Jonnyboy
03-02-2018, 09:39 PM
Hearing that both Paul Hanlon and Darren McGregor would not start the match this afternoon made for a nervy build up to the clash with the Rangers at Ibrox. My nerves took a further turn for the worse when I heard the starting eleven contained no right back, despite the fact that Rherras was fit and available but only made the bench. Add in the fact that going to three at the back would have meant Lewis as the left of the three, a position I don’t believe he has ever played before and you can perhaps understand my fears.
On the positive side, Neil Lennon gave Scott Allan his first start of his second spell with the club and stuck with his two wide men in Brandon Barker and Martin Boyle. It was a very bold move in my opinion and one that could have backfired as the Rangers had plenty of width and experience in their side. As it turned out, it was a masterstroke by the manager as Hibs were magnificent in the first half and extremely resolute in the second as the home side threw everything they could at the visitors.
As is often the way when teams visit Ibrox, Hibs found themselves under early pressure and with the back three still finding their feet it took a fantastic block by Lewis Stevenson to stop the Rangers taking an early lead.
There was a blow to Hibs around the eight minute mark when Brandon Barker pulled up sharply and looked to have suffered a hamstring injury. After treatment, Brandon attempted to walk across the width of the pitch but was told to take the long way round by referee Willie Collum. Marvin Bartley seemed to query the ref’s decision, indicating the nature of the injury and the fact that Brandon would have to run the gauntlet of sections of the home support, but Collum was unmoved.
As Brandon departed, Jamie McLaren was called into action and fans around me expressed surprise that it was not Danny Swanson who took to the field. A few minutes later, McLaren showed his worth by finding space from a Boyle cutback but was crowded out as he shaped to shoot. Very soon thereafter, McLaren did find the net from a Kamberi cross but was adjudged offside. That happened at the far end from me so I’m unsure whether the offside call was correct or not.
Next up came a fabulous double save by Ofir Marciano who denied both Murphy and Windass, when both looked favourites to score. The action was fast and furious as the game flowed from end to end with Scott Allan the standout as he orchestrated things in the middle of the park. Strong on the ball and drifting past defenders as though they were not there you got the feeling he could find Lord Lucan with a pass.
The pace demonstrated by Hibs had the home defence in a pickle and the home support growing progressively restless as Florian Kamberi took a pass from McLaren and elected to shoot straight away when steadying himself might have denied the save made by Fotheringham. As the Rangers tried to flow forward a brilliant block by Ryan Porteous stopped them in their tracks and then just a few minutes before the break a surging run by John McGinn saw the Hibs man fire a low shot beyond Fotheringham and into the bottom corner of the net, sending the small but very noisy Hibs support into raptures.
It was always going to be the case that Rangers would come out of the traps in the second half and that’s just what they did but this new look Hibs defence, protected well by Marvin Bartley and Dylan McGeouch held firm under increasing pressure. Twenty minutes in, the Rangers thought they had equalised but the scorer was deemed to be offside. Another couple of tidy saves by Rocky kept the visitors in the lead before they decided to introduce Jason Cummings into the proceedings. They probably thought he’d hit the target against his old club but he was not involved when, a couple of minutes later, the Rangers equalised. A silly foul by Porteous was punished by Goss whose shot went over the wall, hit the underside of the crossbar and hit Rocky on the back before it went in.
I doubt if I was alone in thinking we’d struggle to take anything from the game at that point but less than two minutes later James Tavernier stupidly tripped Scott Allan in the box and Willie Collum immediately pointed to the spot. I wondered who might take it but there seemed little opposition when Jamie McLaren stepped forward with ball. His hard shot, low to the keeper’s right, found the net and Hibs were back in front.
The next fifteen or so minutes were the worst kind of torture any Hibs fan had to endure as the Rangers dominated possession with Hibs struggling to get out of their own half. It has to be said that our makeshift defence, ably assisted by the likes of McGinn, Bartley and McGeouch stood firm with a fantastic block by Porteous stopping a certain equaliser at the death. The arrival of Cummings had concerned me as we’ve all read that script before but the only thing he did of any note was get booked for hauling down Marvin Bartley. It was interesting to see the Rangers man rush to apologise to Marv who, let’s face it, is not a man to trifle with.
As the final whistle blew, the hordes of disgruntled home fans streamed out of the ground, ably demonstrating that despite their assertions to the contrary, they do walk away. We were kept in for twenty minutes or so but never a support to miss a chance we just had a wee party to ourselves!
The players
Rocky – had a handful of very good and vital saves and was very unlucky with the goal as the ball struck him while he was flat on the ground. As Neil Lennon said recently, we’re starting to see the Marciano he thought he’d signed.
Efe – playing on the right of a three I thought Efe was first class today in curbing the supposed £8m player and having him resort to diving in order to get the better of the big man.
Ryan – was absolutely outstanding throughout if a little naïve at the free kick for the equaliser. My brother reckons, and I agree with him 100% that Ryan will go on to play at the highest level. I loved it after the final whistle when he joined the other players in saluting the fans and was grinning widely as he joined in with the singing.
Lewis – I was critical of Lewis after his uncharacteristic display against Motherwell but he was excellent today in the unfamiliar role on the left side of a back three. He can add captaining a winning Hibs at Ibrox to his roll of honour.
Boyler – caused them a lot of grief in the first half with his strong running and got back more often than not to protect the right side of our defence.
Dylan – had a great first half but was somewhat subdued in the second although that may have been because he had to sit so deep against a side that was pressing for an equaliser.
Scotty – at last we have a player that can pick a pass and dictate the tempo of the game from midfield. I never thought I’d see him in a Hibs jersey again but I am over the moon that he is back and playing like he did today.
Marv – the big fella had a key role today in having to protect an untried defensive set up and he did it very well indeed. This was the sort of game in which he excels and he didn’t disappoint.
SJM – another every blade of grass performance by John, who switched to a wider left position when Barker went off. Looked very assured in that more defensive role while still taking any chance he got to burst forward. I was lucky in that the angle I had for his shot showed me it was in from the moment he hit it.
Flo – had a bit of a task on his hands in leading the line on his own but he performed admirably, even when he was back helping out our hard pushed defence in the final fifteen minutes.
Jamie – the lad looks a player to me with excellent movement, a brilliant work rate and a cool head on his shoulders as demonstrated with the scoring of the penalty.
Oli – a bold move by Neil Lennon taking off Scott Allan from the midfield and replacing him with a striker but it had the desired effect as it forced the Rangers to leave a few men back to defend against the movement of Shaw and Kamberi.
Danny – only got a few minutes at the end so not much I can say regarding him.
Neil Lennon – brave to go with that back three but he got that right and got our tactics right too. Sadly, I didn’t see any ear cupping but I’ll let him off this time.
Willie Collum – I’d say there were about three very bad tackles in the whole game but never one to miss his chance in the spotlight he booked three from the Rangers and six from Hibs.
Man of the match – Rocky was excellent with vital saves; Scotty was a huge positive influence in the middle of the park; SJM gave his all as he usually does but my man of the match goes to our very promising young centre back Ryan Porteous.
On the positive side, Neil Lennon gave Scott Allan his first start of his second spell with the club and stuck with his two wide men in Brandon Barker and Martin Boyle. It was a very bold move in my opinion and one that could have backfired as the Rangers had plenty of width and experience in their side. As it turned out, it was a masterstroke by the manager as Hibs were magnificent in the first half and extremely resolute in the second as the home side threw everything they could at the visitors.
As is often the way when teams visit Ibrox, Hibs found themselves under early pressure and with the back three still finding their feet it took a fantastic block by Lewis Stevenson to stop the Rangers taking an early lead.
There was a blow to Hibs around the eight minute mark when Brandon Barker pulled up sharply and looked to have suffered a hamstring injury. After treatment, Brandon attempted to walk across the width of the pitch but was told to take the long way round by referee Willie Collum. Marvin Bartley seemed to query the ref’s decision, indicating the nature of the injury and the fact that Brandon would have to run the gauntlet of sections of the home support, but Collum was unmoved.
As Brandon departed, Jamie McLaren was called into action and fans around me expressed surprise that it was not Danny Swanson who took to the field. A few minutes later, McLaren showed his worth by finding space from a Boyle cutback but was crowded out as he shaped to shoot. Very soon thereafter, McLaren did find the net from a Kamberi cross but was adjudged offside. That happened at the far end from me so I’m unsure whether the offside call was correct or not.
Next up came a fabulous double save by Ofir Marciano who denied both Murphy and Windass, when both looked favourites to score. The action was fast and furious as the game flowed from end to end with Scott Allan the standout as he orchestrated things in the middle of the park. Strong on the ball and drifting past defenders as though they were not there you got the feeling he could find Lord Lucan with a pass.
The pace demonstrated by Hibs had the home defence in a pickle and the home support growing progressively restless as Florian Kamberi took a pass from McLaren and elected to shoot straight away when steadying himself might have denied the save made by Fotheringham. As the Rangers tried to flow forward a brilliant block by Ryan Porteous stopped them in their tracks and then just a few minutes before the break a surging run by John McGinn saw the Hibs man fire a low shot beyond Fotheringham and into the bottom corner of the net, sending the small but very noisy Hibs support into raptures.
It was always going to be the case that Rangers would come out of the traps in the second half and that’s just what they did but this new look Hibs defence, protected well by Marvin Bartley and Dylan McGeouch held firm under increasing pressure. Twenty minutes in, the Rangers thought they had equalised but the scorer was deemed to be offside. Another couple of tidy saves by Rocky kept the visitors in the lead before they decided to introduce Jason Cummings into the proceedings. They probably thought he’d hit the target against his old club but he was not involved when, a couple of minutes later, the Rangers equalised. A silly foul by Porteous was punished by Goss whose shot went over the wall, hit the underside of the crossbar and hit Rocky on the back before it went in.
I doubt if I was alone in thinking we’d struggle to take anything from the game at that point but less than two minutes later James Tavernier stupidly tripped Scott Allan in the box and Willie Collum immediately pointed to the spot. I wondered who might take it but there seemed little opposition when Jamie McLaren stepped forward with ball. His hard shot, low to the keeper’s right, found the net and Hibs were back in front.
The next fifteen or so minutes were the worst kind of torture any Hibs fan had to endure as the Rangers dominated possession with Hibs struggling to get out of their own half. It has to be said that our makeshift defence, ably assisted by the likes of McGinn, Bartley and McGeouch stood firm with a fantastic block by Porteous stopping a certain equaliser at the death. The arrival of Cummings had concerned me as we’ve all read that script before but the only thing he did of any note was get booked for hauling down Marvin Bartley. It was interesting to see the Rangers man rush to apologise to Marv who, let’s face it, is not a man to trifle with.
As the final whistle blew, the hordes of disgruntled home fans streamed out of the ground, ably demonstrating that despite their assertions to the contrary, they do walk away. We were kept in for twenty minutes or so but never a support to miss a chance we just had a wee party to ourselves!
The players
Rocky – had a handful of very good and vital saves and was very unlucky with the goal as the ball struck him while he was flat on the ground. As Neil Lennon said recently, we’re starting to see the Marciano he thought he’d signed.
Efe – playing on the right of a three I thought Efe was first class today in curbing the supposed £8m player and having him resort to diving in order to get the better of the big man.
Ryan – was absolutely outstanding throughout if a little naïve at the free kick for the equaliser. My brother reckons, and I agree with him 100% that Ryan will go on to play at the highest level. I loved it after the final whistle when he joined the other players in saluting the fans and was grinning widely as he joined in with the singing.
Lewis – I was critical of Lewis after his uncharacteristic display against Motherwell but he was excellent today in the unfamiliar role on the left side of a back three. He can add captaining a winning Hibs at Ibrox to his roll of honour.
Boyler – caused them a lot of grief in the first half with his strong running and got back more often than not to protect the right side of our defence.
Dylan – had a great first half but was somewhat subdued in the second although that may have been because he had to sit so deep against a side that was pressing for an equaliser.
Scotty – at last we have a player that can pick a pass and dictate the tempo of the game from midfield. I never thought I’d see him in a Hibs jersey again but I am over the moon that he is back and playing like he did today.
Marv – the big fella had a key role today in having to protect an untried defensive set up and he did it very well indeed. This was the sort of game in which he excels and he didn’t disappoint.
SJM – another every blade of grass performance by John, who switched to a wider left position when Barker went off. Looked very assured in that more defensive role while still taking any chance he got to burst forward. I was lucky in that the angle I had for his shot showed me it was in from the moment he hit it.
Flo – had a bit of a task on his hands in leading the line on his own but he performed admirably, even when he was back helping out our hard pushed defence in the final fifteen minutes.
Jamie – the lad looks a player to me with excellent movement, a brilliant work rate and a cool head on his shoulders as demonstrated with the scoring of the penalty.
Oli – a bold move by Neil Lennon taking off Scott Allan from the midfield and replacing him with a striker but it had the desired effect as it forced the Rangers to leave a few men back to defend against the movement of Shaw and Kamberi.
Danny – only got a few minutes at the end so not much I can say regarding him.
Neil Lennon – brave to go with that back three but he got that right and got our tactics right too. Sadly, I didn’t see any ear cupping but I’ll let him off this time.
Willie Collum – I’d say there were about three very bad tackles in the whole game but never one to miss his chance in the spotlight he booked three from the Rangers and six from Hibs.
Man of the match – Rocky was excellent with vital saves; Scotty was a huge positive influence in the middle of the park; SJM gave his all as he usually does but my man of the match goes to our very promising young centre back Ryan Porteous.