Jonnyboy
22-02-2020, 06:37 PM
Today was yet another wet and windy one with rain and snow swirling around and another ninety minutes where the conditions affected the play and had me celebrating the opening goal in a way I’d rather have avoided, but more of that later.
On the way to the ground it was tweeted that Hibs would go with the same starting eleven that had won last time out. In fact, it was the same bench too but as the players warmed up, Newell left the pitch and was clearly unable to play so Jack Ross drafted Lewis Stevenson into the starting eleven and replaced him on the bench with Melker Hallberg. The manager stuck with the same formation too as his men lined up in a 3-5-2 that matched their opponents who had a familiar face making his debut in Efe Ambrose.
From the off it became apparent that Livi were not just here to defend as they attacked at every opportunity whilst trying to stifle Hibs with a high press when not in possession. The lively Dykes went close with a header and Sibbald fired over from range. At the other end, a fine run by Boyle was thwarted when his attempted cross hit the first defender. Docherty was next to try his luck with a fierce left footed drive from the edge of the box which McCrorie did well to save.
Around the half hour mark, Boyle’s attempted cross struck the outstretched arm of Taylor-Sinclair and referee Alan Newlands promptly pointed to the penalty spot. Up stepped Scott Allan whose effort was low and heading for the corner of the net but McCrorie had guessed the right way and made a fantastic save to push the ball around the post. Minutes later a rocket shot by Sibbald was tipped over the bar by the alert Marciano.
With half time approaching, both sides attacked when given the chance but decision making for the killer pass was not in evidence. Twice in rapid succession both Allan and Boyle chose the wrong option whilst at the other end Lawless was too selfish in taking on a shot when a pass to the unmarked Dykes could have provided a better reward.
During the interval there was more rain/snow and although I sit as far back as row N in the East the flooring around me got pretty wet. Five minutes in to the half I found out just how precarious your footing can get on such a surface as Docherty’s shot was steered home by Christian Doidge. I saw the ball hit the net but lost my footing and tumbled head first over the seats in front of me and ended up flat on my back injuring my right knee and pulling a muscle in my left thigh. I think that in future I’ll just sit and applaud any goals! Doidge was, of course, quite unaware of my swan dive and rightly celebrated his 17th goal of the season.
Unfortunately the Hibs lead was short lived. Five minutes after scoring, Hibs conceded when a ball from midfield caught the defence sleeping as Lawless struck a cross to the far post for the unmarked Taylor-Sinclair to steer a shot past Rocky at his near post.
For a brief period, Hibs struggled to retain possession and Livi might have scored again but Pittman scooped an effort over the bar from close range. That scare seemed to wake Hibs up and for the closing minutes of the game they threw everything at Livi but could not find a way past the impressive McCrorie.
Settling for a point was disappointing, especially considering Aberdeen lost and ten man Motherwell scraped a point. In truth though, we were not at our best today though we did extend our long unbeaten run of games at home.
The players
Marciano – Rocky has been the subject of some criticism of late for his distribution but today I saw a marked improvement and lost count of the number of times he picked out McGinn with a precise pass. Might he have done better at the goal? I’m not sure and would like to see it again.
McGinn – Another solid performance from Paul who just goes about his job with a minimum of fuss. I think he could have done with more support from Boyle at times but the guy just never looks panicked.
Jackson – Big Adam defended well and held his own against the lively Lyndon Dykes.
Hanlon – Apart from one horror pass I thought Paul played well today and I was concerned when he went down injured after a bad challenge by McMillan who was booked for the foul.
Boyle – The sight of Boyle running full pelt at defenders is awesome to see but today things just didn’t go for him at all. On several occasions he simply ran into traffic and lost the ball as a result. He also picked up a yellow for dissent but I can see why he was angry at the award of a foul when the Livi man just ran in to him.
Slivka – Another game in which Viki provided solid play alongside some sloppy stuff. He works hard but lacks real pace and often gets caught on the wrong side of his man. On the plus side, he intercepted two or three dangerous passes that may have proved costly had they reached their target.
Docherty – On a day when nobody really excelled he was the best of the bunch once again. His reading of the game is superb and he is almost always safe in possession. The first half shot referred to earlier was a peach and might have beaten any other keeper but McCrorie was solid throughout. Greg, for the third game running, gets my man of the match award.
Allan – There is no doubt that Scott’s work rate is up there with the best but again today his passing was below par. I thought he struck the penalty well enough but when the keeper guesses right there’s always a chance it will be saved.
Stevenson – Lewis grafted away as usual and contrary to popular belief he can in fact cross a ball which he did well on a number of occasions today.
Doidge – I don’t think I’ve seen Christian beaten so often in the air as he was today. Guthrie certainly had the measure of him aerially but thankfully was nowhere to be seen at the opening goal.
McNulty – One of the things I like about Marc is his ability to be on the shoulder of the last man but today he seemed out of sorts and didn’t have the best of games if truth be told.
Murray – Fraser got a good half hour and was pretty much involved throughout, hitting a cracking left foot drive that was well saved. His crossing is normally very good but his corners were poor although the conditions might have been at play here.
Gullan – I’d like to have seen Jamie on sooner but he got twenty minutes at least and looked busy throughout. We never really got the chance to see his hammer of a shot as Livi defended well around their eighteen yard line.
Horgan – Daryl buzzed about as usual without making any real impact.
Jack Ross – I’ve not heard his interview and wonder if he is as disappointed as I am. Perhaps disappointed is too strong an emotion – more like frustrated is a better choice.
The fans – Despite the attendance figure announced I’d estimate the numbers to be quite a bit less than 15.5k.
Alan Newlands – Was booed off at half time though I’m not entirely sure why as he’d done little to earn it. I’m just glad he didn’t hop into the East to book me for my dive!
On the way to the ground it was tweeted that Hibs would go with the same starting eleven that had won last time out. In fact, it was the same bench too but as the players warmed up, Newell left the pitch and was clearly unable to play so Jack Ross drafted Lewis Stevenson into the starting eleven and replaced him on the bench with Melker Hallberg. The manager stuck with the same formation too as his men lined up in a 3-5-2 that matched their opponents who had a familiar face making his debut in Efe Ambrose.
From the off it became apparent that Livi were not just here to defend as they attacked at every opportunity whilst trying to stifle Hibs with a high press when not in possession. The lively Dykes went close with a header and Sibbald fired over from range. At the other end, a fine run by Boyle was thwarted when his attempted cross hit the first defender. Docherty was next to try his luck with a fierce left footed drive from the edge of the box which McCrorie did well to save.
Around the half hour mark, Boyle’s attempted cross struck the outstretched arm of Taylor-Sinclair and referee Alan Newlands promptly pointed to the penalty spot. Up stepped Scott Allan whose effort was low and heading for the corner of the net but McCrorie had guessed the right way and made a fantastic save to push the ball around the post. Minutes later a rocket shot by Sibbald was tipped over the bar by the alert Marciano.
With half time approaching, both sides attacked when given the chance but decision making for the killer pass was not in evidence. Twice in rapid succession both Allan and Boyle chose the wrong option whilst at the other end Lawless was too selfish in taking on a shot when a pass to the unmarked Dykes could have provided a better reward.
During the interval there was more rain/snow and although I sit as far back as row N in the East the flooring around me got pretty wet. Five minutes in to the half I found out just how precarious your footing can get on such a surface as Docherty’s shot was steered home by Christian Doidge. I saw the ball hit the net but lost my footing and tumbled head first over the seats in front of me and ended up flat on my back injuring my right knee and pulling a muscle in my left thigh. I think that in future I’ll just sit and applaud any goals! Doidge was, of course, quite unaware of my swan dive and rightly celebrated his 17th goal of the season.
Unfortunately the Hibs lead was short lived. Five minutes after scoring, Hibs conceded when a ball from midfield caught the defence sleeping as Lawless struck a cross to the far post for the unmarked Taylor-Sinclair to steer a shot past Rocky at his near post.
For a brief period, Hibs struggled to retain possession and Livi might have scored again but Pittman scooped an effort over the bar from close range. That scare seemed to wake Hibs up and for the closing minutes of the game they threw everything at Livi but could not find a way past the impressive McCrorie.
Settling for a point was disappointing, especially considering Aberdeen lost and ten man Motherwell scraped a point. In truth though, we were not at our best today though we did extend our long unbeaten run of games at home.
The players
Marciano – Rocky has been the subject of some criticism of late for his distribution but today I saw a marked improvement and lost count of the number of times he picked out McGinn with a precise pass. Might he have done better at the goal? I’m not sure and would like to see it again.
McGinn – Another solid performance from Paul who just goes about his job with a minimum of fuss. I think he could have done with more support from Boyle at times but the guy just never looks panicked.
Jackson – Big Adam defended well and held his own against the lively Lyndon Dykes.
Hanlon – Apart from one horror pass I thought Paul played well today and I was concerned when he went down injured after a bad challenge by McMillan who was booked for the foul.
Boyle – The sight of Boyle running full pelt at defenders is awesome to see but today things just didn’t go for him at all. On several occasions he simply ran into traffic and lost the ball as a result. He also picked up a yellow for dissent but I can see why he was angry at the award of a foul when the Livi man just ran in to him.
Slivka – Another game in which Viki provided solid play alongside some sloppy stuff. He works hard but lacks real pace and often gets caught on the wrong side of his man. On the plus side, he intercepted two or three dangerous passes that may have proved costly had they reached their target.
Docherty – On a day when nobody really excelled he was the best of the bunch once again. His reading of the game is superb and he is almost always safe in possession. The first half shot referred to earlier was a peach and might have beaten any other keeper but McCrorie was solid throughout. Greg, for the third game running, gets my man of the match award.
Allan – There is no doubt that Scott’s work rate is up there with the best but again today his passing was below par. I thought he struck the penalty well enough but when the keeper guesses right there’s always a chance it will be saved.
Stevenson – Lewis grafted away as usual and contrary to popular belief he can in fact cross a ball which he did well on a number of occasions today.
Doidge – I don’t think I’ve seen Christian beaten so often in the air as he was today. Guthrie certainly had the measure of him aerially but thankfully was nowhere to be seen at the opening goal.
McNulty – One of the things I like about Marc is his ability to be on the shoulder of the last man but today he seemed out of sorts and didn’t have the best of games if truth be told.
Murray – Fraser got a good half hour and was pretty much involved throughout, hitting a cracking left foot drive that was well saved. His crossing is normally very good but his corners were poor although the conditions might have been at play here.
Gullan – I’d like to have seen Jamie on sooner but he got twenty minutes at least and looked busy throughout. We never really got the chance to see his hammer of a shot as Livi defended well around their eighteen yard line.
Horgan – Daryl buzzed about as usual without making any real impact.
Jack Ross – I’ve not heard his interview and wonder if he is as disappointed as I am. Perhaps disappointed is too strong an emotion – more like frustrated is a better choice.
The fans – Despite the attendance figure announced I’d estimate the numbers to be quite a bit less than 15.5k.
Alan Newlands – Was booed off at half time though I’m not entirely sure why as he’d done little to earn it. I’m just glad he didn’t hop into the East to book me for my dive!