Another game needed
Bobby looks to play another game to get over yesterday's failings ahead of Hampden...

BOBBY WILLIAMSON WILL COME BACK TO WORK ON MONDAY AND SIT THROUGH the 93 minutes of yesterday's horror show in an attempt to discover the key to lifting the CIS Cup at Hampden in two weeks time.  His young side, seemingly strengthened by the return of Gary Smith and Colin Murdock gave away an early goal courtesy of a fantastic strike by Scott Morrison in the fifth minute of the opening half.  Although it was only that strike that separated the teams, Aberdeen were on top for most of the game and the work rate from the visitors, in all areas of the park, drew praise from the Hibs boss afterwards.

”Credit to Aberdeen, they defended very well and not just their back players but also their midfield men who made sure we couldn’t enjoy too much possession or get in good passes. In fact their strikers did well too in closing down our players to stop them building from the back."  Going a goal down as early as they did could have seen some heads go down and Aberdeen increase their lead giving the home side no chance to get back in the game but that wasn't the case yesterday as Williamson pointed out.  "We kept plugging away, as you have to do at home and we forced them onto the back foot on occasions but there was always the likelihood they could break out and hit us on the counter attack though they never got that second goal and we were always in the game right up until the end we had very few chances to score because they defended so well. The final pass let us down on the day and that was disappointing.”  With Hibs not beating Aberdeen, or Livingston for that matter, this season, the inability to make that final pass for the strikers to get a shot on goal will have to be worked on otherwise what hope do we have for picking up a trophy in two weeks time.

Caldwell and Anderson clash but later clash did not provide Hibs with a penalty  (sns)

One man on the park who seemed to draw comment from most Hibs fans was whistler Iain Brines.  Brines seemed intent on making himself noticed at times and once again the Hibs boss was left wondering why his side should not be awarded a penalty after the referee turned down the home side's appeals following a clash between Caldwell and Russell Anderson.  ”I thought we had a very solid claim when Gary Caldwell burst into the box,” said Bobby ”I felt the defender stood and then leant right into Gary and I’ve seen them given on many occasions so it was disappointing when the claim was waived aside. It looked a pretty certain penalty to me.”  Perhaps Hibs have had their fair share of penalties this season thanks to the shootout at Hampden!  However, it wasn't just penalty incidents that drew comment.  It's quite rare to see a freekick given for a passback these days as players have gotten to grips with the rule but Brines felt compelled to penalise Gary Smith for one in injury time, a decision that gave Williamson another cause to complain about the official's performance.

”He added on three minutes of time and then proceeded to waste two of them by awarding Aberdeen what he interpreted as a deliberate pass back. I feel if Gary Caldwell had been intending to pass that ball back to the goalkeeper he would have gotten it much closer to him. What actually happened was that Gary stuck out a foot to block a pass from one Aberdeen striker to another and the ball deflected back to a position wide of the goal so the keeper picked it up which he was entitled to do and the Referee deemed that a passback."  With the ensuing 'debating' on the decision, by the time the kick was taken, and nothing coming of it, the home side had no time left to get back up the park in an attempt to secure a last gasp goal.  "That wasted a lot of time and left us without the chance of doing anything as it took the sting right out of the game. Fair enough, we might have played all night and never scored but that decision didn’t help and it’s frustrating when such decisions have that kind of effect.”

So where now for the Hibees?  Well, no snap decisions is the word from Bobby who will sit down to watch the game all over again in an attempt to discover where things need changed and how.  With some players looking reluctant to get into some challenges that they'd have had no hesitation in should Hibs not have a trip to Hampden coming, there are still one or two positions that have not yet been filled for the game in two weeks time.  A two week break isn't the ideal preparation for a game of this magnitude, particularly when things haven't gone well for the side in recent league fixtures so an additional closed doors match could be on the cards.  ”I want to watch the tape of this game first and analyse it before I decide what’s best but I may think about some sort of game before the Final. There’s nothing concrete set up but I’ll look at it and we’ll see.”  Whatever Williamson decides to do, there will need to be a marked improvement in some player's performances if the side wants to lift the trophy in a fortnight.