Clark in Jovial Mood
Hibs temp boss cheered by Dick Turpin act....

Hibs interim gaffer was a happy man after Hibernian's smash and grab raid on Aberdeen yesterday, in which both sides frankly failed to entertain and in which Hibs spent a large amount of time on the rack as Aberdeen threatened to run riot, Daniel Andersson and the much-maligned Colin Murdock coming to Hibs rescue on several occasions before Garry O'Connor grabbed a last-minute winner on the break with a superb strike that represented the only quality finish of the game, and only Hibs second shot on target, Derek Riordan perhaps demonstrating his quality by his absence as Hibs struggled to create anything meaningful before O'Connor stepped up. To much laughter, Clark joked:

"It could have been four or five eh? Then he added: "To be honest, Aberdeen deserved to win the game, no doubt about that one". Continuing to state the obvious, Clark admitted:  "We stole it, I don't think there's any doubt about that either, but we'll take it". Having borne witness to a number of games where Hibs have been the better side and walked away with either a loss or a draw when their play merited three points, I for one agree with that.

Grant Brebner in action at Pittodrie (sns)

Clark then took some time out to praise young striker Garry O'Connor for his finish, and his team mates for managing to break en masse at the end of the game, as Aberdeen pushed for the winner their earlier play had merited: "Garry did very well. We had five on two, they were obviously desperately trying to get the winner that they obviously deserved, and we broke away".

It has become almost passé to do so in recent weeks as the Swede's outstanding form continues, but Clark praised Hibs.net man of the match Daniel Andersson for keeping Hibs in the game, along with the much-maligned Colin Murdock on a day when their defensive colleagues were judged and found wanting on several occasions. Clark remarked:

"Aberdeen were obviously outstanding second half, they came out and created a number of chances. Daniel Andersson had two or three great saves, Colin Murdock had a couple of great blocks".

Whilst heaping praise on Hibernian's opponents, Clark admitted that before Hibs scored he would have been happy to hold on for the point, having weathered the storm earlier on:

"We managed to hang on, and then I thought we came into the game a wee bit and we had a couple of half chances, but Aberdeen were the better side, I think it's fair to say. They've got a corner in the last minute and you're thinking it's just about time and they're going to score. They were evidently going forward trying to get a winner and we broke away".

He then made a remark, which a large number of the Hibernian family will be able to relate to when reflecting on this season: "You don't always get what you deserve, as we've found out to our cost this season". That is perhaps most true of Hibs CIS Cup run where the Edinburgh side eliminated both halves on the Old Firm in epic encounters, winning plaudits from all sides in the process, and then lost the Final. Games such as the 3-3 draw with Motherwell and the 1-0 home defeat to Rangers where Hibs outplayed their opponents and walked away with a draw and a defeat respectively will also spring to mind, as will the recent 2-2 draw with Dundee at Dens park where Hibs missed a penalty at 2-1 ahead with Dundee on the rack for much of the game.

Speaking about the winning goal yesterday, Clark initially felt that O'Connor was being to greedy by taking the ball on himself when his colleagues may have been better placed to score, but praised O'Connor for taking it well:

"If Garry doesn't score there he's going to get dog's abuse because Gary Caldwell's on the right and we've five on two, so if he gives it to Caldwell he can play the ball in and we're probably going to score, but he's finished it well".

He certainly did, and it seems hard to believe that was his first goal since his match winner against Kilmarnock back in January.