Jonnyboy
06-02-2020, 12:42 AM
Hibs may not have taken anything from Ibrox tonight but I did. I came away immensely proud of Hibs’ performance and disappointed that we didn’t earn the point I felt our display deserved. It was backs to the wall at times but I thought we had a great shape which the hosts struggled to break down.
Jack Ross made a couple of changes to his starting eleven which reflected the fact that we’d have less of the ball than they did. McGregor was replaced by Jackson and Whittaker was preferred to Horgan.
As you might expect, the Rangers came out of the traps at double quick time from the off and there was barely three minutes on the clock when Rocky got down well to a vicious low drive from Morelos. It was the first of many fine saves over the ninety minutes although he was well protected for great swathes of the game by fine defending with Newell and Boyle in particular providing excellent cover for the full backs.
The hosts seemed camped outside our eighteen yard box in those opening exchanges but they failed to find a way through and although our forays forward were a tad infrequent we did have a chance when Newell cut in from the left but his shot was saved by McGregor. On the subject of McGregor it’s not the first time I’ve come away from watching him and thought he has serious anger issues.
It’s often the way that you visit Ibrox and hope to frustrate the home side so as to have the crowd get on their backs and that’s exactly what happened when they gave up trying to break us down on the wings and switched to an even less effective tactic of going long.
With ten minutes left until the interval Hibs shocked the home support by taking the lead as Doidge won a headed challenge in the box and with McGregor stranded a grateful Paul Hanlon slammed the ball into the net. The goal happened at the ‘wrong’ end from my viewing perspective and I’d no idea at the time as to who scored it with the PA announcer failing to identify the scorer.
It looked as though we’d take a half time lead but with seconds of the half remaining, Hanlon gave a silly free kick away on the Rangers right. Morelos was going nowhere and the challenge was unnecessary but it cost us dear. The free kick into the box was headed toward goal by Edmundson but that effort was blocked and as the ball fell, Omeonga took a swipe at it, missed and the ball hit his standing leg and rolled to Edmundson who fired it home from close range. Had we survived until half time I reckon it wouldn’t just be the referee booed off by the home support.
Lifted by their equaliser the hosts came out firing on all cylinders again and the game took on a familiar pattern with Hibs defending stoutly and Rocky making a few very good saves. They won corner after corner but Hibs were defending well with headed clearances and a good few blocks around the eighteen yard line.
A couple of rare bursts forward might have earned a reward had the final ball been better and one that sticks in mind was when Boyle raced through the middle only to hit his pass to the unmarked Doidge such that it hit the Hibs man on the heel. Had the pass been better, Doidge was through on goal.
The pressure was relentless and still Hibs defended well, until the 85th minute that is when Goldson and Arfield found an unmarked Hagi who rifled his shot pass the despairing dive of Marciano. All of the fine defending was undone by one lapse of concentration and I really felt for the players as I reckon their endeavours would have deserved a draw.
When Bobby Madden added on five minutes of additional time, Hibs threw everything at Rangers and Doidge had a header saved before a break by Rangers had Rocky making another fine stop.
The players
Marciano – A string of fine saves kept Hibs in the game and although there were another two or three players I could have chosen ahead of him I’ve opted for Rocky as my man of the match.
McGinn – We witnessed his ability as a defender tonight and he was solid throughout.
Jackson – The fact that Morelos was AWOL for long stretches of the game is kinda reflected in the fact that Adam was rarely troubled by him.
Hanlon – Another goal from Paul and a very good performance defensively, other than his error in conceding the free kick that led to the equaliser.
Stevenson – I thought both full backs were excellent tonight and it says a lot that Rangers stopped trying to break down the wings and went more central in the second half. Lewis had a wee tussle with Morelos late on but that was very much instigated by the Rangers man.
Newell – I was surprised when he took up position wide right but his assistance to McGinn was first class and I lost count of the number of times he halted a Rangers wing man with a timely tackle.
Omeonga – What a work rate this wee fella demonstrates. He might not do anything particularly special but his spoiling play in the middle of the park often had Rangers having to pass the ball backwards.
Whittaker – Another who played very well and I recall only a couple of mistakes, neither of which was costly.
Allan – Scotty was right up for it tonight and chased and harried until he was exhausted and had to be replaced late on. This was not a game where he got lots of chances to play the killer ball but he did the ‘dirty’ stuff well.
Boyle – Martin gave Stevenson great cover and didn’t get forward as much as a result. There were a couple of occasions that he broke free but his pass to a team mate let him down.
Doidge – Ploughed a pretty lonely furrow up front but did his fair share of fine defending when required.
McGregor – Daz replaced the injured Jackson and seemed to play his part though I’m not sure of his positioning for the winning goal.
Horgan – A straight swap for the tiring Allan he worked hard enough and made me smile when he rushed over to confront Morelos after the Rangers thug had tussled with Lewis.
McNulty – Brought on as we chased an equaliser late on but I’m not sure he even got a touch.
Jack Ross – I thought the formation and team selection was right on the money and Ross must surely be as proud of his players as I was.
The fans – Someone said we hadn’t sold out but I didn’t see many gaps. Our singers tried hard and gave plenty of outings to the F Kamberi song!
Bobby Madden – There are times when you think the guy must be blind but both sets of fans were angry when perceived free kicks were not awarded. As it happens I thought the game flowed well because of that and it’s far preferable to the incessant whistling of a Kevin Clancy.
Jack Ross made a couple of changes to his starting eleven which reflected the fact that we’d have less of the ball than they did. McGregor was replaced by Jackson and Whittaker was preferred to Horgan.
As you might expect, the Rangers came out of the traps at double quick time from the off and there was barely three minutes on the clock when Rocky got down well to a vicious low drive from Morelos. It was the first of many fine saves over the ninety minutes although he was well protected for great swathes of the game by fine defending with Newell and Boyle in particular providing excellent cover for the full backs.
The hosts seemed camped outside our eighteen yard box in those opening exchanges but they failed to find a way through and although our forays forward were a tad infrequent we did have a chance when Newell cut in from the left but his shot was saved by McGregor. On the subject of McGregor it’s not the first time I’ve come away from watching him and thought he has serious anger issues.
It’s often the way that you visit Ibrox and hope to frustrate the home side so as to have the crowd get on their backs and that’s exactly what happened when they gave up trying to break us down on the wings and switched to an even less effective tactic of going long.
With ten minutes left until the interval Hibs shocked the home support by taking the lead as Doidge won a headed challenge in the box and with McGregor stranded a grateful Paul Hanlon slammed the ball into the net. The goal happened at the ‘wrong’ end from my viewing perspective and I’d no idea at the time as to who scored it with the PA announcer failing to identify the scorer.
It looked as though we’d take a half time lead but with seconds of the half remaining, Hanlon gave a silly free kick away on the Rangers right. Morelos was going nowhere and the challenge was unnecessary but it cost us dear. The free kick into the box was headed toward goal by Edmundson but that effort was blocked and as the ball fell, Omeonga took a swipe at it, missed and the ball hit his standing leg and rolled to Edmundson who fired it home from close range. Had we survived until half time I reckon it wouldn’t just be the referee booed off by the home support.
Lifted by their equaliser the hosts came out firing on all cylinders again and the game took on a familiar pattern with Hibs defending stoutly and Rocky making a few very good saves. They won corner after corner but Hibs were defending well with headed clearances and a good few blocks around the eighteen yard line.
A couple of rare bursts forward might have earned a reward had the final ball been better and one that sticks in mind was when Boyle raced through the middle only to hit his pass to the unmarked Doidge such that it hit the Hibs man on the heel. Had the pass been better, Doidge was through on goal.
The pressure was relentless and still Hibs defended well, until the 85th minute that is when Goldson and Arfield found an unmarked Hagi who rifled his shot pass the despairing dive of Marciano. All of the fine defending was undone by one lapse of concentration and I really felt for the players as I reckon their endeavours would have deserved a draw.
When Bobby Madden added on five minutes of additional time, Hibs threw everything at Rangers and Doidge had a header saved before a break by Rangers had Rocky making another fine stop.
The players
Marciano – A string of fine saves kept Hibs in the game and although there were another two or three players I could have chosen ahead of him I’ve opted for Rocky as my man of the match.
McGinn – We witnessed his ability as a defender tonight and he was solid throughout.
Jackson – The fact that Morelos was AWOL for long stretches of the game is kinda reflected in the fact that Adam was rarely troubled by him.
Hanlon – Another goal from Paul and a very good performance defensively, other than his error in conceding the free kick that led to the equaliser.
Stevenson – I thought both full backs were excellent tonight and it says a lot that Rangers stopped trying to break down the wings and went more central in the second half. Lewis had a wee tussle with Morelos late on but that was very much instigated by the Rangers man.
Newell – I was surprised when he took up position wide right but his assistance to McGinn was first class and I lost count of the number of times he halted a Rangers wing man with a timely tackle.
Omeonga – What a work rate this wee fella demonstrates. He might not do anything particularly special but his spoiling play in the middle of the park often had Rangers having to pass the ball backwards.
Whittaker – Another who played very well and I recall only a couple of mistakes, neither of which was costly.
Allan – Scotty was right up for it tonight and chased and harried until he was exhausted and had to be replaced late on. This was not a game where he got lots of chances to play the killer ball but he did the ‘dirty’ stuff well.
Boyle – Martin gave Stevenson great cover and didn’t get forward as much as a result. There were a couple of occasions that he broke free but his pass to a team mate let him down.
Doidge – Ploughed a pretty lonely furrow up front but did his fair share of fine defending when required.
McGregor – Daz replaced the injured Jackson and seemed to play his part though I’m not sure of his positioning for the winning goal.
Horgan – A straight swap for the tiring Allan he worked hard enough and made me smile when he rushed over to confront Morelos after the Rangers thug had tussled with Lewis.
McNulty – Brought on as we chased an equaliser late on but I’m not sure he even got a touch.
Jack Ross – I thought the formation and team selection was right on the money and Ross must surely be as proud of his players as I was.
The fans – Someone said we hadn’t sold out but I didn’t see many gaps. Our singers tried hard and gave plenty of outings to the F Kamberi song!
Bobby Madden – There are times when you think the guy must be blind but both sets of fans were angry when perceived free kicks were not awarded. As it happens I thought the game flowed well because of that and it’s far preferable to the incessant whistling of a Kevin Clancy.