Jonnyboy
11-05-2019, 08:00 PM
Coming back from the game today I listened in to Hecky’s post-match interview and thought he pretty much nailed our performance when he labelled it as ‘rubbish.’ There was plenty of endeavour but not a lot of hunger as Killie dominated for large portions of the game. They, of course, very much had something to play for whilst all we knew was that we were odds on to finish fifth and ahead of Hearts in the process. Whether subconsciously the players had decided the holidays were coming I do not know but it was a real pity that they let down what was a fantastic travelling support.
There’s a couple of things I want to get off my chest before offering my thoughts on the actual game but it is important for me to say that I do not think either of these matters constitute any sort of excuse for the loss. We were rubbish and we got what we deserved. Firstly, that playing surface is a disgrace and I remain firmly of the belief that it should be a necessity for any club in the top division to have a grass surface. The surface definitely offers the home side an advantage as they play on it regularly but let’s be honest, it’s just not good enough and most definitely has an effect on how the ball rolls and bounces. My second gripe concerns the penalty award. I confess I was ball watching and so didn’t see the ‘foul’ but have since seen it on twitter and listened to the guys on Sportsound calling it for what it was – a dreadful decision by an incompetent official. It wasn’t the ref’s only blunder either, in my view. Numerous fouls by both sides were ignored whilst ten a penny challenges allowed Mr. Dallas to blow his whistle and put himself on centre stage.
Having gotten that off my chest I’ll turn to the game itself. Fraser Murray was drafted in and Kamberi was recalled from the bench with Horgan and Gauld making way. As I anticipated, Killie came out of the traps and had the better of the opening exchanges with Bruce forcing Rocky into a save that needed collected after the keeper failed to hold the initial effort. They were getting some mileage down their right with Omeonga drifting infield and leaving gaps as a result but Hibs settled a bit and clever play saw Kamberi with a chance to get a shot away but he was closed down.
The sun was causing Hibs defenders a bit of bother when trying to read the flight of high balls and Hanlon was lucky when he ducked under the ball and Burke just failed to make contact. Hibs were offering little and after Brophy shot high and wide, Rocky seemed to misread the flight of a cross and was lucky when the ball hit the bar and was cleared. When referee Dallas awarded a corner when it was clearly a goal kick, Rocky reacted brilliantly to push away a near post header from Power but it was only a warning of what was to come soon after.
A corner was swung in and as I and probably every other of the 1,510 Hibs fans watched the ball, referee Dallas pointed to the spot after deciding SDG had pulled down Alex Bruce. Gray was incensed and was booked for his protests and given that I’ve now seen the ‘incident’ I’m not surprised our captain went bananas. Brophy took the kick and went straight down the middle with Rocky diving to his right. Brophy had another chance but dragged his shot wide and Hibs held out until half time without conceding again.
I was hoping that Hecky’s half time talk included reference to the number of times we just gave possession away with poor passes and aimless long balls but if it did, they weren’t listening as error after error simply encouraged Killie forward all the more. With about 25 minutes left, Hecky had three subs stripped and ready and in all honesty about eight of our players could easily have been hooked. As it was, both strikers and Omeonga departed with Horgan, Shaw and Agyepong coming on. There was no obvious positivity from the changes although Agyepong looked the liveliest of the three.
As the clock ran down, Killie dropped deeper and deeper but instead of getting the ball into their area quicker, Hibs persisted with endless passes across the back four and as a consequence, played right into their hands. My pulse rate increased slightly when Shaw looked to have a chance of capitalising on indecision between a Killie defender and his keeper but the latter eventually gathered successfully. Agyepong then had what I’d say was our best effort and given that the clock showed we’d played 88 minutes that’s a pretty sad fact to report. The wee man cut in from the left, drifted past a couple of challenges and fired a shot at goal that Bachmann tipped over the bar with some ease.
The players
Rocky – His distribution, especially in the first half, was woeful at times but he redeemed himself with a couple of very good saves.
SDG – Not one of his better games in my opinion. He was rarely involved in an attacking sense and only really seemed to come to life in the last fifteen minutes.
Daz – Another who failed to shine he was fortunate on occasion that Brophy didn’t make better use of the ball when it got in behind the Hibs man.
Paul – I’m struggling to find anything positive or negative about Hanlon as he just seemed to drift through the game.
Lewis – Struggled in the first half I thought, partly because Omeonga failed to provide cover but in truth this was not one of his better days.
Fraser – I was delighted to learn that he was being given a start and although he didn’t do anything particularly outstanding I felt he was the only midfielder who was prepared to put his foot on the ball and try to play the game the way it should be. Singled out for praise by Hecky I thought he was worthy of it and he gets my man of the match award.
Stevie – He was largely anonymous in my opinion. Drifted out of the game for long periods and didn’t contribute much at all.
Millsy – Infuriates me by taking so long to do pretty much everything. In this second last game of the season he decided to reveal that he has the ability to deliver a humungous long throw. Where have you been hiding that, Mark?
Stephane – Posted missing far too often and struggled more than most with the playing surface. I’d have hooked him earlier if truth be told.
Flo – I said to my mate I’d love to offer an opinion on Flo’s second touch but sadly I didn’t see one today. I’ve no idea what’s gone wrong with him but the drop in form is alarming.
Sparky – Lots of runs but not picked out most of the time. In truth he looked very ordinary today and it doesn’t help that the goals have dried up, big time.
Daryl – I looked for him to provide a much needed spark. I’m still looking.
Oli – Provided those who don’t think he’ll make it at Hibs with an amount of ammunition.
Wee Tam – When he got involved you felt he had made a positive difference but unfortunately his team mates didn’t provide enough opportunities.
Hecky – Spot on with his ‘rubbish’ comments but I felt he was partly to blame by not making the changes at half time.
The fans – Hermit Crab of this parish predicted 600 pre-match, changed it to 800 at about quarter to three so I guess he was more than half right, given that 1,510 Hibbies were in attendance.
Dallas – Pathetic, simply pathetic and it is painfully obvious that he’s been given ‘inside help’ to rise to the heights he’s achieved because it cannot be based on ability to do the job.
There’s a couple of things I want to get off my chest before offering my thoughts on the actual game but it is important for me to say that I do not think either of these matters constitute any sort of excuse for the loss. We were rubbish and we got what we deserved. Firstly, that playing surface is a disgrace and I remain firmly of the belief that it should be a necessity for any club in the top division to have a grass surface. The surface definitely offers the home side an advantage as they play on it regularly but let’s be honest, it’s just not good enough and most definitely has an effect on how the ball rolls and bounces. My second gripe concerns the penalty award. I confess I was ball watching and so didn’t see the ‘foul’ but have since seen it on twitter and listened to the guys on Sportsound calling it for what it was – a dreadful decision by an incompetent official. It wasn’t the ref’s only blunder either, in my view. Numerous fouls by both sides were ignored whilst ten a penny challenges allowed Mr. Dallas to blow his whistle and put himself on centre stage.
Having gotten that off my chest I’ll turn to the game itself. Fraser Murray was drafted in and Kamberi was recalled from the bench with Horgan and Gauld making way. As I anticipated, Killie came out of the traps and had the better of the opening exchanges with Bruce forcing Rocky into a save that needed collected after the keeper failed to hold the initial effort. They were getting some mileage down their right with Omeonga drifting infield and leaving gaps as a result but Hibs settled a bit and clever play saw Kamberi with a chance to get a shot away but he was closed down.
The sun was causing Hibs defenders a bit of bother when trying to read the flight of high balls and Hanlon was lucky when he ducked under the ball and Burke just failed to make contact. Hibs were offering little and after Brophy shot high and wide, Rocky seemed to misread the flight of a cross and was lucky when the ball hit the bar and was cleared. When referee Dallas awarded a corner when it was clearly a goal kick, Rocky reacted brilliantly to push away a near post header from Power but it was only a warning of what was to come soon after.
A corner was swung in and as I and probably every other of the 1,510 Hibs fans watched the ball, referee Dallas pointed to the spot after deciding SDG had pulled down Alex Bruce. Gray was incensed and was booked for his protests and given that I’ve now seen the ‘incident’ I’m not surprised our captain went bananas. Brophy took the kick and went straight down the middle with Rocky diving to his right. Brophy had another chance but dragged his shot wide and Hibs held out until half time without conceding again.
I was hoping that Hecky’s half time talk included reference to the number of times we just gave possession away with poor passes and aimless long balls but if it did, they weren’t listening as error after error simply encouraged Killie forward all the more. With about 25 minutes left, Hecky had three subs stripped and ready and in all honesty about eight of our players could easily have been hooked. As it was, both strikers and Omeonga departed with Horgan, Shaw and Agyepong coming on. There was no obvious positivity from the changes although Agyepong looked the liveliest of the three.
As the clock ran down, Killie dropped deeper and deeper but instead of getting the ball into their area quicker, Hibs persisted with endless passes across the back four and as a consequence, played right into their hands. My pulse rate increased slightly when Shaw looked to have a chance of capitalising on indecision between a Killie defender and his keeper but the latter eventually gathered successfully. Agyepong then had what I’d say was our best effort and given that the clock showed we’d played 88 minutes that’s a pretty sad fact to report. The wee man cut in from the left, drifted past a couple of challenges and fired a shot at goal that Bachmann tipped over the bar with some ease.
The players
Rocky – His distribution, especially in the first half, was woeful at times but he redeemed himself with a couple of very good saves.
SDG – Not one of his better games in my opinion. He was rarely involved in an attacking sense and only really seemed to come to life in the last fifteen minutes.
Daz – Another who failed to shine he was fortunate on occasion that Brophy didn’t make better use of the ball when it got in behind the Hibs man.
Paul – I’m struggling to find anything positive or negative about Hanlon as he just seemed to drift through the game.
Lewis – Struggled in the first half I thought, partly because Omeonga failed to provide cover but in truth this was not one of his better days.
Fraser – I was delighted to learn that he was being given a start and although he didn’t do anything particularly outstanding I felt he was the only midfielder who was prepared to put his foot on the ball and try to play the game the way it should be. Singled out for praise by Hecky I thought he was worthy of it and he gets my man of the match award.
Stevie – He was largely anonymous in my opinion. Drifted out of the game for long periods and didn’t contribute much at all.
Millsy – Infuriates me by taking so long to do pretty much everything. In this second last game of the season he decided to reveal that he has the ability to deliver a humungous long throw. Where have you been hiding that, Mark?
Stephane – Posted missing far too often and struggled more than most with the playing surface. I’d have hooked him earlier if truth be told.
Flo – I said to my mate I’d love to offer an opinion on Flo’s second touch but sadly I didn’t see one today. I’ve no idea what’s gone wrong with him but the drop in form is alarming.
Sparky – Lots of runs but not picked out most of the time. In truth he looked very ordinary today and it doesn’t help that the goals have dried up, big time.
Daryl – I looked for him to provide a much needed spark. I’m still looking.
Oli – Provided those who don’t think he’ll make it at Hibs with an amount of ammunition.
Wee Tam – When he got involved you felt he had made a positive difference but unfortunately his team mates didn’t provide enough opportunities.
Hecky – Spot on with his ‘rubbish’ comments but I felt he was partly to blame by not making the changes at half time.
The fans – Hermit Crab of this parish predicted 600 pre-match, changed it to 800 at about quarter to three so I guess he was more than half right, given that 1,510 Hibbies were in attendance.
Dallas – Pathetic, simply pathetic and it is painfully obvious that he’s been given ‘inside help’ to rise to the heights he’s achieved because it cannot be based on ability to do the job.