Jonnyboy
26-12-2020, 03:17 PM
Disappointed with the result today but not with the performance pretty much sums up how I feel about the game. I thought Hibs had a good game plan and pretty much stuck to it throughout whilst denying their hosts a few good scoring opportunities thanks to a grand display in goal by Dillon Barnes and some stalwart defending by our back four.
Jack Ross made four changes to his starting eleven with Barnes replacing the injured Marciano, Doig preferred over Stevenson, Gogic replacing the injured Magennis and Drey Wright for the suspended Christian Doidge. I confess I was surprised that Josh was brought in because Lewis had been excellent against St. Mirren but as the game unfolded the reason became obvious because Doig offered excellent support to the attack whilst keeping Tavernier pretty quiet.
The game opened with a chance for Hibs to score inside the first minute. Barnes cleared from hand and Hallberg got the merest head flick to deny Tavernier with the ball flying through to Doig. Josh took a couple of paces, steadied himself and delivered a wonderful low cross that fell in between retreating defenders and the goalkeeper. Boyle was at the back post but as the ball skipped quickly off the wet surface, Martin made contact but couldn’t direct the ball on target. Moments later, Aribo had an effort blocked with the ball flying to safety. It was a frantic start with both sides threatening to score.
Boyle had another chance around the ten minute mark, but his effort was blocked as it flew towards the goal. In the opening twenty minutes, Rangers had the better of the possession, but Hibs defended resolutely and countered when the chance arose. As always when facing either Celtic or the Rangers, reaching the twenty minute mark without conceding was a good sign but it was concerning that from the twentieth onwards they began to build up a head of steam and our ventures forward were getting scarcer.
From a corner, Balogun struck a shot from close in but it was blocked and then Hagi tried his luck but under pressure from Porteous the Rangers man screwed his effort wide. Minutes later, another corner reached Goldson whose powerful header from close range was saved by Barnes. Just after the half hour, the hosts took the lead when Aribo fed Roofe who fired a low cross into the area and Hagi got in front of Hanlon to poke the ball home. It was a scrappy goal to lose and easy to blame Hanlon but if Roofe had been tracked by Hallberg the opening wouldn’t have arisen.
Soon after conceding, Hibs had a chance to draw level but Boyle’s shot from outside the box drifted past the far post. The midfield area was fascinating to watch as Newell and Hallberg duelled with Davis and Kamara and I have to say that on a couple of occasions, Joe Newell left me breathless with brilliant close control as he waltzed past his opponents. With half time approaching, Davis fired an effort well over the bar and when the interval came, we were very much still in the game.
Jack Ross made no changes at the break and to be fair, nobody really deserved to be subbed as all eleven players had played well enough. Boyle and Nisbet were starved on any decent service but worked hard at defending from the front. The hosts tried on numerous occasions to get down their left, but McGinn was solid as ever and very well supported by Drey Wright.
Hibs were pushing for an equaliser and should have had a penalty to give them that opportunity. Just inside the box, Newell headed the ball back into the danger area but as he did so, Hagi, in trying to clear, raised his boot high and caught Newell in the face. Anywhere else on the park and that’s a foul but Willie Collum who was standing just a few yards away allowed play to go on. It was a shocking lack of a clear cut decision and even the loathsome Kris Boyd later agreed that it was a definite penalty.
No doubt relieved at having got away with one, the Rangers went in search of a second goal but still Hibs denied them with two excellent blocks from McGinn and a superb close in save by Barnes as Balogun looked certain to score. Boyle once again had a half chance but couldn’t get enough power in the shot and then a rash challenge by Hanlon allowed Barisic the chance to test Barnes with a free kick from twenty yards but hit the effort straight in to the wall.
A stunning cross from Newell saw the ball reach Nisbet in the back post area. Kevin had timed his run to perfection but in the swirling conditions he perhaps misjudged the flight of the ball and screwed his effort across the face of goal. Porteous then went close with a header before Barisic suffered the same outcome at the other end.
Hibs were pushing hard now, and the Rangers seemed to drop deeper to try and preserve what they had. Newell in particular caused them all sorts of problems with pacey deliveries from corners. At one of those corners, Tavernier tangled with Porteous and the Hibs man seemed to get his heels clicked causing him to hit the deck. I’ve seen them given and it was interesting that in his post-match interview, Jack Ross picked the second penalty incident as the clearest cut.
With the clock running down, Wright was replaced by Gullan with Boyle going out to the right and Jamie partnering Nisbet. Soon after, Hallberg struck a sweet right foot curler that looked destined for McGregor’s far post until the keeper got down to push the effort out. It was Nisbet’s turn next and his effort was on target but blocked. Hibs were forcing a flurry of corners and the Sky Sports possession caption showed they were bossing possession in this late spell.
Into time added on and Morelos got free in the box, but his effort was blocked by the feet of Barnes with Hibs regaining possession and going forward again. When the hosts did get the ball, they took it into the corner to run down the clock which, for me, proved they were feeling very vulnerable. There was one last chance for Hibs when they won a free kick on their left and I admit I screamed at my TV when Hallberg stepped up to take it. The position would have been ideal for Joe Newell to hit a pacey free kick that would curl away from the keeper but instead, Hallberg’s floaty effort was easily collected by McGregor and the game was done.
I’ll be honest here and say I was nervous about this fixture when I saw the Hibs line up, but the players proved my fears wrong and, in my opinion, deserved to take something from the game.
The players
Barnes – In what was his Premier League debut I thought Dillon was outstanding. A number of excellent saves and blocks were impressive, and his use of the ball was good.
McGinn – Up against the tricky Ryan Kent, he basically stopped the guy from having any positive effect. The commentators suggested Kent wasn’t on his game, but I’d argue he was prevented from being so.
Porteous – Ryan should have had a penalty but in terms of his ‘day job’ defending I thought he was solid against a wily opponent in Kemar Roofe.
Hanlon – As I said it would be easy to blame Paul for the goal lost but bad marking by others allowed the play to develop. Yes, Paul might have reacted quicker, but the ball should never have reached Hagi in the first place.
Doig – Wow! I worried he was starting, and I worried that he hasn’t had much game time recently, but I thought he was superb today both attacking and defending. At 18 years old I reckon he has a bright future in the game, and he wins my man of the match award.
Wright – We didn’t get a lot from Drey in an attacking sense, but his defensive contribution was, in my view, first class. He and McGinn covered the danger areas well.
Hallberg – Melker is growing in every game he plays and the proof of that is confirmed by looking at our results since he and Newell were brought together as a partnership. I like the fact that he’s willing to go beyond the forwards and although there was limited opportunity to do so today, he still made the effort.
Gogic – This was more like the Gogic we signed. Recently, albeit in limited appearances, he’s not been the best, but I thought he won his battle with Davis today.
Newell – Joe is such a clever and talented footballer. Rewind a good few months when he appeared as a left winger at Ibrox and looked shell shocked. Heckingbottom did him no favours but now that he’s where he should be position wise, we are seeing the best of him.
Boyle – I felt for him with that first minute chance as had he been a foot closer to the back post when the ball fizzed in, I’m sure he would have scored. His overall contribution was mainly in defending from the front but whenever he got the ball in an attacking sense, he was quickly surrounded by defenders who’d obviously been reminded he is a key figure in the Hibs attack.
Nisbet – Kevin was starved of any decent service and had both Goldson and Balogun to deal with. Like Boyle and Wright, his main contribution today was a defensive one.
Gullan – Once again Jamie was brought on so late in the game, he had no real chance to make a positive impact.
Jack Ross – Disappointed but also proud of the efforts of his players.
Willie Collum – This guy makes more glaring mistakes than just about any other grade one referee. The Newell incident was a penalty all day long and he had a perfect view of it. I bet if a similar incident had happened at the other end he’d be pointing straight at the spot. The Porteous one I wasn’t so sure but watching it again, Ryan was tripped, and Jack Ross is right to say it was a penalty.
Jack Ross made four changes to his starting eleven with Barnes replacing the injured Marciano, Doig preferred over Stevenson, Gogic replacing the injured Magennis and Drey Wright for the suspended Christian Doidge. I confess I was surprised that Josh was brought in because Lewis had been excellent against St. Mirren but as the game unfolded the reason became obvious because Doig offered excellent support to the attack whilst keeping Tavernier pretty quiet.
The game opened with a chance for Hibs to score inside the first minute. Barnes cleared from hand and Hallberg got the merest head flick to deny Tavernier with the ball flying through to Doig. Josh took a couple of paces, steadied himself and delivered a wonderful low cross that fell in between retreating defenders and the goalkeeper. Boyle was at the back post but as the ball skipped quickly off the wet surface, Martin made contact but couldn’t direct the ball on target. Moments later, Aribo had an effort blocked with the ball flying to safety. It was a frantic start with both sides threatening to score.
Boyle had another chance around the ten minute mark, but his effort was blocked as it flew towards the goal. In the opening twenty minutes, Rangers had the better of the possession, but Hibs defended resolutely and countered when the chance arose. As always when facing either Celtic or the Rangers, reaching the twenty minute mark without conceding was a good sign but it was concerning that from the twentieth onwards they began to build up a head of steam and our ventures forward were getting scarcer.
From a corner, Balogun struck a shot from close in but it was blocked and then Hagi tried his luck but under pressure from Porteous the Rangers man screwed his effort wide. Minutes later, another corner reached Goldson whose powerful header from close range was saved by Barnes. Just after the half hour, the hosts took the lead when Aribo fed Roofe who fired a low cross into the area and Hagi got in front of Hanlon to poke the ball home. It was a scrappy goal to lose and easy to blame Hanlon but if Roofe had been tracked by Hallberg the opening wouldn’t have arisen.
Soon after conceding, Hibs had a chance to draw level but Boyle’s shot from outside the box drifted past the far post. The midfield area was fascinating to watch as Newell and Hallberg duelled with Davis and Kamara and I have to say that on a couple of occasions, Joe Newell left me breathless with brilliant close control as he waltzed past his opponents. With half time approaching, Davis fired an effort well over the bar and when the interval came, we were very much still in the game.
Jack Ross made no changes at the break and to be fair, nobody really deserved to be subbed as all eleven players had played well enough. Boyle and Nisbet were starved on any decent service but worked hard at defending from the front. The hosts tried on numerous occasions to get down their left, but McGinn was solid as ever and very well supported by Drey Wright.
Hibs were pushing for an equaliser and should have had a penalty to give them that opportunity. Just inside the box, Newell headed the ball back into the danger area but as he did so, Hagi, in trying to clear, raised his boot high and caught Newell in the face. Anywhere else on the park and that’s a foul but Willie Collum who was standing just a few yards away allowed play to go on. It was a shocking lack of a clear cut decision and even the loathsome Kris Boyd later agreed that it was a definite penalty.
No doubt relieved at having got away with one, the Rangers went in search of a second goal but still Hibs denied them with two excellent blocks from McGinn and a superb close in save by Barnes as Balogun looked certain to score. Boyle once again had a half chance but couldn’t get enough power in the shot and then a rash challenge by Hanlon allowed Barisic the chance to test Barnes with a free kick from twenty yards but hit the effort straight in to the wall.
A stunning cross from Newell saw the ball reach Nisbet in the back post area. Kevin had timed his run to perfection but in the swirling conditions he perhaps misjudged the flight of the ball and screwed his effort across the face of goal. Porteous then went close with a header before Barisic suffered the same outcome at the other end.
Hibs were pushing hard now, and the Rangers seemed to drop deeper to try and preserve what they had. Newell in particular caused them all sorts of problems with pacey deliveries from corners. At one of those corners, Tavernier tangled with Porteous and the Hibs man seemed to get his heels clicked causing him to hit the deck. I’ve seen them given and it was interesting that in his post-match interview, Jack Ross picked the second penalty incident as the clearest cut.
With the clock running down, Wright was replaced by Gullan with Boyle going out to the right and Jamie partnering Nisbet. Soon after, Hallberg struck a sweet right foot curler that looked destined for McGregor’s far post until the keeper got down to push the effort out. It was Nisbet’s turn next and his effort was on target but blocked. Hibs were forcing a flurry of corners and the Sky Sports possession caption showed they were bossing possession in this late spell.
Into time added on and Morelos got free in the box, but his effort was blocked by the feet of Barnes with Hibs regaining possession and going forward again. When the hosts did get the ball, they took it into the corner to run down the clock which, for me, proved they were feeling very vulnerable. There was one last chance for Hibs when they won a free kick on their left and I admit I screamed at my TV when Hallberg stepped up to take it. The position would have been ideal for Joe Newell to hit a pacey free kick that would curl away from the keeper but instead, Hallberg’s floaty effort was easily collected by McGregor and the game was done.
I’ll be honest here and say I was nervous about this fixture when I saw the Hibs line up, but the players proved my fears wrong and, in my opinion, deserved to take something from the game.
The players
Barnes – In what was his Premier League debut I thought Dillon was outstanding. A number of excellent saves and blocks were impressive, and his use of the ball was good.
McGinn – Up against the tricky Ryan Kent, he basically stopped the guy from having any positive effect. The commentators suggested Kent wasn’t on his game, but I’d argue he was prevented from being so.
Porteous – Ryan should have had a penalty but in terms of his ‘day job’ defending I thought he was solid against a wily opponent in Kemar Roofe.
Hanlon – As I said it would be easy to blame Paul for the goal lost but bad marking by others allowed the play to develop. Yes, Paul might have reacted quicker, but the ball should never have reached Hagi in the first place.
Doig – Wow! I worried he was starting, and I worried that he hasn’t had much game time recently, but I thought he was superb today both attacking and defending. At 18 years old I reckon he has a bright future in the game, and he wins my man of the match award.
Wright – We didn’t get a lot from Drey in an attacking sense, but his defensive contribution was, in my view, first class. He and McGinn covered the danger areas well.
Hallberg – Melker is growing in every game he plays and the proof of that is confirmed by looking at our results since he and Newell were brought together as a partnership. I like the fact that he’s willing to go beyond the forwards and although there was limited opportunity to do so today, he still made the effort.
Gogic – This was more like the Gogic we signed. Recently, albeit in limited appearances, he’s not been the best, but I thought he won his battle with Davis today.
Newell – Joe is such a clever and talented footballer. Rewind a good few months when he appeared as a left winger at Ibrox and looked shell shocked. Heckingbottom did him no favours but now that he’s where he should be position wise, we are seeing the best of him.
Boyle – I felt for him with that first minute chance as had he been a foot closer to the back post when the ball fizzed in, I’m sure he would have scored. His overall contribution was mainly in defending from the front but whenever he got the ball in an attacking sense, he was quickly surrounded by defenders who’d obviously been reminded he is a key figure in the Hibs attack.
Nisbet – Kevin was starved of any decent service and had both Goldson and Balogun to deal with. Like Boyle and Wright, his main contribution today was a defensive one.
Gullan – Once again Jamie was brought on so late in the game, he had no real chance to make a positive impact.
Jack Ross – Disappointed but also proud of the efforts of his players.
Willie Collum – This guy makes more glaring mistakes than just about any other grade one referee. The Newell incident was a penalty all day long and he had a perfect view of it. I bet if a similar incident had happened at the other end he’d be pointing straight at the spot. The Porteous one I wasn’t so sure but watching it again, Ryan was tripped, and Jack Ross is right to say it was a penalty.