Jonnyboy
28-04-2018, 07:07 PM
What a roller coaster of a game that was! Had I been a neutral I’d have loved it but as a Hibby it kept me right on the edge of my seat.
With Scott Allan available again it was a cert that he’d start the game as would big Daz, fit again after injury. It had me wondering who might drop out but the Scott Allan ‘problem’ was solved due to unavailability of Dylan who has I believe, a fractured cheekbone. As it was, Whitty retained his place, albeit as the holding midfielder and the unlucky Danny Swanson was dropped to the bench.
The opening exchanges were not great with both sides wasteful in possession and Hibs struggling to reach the heights achieved against Celtic. In my view that was partly due to John McGinn playing in a slightly deeper role and partly due to the Killie midfield roughing up our players. Power and Dicker were booked in quick succession and had the referee not been inept, Tshibola would have joined them for a series of fouls, the worst of which being against Stevenson. Don Robertson had a bit of a nightmare and even the BBC pundits discussing the game at the end declared him to have had that very same nightmare. The most surprising thing of all is that they were surprised when that kind of display is pretty much the norm these days.
With Allan and McGinn prompting, Hibs finally made the breakthrough when the first named played a neat one-two with Kamberi before rifling a lot shot past the Killie keeper. They say you are at your most vulnerable just after you’ve scored and just a few short minutes later, Killie equalised. A poor kick out by Rocky gave the visitors possession and when the ball reached the impressive Jordan Jones his cross found the unmarked and looking suspiciously offside Boyd who nodded the ball home for the equaliser. The rest of the half saw the teams exchanging blows but little of consequence happened in front of either goal.
The hope at half time was that Neil Lennon would deliver stirring encouragement to his players but in fact it was Killie that started the half better with the first ten minutes witnessing Hibs being pressed back. Then along came a thing of beauty when McGinn dropped a magnificent cross over the head of a Killie defender and Steven Whittaker volleyed a first time effort into the net. Once again though, Hibs gave up a soft goal when Jones easily beat Ambrose before cutting the ball back to the onrushing Findlay who hooked the ball past Rocky to make it 2-2.
The game was finely balanced for the next fifteen minutes or so with both teams keen to get forward and it was Hibs that made the breakthrough when a sublime pass by Allan found Maclaren at the edge of the box and the wee fella, who’d not been at his best, smashed the ball home to make it 3-2. Next there came a quite bizarre incident when Kamberi went down under a challenge in the 18 yard box. Referee Don Robertson looked at his assistant and then pointed to the spot only to change his mind after consulting the self-same assistant. Minutes later however, Kamberi took a cracking pass from McGinn to smash the ball past Fasan to make it 4-2. Four minutes later, Don Robertson awarded a soft free kick around twenty yards from goal when McGregor looked to have won the ball cleanly. Step forward Kris Boyd to thunder a shot into the net with Rocky rooted to the spot.
Hibs had their backs to the wall now and another weak attempt at a tackle by Ambrose allowed Jones to fire the ball into the Hibs area where it came off the shins of Hanlon and rolled into the net. I thought it was an equaliser, the Killie fans and players thought it was an equaliser but the west stand assistant had raised his flag for God knows what and the goal was disallowed.
In a tense closing period, Brandon Barker who had earlier replaced Maclaren was set free with a lovely through ball by Swanson. Brandon got his head down and ran full pelt at the Killie defence and as he entered the penalty area you could see the Killie players were reluctant to challenge. Brandon took full advantage of that hesitancy and cracked home a fifth and vital goal to secure the three points for Hibs.
What a game though, what a game. Credit to Killie for giving it a go but no credit to their manager who’s about as upbeat as the Rev. I. M. Jolly. I know his team had just lost but even when asked about the cracking free kick by Boyd he contented himself with mumbling about Boyd only doing his job. I’m glad the torn faced disaster went home empty handed.
I’ve mentioned the referee a couple of times and just wanted to add that it’s not sour grapes because we actually won the game, it’s simply that his overwhelming desire to be the centre of attention actually kinda backfired on him and I’m glad. He was pilloried by the Sportsound pundits and rightly so.
The players
Rocky – I wondered if he might have beaten Boyd to the ball for the first goal as it was in the air and arrived in the six yard box but I’ve not seen the incident again and so I might be being a tad harsh on our keeper.
Efe – I feel like most weeks I say the same about Efe but perhaps that’s because most weeks he serves up the ammunition. At times today he was brilliant, calm, collected, unflustered but on other occasions, especially Killie’s second goal his defending is woeful. Cut out the silly mistakes, Efe … please!
Daz – Big Daz had his hands full with Boyd to deal with but over the piece I thought he did that well, with the caveat that both he and Hanlon seemed to be posted missing for Killie’s first goal.
Paul – Another excellent performance from Paul, notwithstanding the goal mentioned above. For the most part his positional sense and good use of the ball stood out.
Boyler – Martin had a bit of a mixed bag of a game. Drew an early booking out of a Killie defender and I expected him to keep running at the guy because the Killie man would know he couldn’t haul him down again. Sadly, Squirrel didn’t do that but in fairness he was often left flustered because he was free of a marker but not picked out by his team mates.
Whitty – I thought at times Whitty was having a bit of a ‘mare but at other times his tackling and passing were crisp and concise. The main thing to stand out today however was that quite stunning first time finish following the McGinn cross.
Scotty – Never fails to impress me by seeing passes that other players only witness when they’re watching the Champions League! I thought he was outstanding today and so did the match sponsors who voted them as their man of the match.
SJM – Super played in a deeper role today and so chances to drive the team forward were not so readily available. Setting up two goals with quite stunning passes; together with his hunger and desire not to give ground when we were protecting a 4-3 lead earned him my man of the match award.
Lewis – Once again Lewis offered up a solid display, both going forward and defending and today’s performance almost got him my man of the match award. To me, Lewis together with Hanlon and McGinn are the cornerstone to us refusing to lose a game.
Jamie – Not a lot happened for Jamie today, up until he scored that is. He put plenty of effort in and dragged defenders out of the way so that team mates would benefit but he wasn’t having his best game until he latched onto that McGinn pass and fired home a cracking goal.
Flo – Never gives defenders a minute’s peace and I thought he was unlucky not to have earned a penalty today. His goal when it came was cracked home with great confidence.
Brandon – Got the last twenty minutes or so and definitely caused the Killie defence concern with his direct running. He was ‘rewarded’ with a groan when he seemed to duck out of a fifty-fifty challenge but surely made amends with a brilliant solo goal at the death.
Danny – Only got the last few minutes but was quick to spot the chance to release Barker for the fifth goal. Sadly he took a sore one at that point and limped off the pitch at the end of play.
Neil – Lenny is steering us to a place that very few of us imagined possible away back at the start of the season. He is rightly proud of his players for what they are doing and is never slow to say so.
The ref – Don Robertson was abysmal and that’s official because even the BBC pundits slagged him off!
The fans – I was aware from an early point in the first half that someone was getting emergency medical treatment in the west lower. It went on for some time and I truly hope that whoever it was is OK and will make a full recovery. In general the fans were fantastic again and especially in the last five or ten minutes, roaring the team on to victory.
With Scott Allan available again it was a cert that he’d start the game as would big Daz, fit again after injury. It had me wondering who might drop out but the Scott Allan ‘problem’ was solved due to unavailability of Dylan who has I believe, a fractured cheekbone. As it was, Whitty retained his place, albeit as the holding midfielder and the unlucky Danny Swanson was dropped to the bench.
The opening exchanges were not great with both sides wasteful in possession and Hibs struggling to reach the heights achieved against Celtic. In my view that was partly due to John McGinn playing in a slightly deeper role and partly due to the Killie midfield roughing up our players. Power and Dicker were booked in quick succession and had the referee not been inept, Tshibola would have joined them for a series of fouls, the worst of which being against Stevenson. Don Robertson had a bit of a nightmare and even the BBC pundits discussing the game at the end declared him to have had that very same nightmare. The most surprising thing of all is that they were surprised when that kind of display is pretty much the norm these days.
With Allan and McGinn prompting, Hibs finally made the breakthrough when the first named played a neat one-two with Kamberi before rifling a lot shot past the Killie keeper. They say you are at your most vulnerable just after you’ve scored and just a few short minutes later, Killie equalised. A poor kick out by Rocky gave the visitors possession and when the ball reached the impressive Jordan Jones his cross found the unmarked and looking suspiciously offside Boyd who nodded the ball home for the equaliser. The rest of the half saw the teams exchanging blows but little of consequence happened in front of either goal.
The hope at half time was that Neil Lennon would deliver stirring encouragement to his players but in fact it was Killie that started the half better with the first ten minutes witnessing Hibs being pressed back. Then along came a thing of beauty when McGinn dropped a magnificent cross over the head of a Killie defender and Steven Whittaker volleyed a first time effort into the net. Once again though, Hibs gave up a soft goal when Jones easily beat Ambrose before cutting the ball back to the onrushing Findlay who hooked the ball past Rocky to make it 2-2.
The game was finely balanced for the next fifteen minutes or so with both teams keen to get forward and it was Hibs that made the breakthrough when a sublime pass by Allan found Maclaren at the edge of the box and the wee fella, who’d not been at his best, smashed the ball home to make it 3-2. Next there came a quite bizarre incident when Kamberi went down under a challenge in the 18 yard box. Referee Don Robertson looked at his assistant and then pointed to the spot only to change his mind after consulting the self-same assistant. Minutes later however, Kamberi took a cracking pass from McGinn to smash the ball past Fasan to make it 4-2. Four minutes later, Don Robertson awarded a soft free kick around twenty yards from goal when McGregor looked to have won the ball cleanly. Step forward Kris Boyd to thunder a shot into the net with Rocky rooted to the spot.
Hibs had their backs to the wall now and another weak attempt at a tackle by Ambrose allowed Jones to fire the ball into the Hibs area where it came off the shins of Hanlon and rolled into the net. I thought it was an equaliser, the Killie fans and players thought it was an equaliser but the west stand assistant had raised his flag for God knows what and the goal was disallowed.
In a tense closing period, Brandon Barker who had earlier replaced Maclaren was set free with a lovely through ball by Swanson. Brandon got his head down and ran full pelt at the Killie defence and as he entered the penalty area you could see the Killie players were reluctant to challenge. Brandon took full advantage of that hesitancy and cracked home a fifth and vital goal to secure the three points for Hibs.
What a game though, what a game. Credit to Killie for giving it a go but no credit to their manager who’s about as upbeat as the Rev. I. M. Jolly. I know his team had just lost but even when asked about the cracking free kick by Boyd he contented himself with mumbling about Boyd only doing his job. I’m glad the torn faced disaster went home empty handed.
I’ve mentioned the referee a couple of times and just wanted to add that it’s not sour grapes because we actually won the game, it’s simply that his overwhelming desire to be the centre of attention actually kinda backfired on him and I’m glad. He was pilloried by the Sportsound pundits and rightly so.
The players
Rocky – I wondered if he might have beaten Boyd to the ball for the first goal as it was in the air and arrived in the six yard box but I’ve not seen the incident again and so I might be being a tad harsh on our keeper.
Efe – I feel like most weeks I say the same about Efe but perhaps that’s because most weeks he serves up the ammunition. At times today he was brilliant, calm, collected, unflustered but on other occasions, especially Killie’s second goal his defending is woeful. Cut out the silly mistakes, Efe … please!
Daz – Big Daz had his hands full with Boyd to deal with but over the piece I thought he did that well, with the caveat that both he and Hanlon seemed to be posted missing for Killie’s first goal.
Paul – Another excellent performance from Paul, notwithstanding the goal mentioned above. For the most part his positional sense and good use of the ball stood out.
Boyler – Martin had a bit of a mixed bag of a game. Drew an early booking out of a Killie defender and I expected him to keep running at the guy because the Killie man would know he couldn’t haul him down again. Sadly, Squirrel didn’t do that but in fairness he was often left flustered because he was free of a marker but not picked out by his team mates.
Whitty – I thought at times Whitty was having a bit of a ‘mare but at other times his tackling and passing were crisp and concise. The main thing to stand out today however was that quite stunning first time finish following the McGinn cross.
Scotty – Never fails to impress me by seeing passes that other players only witness when they’re watching the Champions League! I thought he was outstanding today and so did the match sponsors who voted them as their man of the match.
SJM – Super played in a deeper role today and so chances to drive the team forward were not so readily available. Setting up two goals with quite stunning passes; together with his hunger and desire not to give ground when we were protecting a 4-3 lead earned him my man of the match award.
Lewis – Once again Lewis offered up a solid display, both going forward and defending and today’s performance almost got him my man of the match award. To me, Lewis together with Hanlon and McGinn are the cornerstone to us refusing to lose a game.
Jamie – Not a lot happened for Jamie today, up until he scored that is. He put plenty of effort in and dragged defenders out of the way so that team mates would benefit but he wasn’t having his best game until he latched onto that McGinn pass and fired home a cracking goal.
Flo – Never gives defenders a minute’s peace and I thought he was unlucky not to have earned a penalty today. His goal when it came was cracked home with great confidence.
Brandon – Got the last twenty minutes or so and definitely caused the Killie defence concern with his direct running. He was ‘rewarded’ with a groan when he seemed to duck out of a fifty-fifty challenge but surely made amends with a brilliant solo goal at the death.
Danny – Only got the last few minutes but was quick to spot the chance to release Barker for the fifth goal. Sadly he took a sore one at that point and limped off the pitch at the end of play.
Neil – Lenny is steering us to a place that very few of us imagined possible away back at the start of the season. He is rightly proud of his players for what they are doing and is never slow to say so.
The ref – Don Robertson was abysmal and that’s official because even the BBC pundits slagged him off!
The fans – I was aware from an early point in the first half that someone was getting emergency medical treatment in the west lower. It went on for some time and I truly hope that whoever it was is OK and will make a full recovery. In general the fans were fantastic again and especially in the last five or ten minutes, roaring the team on to victory.