Jonnyboy
28-02-2019, 12:02 AM
I headed up to McDiarmid Park tonight knowing that our record there was pretty poor as we hadn’t managed a win in Perth for some years. It’s true that the hosts had been on a dismal run and that Hibs were coming off the back of a couple of excellent wins but still, something niggled away at me and had me thinking we’d struggle to get a result. During the half time break I convinced myself that my niggling thoughts were coming true but a stoic second half from the men in bright yellow saved the day.
The same starting eleven that had been in place for the previous two wins was in evidence again but there were changes on the bench with Bogdan and Nelom dropping out in favour of Dabrowski and Bartley. On what looked like a poor playing surface, both teams created early half chances, failing to capitalise but the deadlock was broken on the quarter hour mark when McGregor conceded a corner in trying and failing to shepherd the ball out of play as Kennedy played it off the defender’s shins. Saints made as if to take a short corner which brought two Hibs men out of the middle and left gaps which the home side made good use of by slinging the ball in first time. The Hibs defence made a hash of trying to clear the ball and Chris Kane had two swipes at it with the second of those forcing the ball beyond Marciano. It was poor play by Hibs and allowed Saints to score their first goal in weeks.
That goal spurred the hosts on and for the remainder of the first half they were the better side with Hibs struggling to contain them at times. Tommy Wright’s tactics seemed to be to play the ball over our back four and try to utilise the space in behind them. Our defence was getting overrun and our strikers were getting little by way of service. Of the midfield four only Slivka seemed willing to get the ball down and run at the Saints defence but I confess I was glad when the half time whistle sounded.
After encouraging words from the manager, Hibs started the second half much better and tried to move the ball quicker. Having said that, only a dreadful finish by Kane prevented Hibs from going two goals down when he had a clear view of goal but shanked his shot miles wide. At the other end, Slivka was booked for simulation as Hibs tried to increase the pressure on the home goal. Not long after that the Hibs man was lucky to escape a second yellow when he brought down Kane in front of the dug outs. I felt at that time that maybe he should be replaced but when the substitution did come it was Mallan who gave way with Omeonga coming on.
Hibs were pressing hard now and were spending a lot more time in and around the Saints penalty area than they did in the first half. Not long past the hour mark, Kamberi was adjudged to have been bundled over in the box and referee Gavin Duncan immediately pointed to the spot, sparking some outrageous gamesmanship from the home players. With some of them surrounding the referee, Kamberi found himself being noised up by Davidson with the two indulging in some word play and the odd push. As Duncan went towards them to break things up, Cammy Bell swiped the ball from the penalty spot where McNulty had placed it. In truth, it was schoolboy stuff and a bit embarrassing to watch. Once the dust had settled, McNulty fired home with Bell going the right way but unable to stop the ball which was placed right in the corner.
Hibs could and should have had their tails up after that but just a couple of minutes later, Tony Watt broke clear and the pursuing Slivka was adjudged to have fouled him which resulted in a second yellow and subsequent red card. I’ve only seen it ‘live’ but I’m not sure there was much contact as Watt went down like a sniper had shot him.
It seemed clear to me that we’d have to make adjustments and I admit I was quite surprised when Marvin Bartley replaced Horgan and not one of our strikers. I’d half convinced myself that one of our strike pair would go off and probably McNulty as he’d been subbed in the previous two games. As it turned out I’m delighted I was wrong on all counts as with around six minutes left a quite stunning through ball from Omeonga found McNulty inside the box and as Bell rushed out to narrow the angle, Sparky lifted a delightful chip over the diving keeper and into the net. It was a cracking goal that was both well set up and well finished by the man who just can’t stop scoring at the moment.
From that point on and including the additional five minutes added by the referee Hibs showed great resilience in seeing the game out. Defenders threw their bodies on the line, midfielders hurried and harried the Saints man on the ball and our two strikers were camped about twenty yards from our own goal. It was like the Alamo and the points were probably secured when Rocky made a stunning point blank save from a Kerr effort at the back post.
The game now over the players came to acknowledge the support and rightly so as although there had been moans and groans at the first half display they turned to cheers and encouragement in the second.
The players
All of the following views are based largely on the second half performance as other than Slivka and McNulty, no other Hibs player got anywhere near being happy with their first half performance.
Rocky – I’m not sure what was going on tonight but his distribution was miles off where it should be. I was also left wondering what on earth he was doing with one second half ‘superman’ dive that took him nowhere near the ball but having said that, his save at the death probably won us two points.
SDG – The usual 100% effort from him as he raced up and down the right hand side of the park. I thought he might have struggled a bit with the trickery of substitute Danny Swanson but he handled that challenge pretty well.
Daz – Conceding that silly corner apart I thought Daz was immense in clearing his lines as the game was nearing its end. I confess he surprised me big time with one stunning diagonal crossfield pass of about sixty yards as it is fair to say that’s not normally part of his game.
Paul – For me, Paul has been struggling of late but in fairness to him he improved as the game went on and was on hand to help repel the late barrage of efforts from the hosts.
Lewis – This was not his finest game in a Hibs strip as he struggled with the pace of Kennedy but he gave his all and will, I’m sure, sleep well tonight.
Stevie – Like some of his midfield colleagues he was being overrun at times and sadly things just did not go for him tonight. Not his best game but equally not worthy of some of the venomous criticism aimed at him by a bloke sitting a couple of rows behind me.
Slivka – I thought it a great shame that he was sent off and maybe replacing him after the yellow card and subsequent tackle on Kane would have been the best idea. Had he lasted the ninety minutes he’d probably have been my man of the match.
Milli – Pretty solid for the most part but took a really sore one when his attempt at playing the ball saw him kick the underside of a St Johnstone boot. Somehow that was deemed a foul to the home side for high feet but as he kicked the underside of the boot it surely means the Saints players’ boot was higher.
Daryl – After a largely anonymous first half he got going in the second and I was slightly surprised when he was replaced but I guess Bartley offered more protection of the back four with us being down to ten men.
Flo – Worked his socks off again and showed much better ball control and vision in finding a team mate. Davidson tried noising him up and a few St Johnstone players seemed to target him with foul tackles but I sense his confidence is growing again and he’s showing signs of a good partnership with his strike partner.
Sparky – This was his first full ninety minutes and he never stopped from start to finish. As I’ve said, I see a flourishing partnership developing with Flo and his run and finish for the winning goal was sublime. He gets my man of the match award tonight.
Stephane – What a bundle of energy this guy is with a deal of talent to match. He is tenacious in the tackle, demonstrates a lovely touch and his ball to Sparky for the winning goal was right out of the top drawer.
Marv – The big fella was brought on with a specific job to do and he did that job very well in protecting the back four and supporting the full backs when Saints doubled up in the wide areas.
Sean – Only on the park for a few minutes but in that time he managed to make two vital clearances when it seemed just about every St Johnstone player was in or around our 18 yard box.
Hecky - Is that what we’ve decided to call him? Certainly that’s what it sounded like when the fans were singing that catchy new song all night.
The fans – That was a fantastic support and a very noisy one thanks to the guys and gals in the singing section.
Gavin Duncan – Got pelters from an angry Tommy Wright for awarding Hibs a penalty but you know what; he got that decision right because Kamberi was bundled over inside the 18 yard box. For me, Wright should be angrier with the perpetrator of the foul because Kamberi was going nowhere and the challenge didn’t need to be made.
The same starting eleven that had been in place for the previous two wins was in evidence again but there were changes on the bench with Bogdan and Nelom dropping out in favour of Dabrowski and Bartley. On what looked like a poor playing surface, both teams created early half chances, failing to capitalise but the deadlock was broken on the quarter hour mark when McGregor conceded a corner in trying and failing to shepherd the ball out of play as Kennedy played it off the defender’s shins. Saints made as if to take a short corner which brought two Hibs men out of the middle and left gaps which the home side made good use of by slinging the ball in first time. The Hibs defence made a hash of trying to clear the ball and Chris Kane had two swipes at it with the second of those forcing the ball beyond Marciano. It was poor play by Hibs and allowed Saints to score their first goal in weeks.
That goal spurred the hosts on and for the remainder of the first half they were the better side with Hibs struggling to contain them at times. Tommy Wright’s tactics seemed to be to play the ball over our back four and try to utilise the space in behind them. Our defence was getting overrun and our strikers were getting little by way of service. Of the midfield four only Slivka seemed willing to get the ball down and run at the Saints defence but I confess I was glad when the half time whistle sounded.
After encouraging words from the manager, Hibs started the second half much better and tried to move the ball quicker. Having said that, only a dreadful finish by Kane prevented Hibs from going two goals down when he had a clear view of goal but shanked his shot miles wide. At the other end, Slivka was booked for simulation as Hibs tried to increase the pressure on the home goal. Not long after that the Hibs man was lucky to escape a second yellow when he brought down Kane in front of the dug outs. I felt at that time that maybe he should be replaced but when the substitution did come it was Mallan who gave way with Omeonga coming on.
Hibs were pressing hard now and were spending a lot more time in and around the Saints penalty area than they did in the first half. Not long past the hour mark, Kamberi was adjudged to have been bundled over in the box and referee Gavin Duncan immediately pointed to the spot, sparking some outrageous gamesmanship from the home players. With some of them surrounding the referee, Kamberi found himself being noised up by Davidson with the two indulging in some word play and the odd push. As Duncan went towards them to break things up, Cammy Bell swiped the ball from the penalty spot where McNulty had placed it. In truth, it was schoolboy stuff and a bit embarrassing to watch. Once the dust had settled, McNulty fired home with Bell going the right way but unable to stop the ball which was placed right in the corner.
Hibs could and should have had their tails up after that but just a couple of minutes later, Tony Watt broke clear and the pursuing Slivka was adjudged to have fouled him which resulted in a second yellow and subsequent red card. I’ve only seen it ‘live’ but I’m not sure there was much contact as Watt went down like a sniper had shot him.
It seemed clear to me that we’d have to make adjustments and I admit I was quite surprised when Marvin Bartley replaced Horgan and not one of our strikers. I’d half convinced myself that one of our strike pair would go off and probably McNulty as he’d been subbed in the previous two games. As it turned out I’m delighted I was wrong on all counts as with around six minutes left a quite stunning through ball from Omeonga found McNulty inside the box and as Bell rushed out to narrow the angle, Sparky lifted a delightful chip over the diving keeper and into the net. It was a cracking goal that was both well set up and well finished by the man who just can’t stop scoring at the moment.
From that point on and including the additional five minutes added by the referee Hibs showed great resilience in seeing the game out. Defenders threw their bodies on the line, midfielders hurried and harried the Saints man on the ball and our two strikers were camped about twenty yards from our own goal. It was like the Alamo and the points were probably secured when Rocky made a stunning point blank save from a Kerr effort at the back post.
The game now over the players came to acknowledge the support and rightly so as although there had been moans and groans at the first half display they turned to cheers and encouragement in the second.
The players
All of the following views are based largely on the second half performance as other than Slivka and McNulty, no other Hibs player got anywhere near being happy with their first half performance.
Rocky – I’m not sure what was going on tonight but his distribution was miles off where it should be. I was also left wondering what on earth he was doing with one second half ‘superman’ dive that took him nowhere near the ball but having said that, his save at the death probably won us two points.
SDG – The usual 100% effort from him as he raced up and down the right hand side of the park. I thought he might have struggled a bit with the trickery of substitute Danny Swanson but he handled that challenge pretty well.
Daz – Conceding that silly corner apart I thought Daz was immense in clearing his lines as the game was nearing its end. I confess he surprised me big time with one stunning diagonal crossfield pass of about sixty yards as it is fair to say that’s not normally part of his game.
Paul – For me, Paul has been struggling of late but in fairness to him he improved as the game went on and was on hand to help repel the late barrage of efforts from the hosts.
Lewis – This was not his finest game in a Hibs strip as he struggled with the pace of Kennedy but he gave his all and will, I’m sure, sleep well tonight.
Stevie – Like some of his midfield colleagues he was being overrun at times and sadly things just did not go for him tonight. Not his best game but equally not worthy of some of the venomous criticism aimed at him by a bloke sitting a couple of rows behind me.
Slivka – I thought it a great shame that he was sent off and maybe replacing him after the yellow card and subsequent tackle on Kane would have been the best idea. Had he lasted the ninety minutes he’d probably have been my man of the match.
Milli – Pretty solid for the most part but took a really sore one when his attempt at playing the ball saw him kick the underside of a St Johnstone boot. Somehow that was deemed a foul to the home side for high feet but as he kicked the underside of the boot it surely means the Saints players’ boot was higher.
Daryl – After a largely anonymous first half he got going in the second and I was slightly surprised when he was replaced but I guess Bartley offered more protection of the back four with us being down to ten men.
Flo – Worked his socks off again and showed much better ball control and vision in finding a team mate. Davidson tried noising him up and a few St Johnstone players seemed to target him with foul tackles but I sense his confidence is growing again and he’s showing signs of a good partnership with his strike partner.
Sparky – This was his first full ninety minutes and he never stopped from start to finish. As I’ve said, I see a flourishing partnership developing with Flo and his run and finish for the winning goal was sublime. He gets my man of the match award tonight.
Stephane – What a bundle of energy this guy is with a deal of talent to match. He is tenacious in the tackle, demonstrates a lovely touch and his ball to Sparky for the winning goal was right out of the top drawer.
Marv – The big fella was brought on with a specific job to do and he did that job very well in protecting the back four and supporting the full backs when Saints doubled up in the wide areas.
Sean – Only on the park for a few minutes but in that time he managed to make two vital clearances when it seemed just about every St Johnstone player was in or around our 18 yard box.
Hecky - Is that what we’ve decided to call him? Certainly that’s what it sounded like when the fans were singing that catchy new song all night.
The fans – That was a fantastic support and a very noisy one thanks to the guys and gals in the singing section.
Gavin Duncan – Got pelters from an angry Tommy Wright for awarding Hibs a penalty but you know what; he got that decision right because Kamberi was bundled over inside the 18 yard box. For me, Wright should be angrier with the perpetrator of the foul because Kamberi was going nowhere and the challenge didn’t need to be made.