Andrews.
Derek Townsley was given a role
playing wide right in midfield with Lyndon Andrews partnering Garry O’Connor up
front.
Freddy Arpinon tried a long range
effort, ala Chick Charnley, but as there is only one Chick Charnley, the shot was well
wide. Hibs made the breakthrough in only 10 minutes when a pass inside went loose
following a slip by the defender and oor Garry was on it in a flash, rounded the keeper
and slotted home from a tight angle. As soon as O’Connor picked the ball, you were
very confident there was only going to be one outcome to this, a Hibernian goal, and
that’s not something I have been able to say for a while. Garry continued throughout
the game to hustle and harry the Killie defence, which was being marshalled by Chris Innes
with Colin Meldrum in their goal, and a cross from O’Connor was taken on the chest by
Andrews, who turned inside and had his attempted shot blocked as he was about to fire home
number two.
Both teams were trying to pass
the ball and this was one of the better games, despite the freezing conditions, a lovely
move involving Brebner, Arpinon and Townsley, created a chance for O’Connor but young
Garry pulled his shot wide. A poor passback by Alan Dempsie, who was having a good game,
was pounced on by Jerome Vereille, however a tremendous tackle from Ryan Harding robbed
him of any chance with Harding taking the ball away and sending a pass up field. Hibs were
always looking the more likely to score and they almost added a second in 36 minutes when
a cross from Brebner was controlled by Townsley, turned inside and his left foot drive
clipped the top of the bar with Meldrum well beaten.
Every blade of grass (sns)
Right on the stroke of half time,
O’Connor created space for himself in the box, barged through two defenders and
whipped over a dangerous low cross which Townsley only narrowly failed to tuck away. Nick
Colgan had a very quiet first half, not having a save of any note to make. This was
largely due to how well his back four had played, particularly Ryan Harding although he
was ably backed up by Mathias Doumbe. The second half started with a lovely dummy from
Freddy Arpinon, to no avail, although it looked like Freddy had done himself an injury in
twisting. He eventually got up though and looked none the worst for his efforts. Chris
Innes was booked in 55 minutes for taking out Arpinon and from the resulting free kick
Freddy sent a header narrowly over the bar. A foul on Kevin Nicol got Killie’s Robbie
Henderson their second booking but this was never a dirty game.
The 2nd half was not
matching the quality of the first, although Hibs continued to control the game with
Brebner covering every blade of grass (did Brian Hamilton not do that too, oh no)!
Garry O’Connor was booked in
75 minutes for an innocuous wee nudge on a Killie player, however the booking must have
been for persistent fouling as he had conceded a few of these throughout the game, as all
good centre forwards normally do and get away with it, or is that just the ones in old
firm jerseys?
A brilliant, simple through ball
by Andrews to Brebner saw Grant race into the box. With the keeper rushing out, Brebner
decided to chip Meldrum and this turned out to be the wrong option as the ball sailed high
over the bar. Somewhere along the line, Emilio Jagnelli had sneaked onto the park as sub
for Killie. He was spotted charging through the Hibs midfield unchallenged before
unleashing a 25 yard effort which failed to wake up Nick Colgan. Arpinon was next into the
book for a late lunging tackle near the dugouts, or technical area, whatever it is called
these days, a big bit grund wi some white lines roond it where the manager sits sometimes. This
was a needless booking for Freddy as there was absolutely no danger and it could well
prove costly for him later on as his points mount up.
Les Byle soon replaced Arpinon
and this proved to be a master substitution. With the clock slowly ticking away, as it
always does when it’s freezing at these games, Lyndon Andrews taken out of the game
with a knee high challenge on him, however Lyndon is a stocky wee bloke and he recovered
quickly. Townsley took the resultant free-kick and whipped in a great shot which the
keeper did well to parry, and from the rebound O’Connor turned it round the post
under pressure from a defender.
Garry O’Connor turned goal
maker with only two minutes left as he swung over a vicious low cross which Killie keeper
Meldrum missed, allowing Les Byle to hook home from 0-7 yards and deservedly finish the
game in Hibees favour. Killie’s Garry McDonald was booked in injury time for another
brutal foul on Lyndon Andrews, who will probably be nursing a few knocks this morning.
There were no failures in this Hibs team tonight, and although there was no real stand
outs, it was a very good team performance. Nick Colgan had very little to do but he looked
confident and assured. If he manages to thaw out before Saturday, I would have no
hesitation in playing him if needed, and I am not his greatest fan.
Pick of the defence was Ryan
Harding who handled Vereille with ease and the more I see of Ryan Harding the more I like
him (ooh err misses). He was, as mentioned before, ably assisted by Doumbe, who probably
had his best game for me, and the two full backs Dempsie and Reid (no not makepiece)
Brebner worked tirelessly in midfield, Some of his passes went a bit astray but
that’s Grant for you. Freddy Arpinon always wanted the ball, and always wanted three
hours to make his pass, which was over elaborate at times. Young Kevin Nicol didn’t
look out of place amongst his more senior team mates and up front Garry O’Connor put
in another hard 90 minutes, scoring one and making the other.
At a time when the first
team are struggling badly to find the net, here is a lad who is hitting it on a regular
basis in the U21’s and we simply cannot ignore the fact, we cannot protect the laddie
forever in this time need, what was that about if you’re good enough? Despite
O’Connor efforts up front my MOTM would go to Ryan Harding, he is definitely one for
the future. |
