This is how it feels (St. Mirren 02 02 21)

[Jonnyboy]

Now that the transfer window is closed, we can get on with watching football again and although we didn’t add any signings late on, I feel we have the squad to push Aberdeen hard for a third place finish. There were late outgoings and I want to wish Jamie Gullan all the best for his latest loan stint at Starks Park. I’ve watched him play there and I know he was/is popular with the fans. Also leaving us in a loan deal is Stevie Mallan and rather than adopt the ‘good riddance to bad rubbish’ approach favoured by one poster I’ll say good luck Stevie and thank you for giving your all in a Hibs shirt.

Unsurprisingly, Jack Ross went with the same starting eleven for this tricky tie away to St. Mirren. In fact, the only change was the introduction of Bradley for Gullan on the bench. Thankfully, the predicted snow didn’t materialise, but whilst the pitch took a pounding with incessant rain throughout the day it looked in good nick for kick off.

The opening period of the game largely indicated how most of the first half would go. It was poor from both sides although the hosts did try to make home advantage count whilst Jamie Murphy seemed the only man in yellow who wanted more than one touch of the ball. A couple of efforts by Dennis for the home side did nothing to threaten Rocky’s goal whilst Hibs found going wide meant nothing when the cross invariably hit the first man.

Inside the last fifteen minutes Hibs had a shout for a penalty when Cadden went over in the box but had it been given it would have been soft. Soon after, a poor pass back by Doyle-Hayes saw Martin Boyle reach the ball ahead of the outrushing Jak Alnwick. As Boyle tapped the ball beyond the keeper, he was cleaned out by Alnwick in a very obvious red card challenge. Once the dust had settled. Dean Lyness took over in goal at the expense of Kristian Dennis. For the remainder of the half, Hibs tried to press ahead and a shot by McGinn was straight at Lyness.

At half time, Darren McGregor made way for Ryan Porteous as Hibs took the game to their hosts. Efforts from Boyle and Irvine were blocked but ten minutes in the visitors took the lead. A Boyle corner from the left was met with a powerful header by Porteous with Lyness beaten all ends up. Just prior to the goal, Nisbet had replaced Cadden and the striker was soon involved as he delivered a cracking ball across the six yard box, but no team mate had anticipated it and the danger was cleared.

Jim Goodwin had introduced Obika at the expense of Durmas and the big striker was causing problems to our central defenders as St. Mirren looked for an equaliser. At the other end, a fine run and cross from Boyle saw a header by Doidge getting tipped over the bar by Lyness. Five minutes later, Murphy showed Fraser a clean set of heels, but the St. Mirren defender hauled him down in the area to concede a penalty. Martin Boyle stepped up and went straight down the middle with Lyness diving to his right.

Hibs should have been on easy street now but to his credit, Jim Goodwin kept urging his players forward, reaping a reward when a long clearance found McGinn sleeping as Connolly raced clear before picking out the unmarked Obika who easily slotted home from close range. Barely a minute later, Boyle picked out Murphy on the edge of the box, but Jamie’s right footed effort slammed off the outside of the post.

For reasons I cannot quite fathom, Hibs seemed to go into panic mode with their passing and clearances from defence gifting the ball back to St. Mirren. There was a glimmer of hope of a third for the visitors but Murphy’s cut back to Doig resulted in the youngster getting his body shape all wrong as he fired well wide of the target. Thankfully, all of St. Mirren’s pressing at the end came to nothing and Hibs secured the three points, taking them above Aberdeen ahead of the sides meeting on Saturday at Easter Road.

The players

Marciano – I can’t actually recall Rocky having to make a save of any note, but I do remember him making a two fisted punched clearance when surely just catching the ball would have been easier.

McGinn – This was not one of Paul’s better games as too many forward passes failed to reach their target and he was badly caught out in the move that led to their goal.

McGregor – I confess I was surprised that Daz was playing a third game over a short space of time and that’s perhaps why he was replaced at the break. He’d played well for the first forty five.

Hanlon – A bit of a nothing game I felt. Defended OK but his use of the ball wasn’t great. Struggled with Obika in the second half.

Cadden – I felt Chris was starved of possession for large parts of his time on the pitch as Hibs seemed to favour going down our left. He thought he had a penalty, I didn’t and neither did the ref.

Gogic – Played well enough without doing anything spectacular. Covers a lot of ground and his use of the ball was better today.

Irvine – Every blade of grass without being a stand out. Some good passes, some not so good.

Doig – Better than Saturday but he still hits his crosses into the first defender too often for my liking. Having said that I’m glad he got the full ninety and defensively he was a bit better than of late.

Boyle – After a poor first half, Boyler came to the fore in the second with an assist and a goal. I’ve criticised his dead ball delivery before but the ball for the first goal was bang on the money.

Doidge – Puts in some amount of effort and doesn’t give opposing defenders a minute’s peace. Was unlucky with the header that Lyness tipped over the bar.

Murphy – I thought that Murphy was the only Hibs man to try and carry the ball, especially in the first half. Delighted to see that he was much sharper than of late and he wins my man of the match award.

Porteous – A fine headed goal and a good solid defensive display.

Nisbet – Some doubted his commitment but from the moment he came on he was both focussed and influential.

Magennis – Seconds on the park but did well retaining possession as the clock ticked down.

Jack Ross – Haven’t read or heard his interview but I’m guessing he’ll be happy with the three points.

Referee – Alan Muir got mostly everything right. A definite red card and a definite penalty but otherwise had nothing contentious to deal with.

EDIT - Stupidly thought Dons game was at Pittodrie ..... d'oh!

[Carheenlea]

Can’t disagree with any of that summary. Wasn’t a scintillating performance but it was a good win ground out on a miserable night in Paisley, and won’t spend too much time looking back at this one. Job done.

[DaveF]

I'm still in shock that a referee had a decent game 😲

Agree with the summary. It was a job done. Happy hibee here.

[et_hibby]

Fair summation- cheers Jonnnyboy 👍

[matty_f]

I'm still in shock that a referee had a decent game 😲

Agree with the summary. It was a job done. Happy hibee here.

Missed a clear Hibs corner deep into injury time that would have allowed us to see the game out in their half, but other than that he (whisper it) did well.

[Argylehibby]

Ref had a pretty decent game although how he let them walk from 10 yards inside our half where the ball went out to level with our 18 yard line to launch a throw into our box in the last few seconds of stoppage time had me going mental at the time.

[Roxyhibee]

Thanks for this - couldn’t get on PPV on time so just left it. Your reports are always welcome 👍🇳🇬

[Greenbeard]

Good report, good result, pretty inept performance v 10 I thought. Gave the ball away with poor passes sooooo often
There was a spell not long before half time when we did string some passes together but all we could do was knock it back and forth between defenders with absolutely nothing happening in front of them.
2nd half it seemed to be Gogic who was the main recipient of the out ball and that is not his game. I’d have hooked him at half time, played Irvine, who I thought was quite quiet, in that role and given Allan a half looking to exploit their 10 men.
Last 5 and injury time was when we should have been knocking it back and forth between defenders but as we have done too often recently, panic hoof ball took over. Thank .... we held on for a very helpful 3 points

[Franck Stanton]

Good report, good result, pretty inept performance v 10 I thought. Gave the ball away with poor passes sooooo often
There was a spell not long before half time when we did string some passes together but all we could do was knock it back and forth between defenders with absolutely nothing happening in front of them.
2nd half it seemed to be Gogic who was the main recipient of the out ball and that is not his game. I’d have hooked him at half time, played Irvine, who I thought was quite quiet, in that role and given Allan a half looking to exploit their 10 men.
Last 5 and injury time was when we should have been knocking it back and forth between defenders but as we have done too often recently, panic hoof ball took over. Thank .... we held on for a very helpful 3 points

Personally I thought Gogic had a good game, especially 2nd half. Opinions eh !

[NAE NOOKIE]

I thought up until the sending off we were pretty toothless, after it we did the right thing in trying to recycle the ball and look for an opening. As another poster said, after we cenceded what was a very good breakaway goal by St Mirren we lost the bloody plot, humping the ball up the park when a simple pass was available, we panicked when we simply didn't have to. All in all though its a great result against a team whose last two results were their best of the season.

Marciano .... 6 .... Had little to do in all honesty, his kicking was shorter than usual due to the conditions and he did well with a mental passback from Porteous. Why he chose to punch a ball even I could have caught only he will know.

McGinn .... 6 .... He was solid enough, but caught out at the equaliser ... sometimes a crunching hack followed by a booking is the right way to go.

McGregor... 7 ... Looked absolutely untroubled during his 45 minutes.

Hanlon .... 6 ..... He did nothing spectacular, but I cant say I saw him get much wrong either ... if he was at fault for their goal so was everybody else.

Doig .... 6 ... Defended ok and tried to get down the wing without much success, though he did put in a couple of decent balls.

Gogic ... 6 .... Broke up play pretty effectively and used the ball better than usual, how he doesn't get booked for persistent fouling in every game is anybody's guess.

Irvine ... 6 .... quieter than he has been in the last couple of games, but he has definitely improved our midfield.

Cadden ... 6 ... Did ok, but I want to see a lot more from him as his fitness and familiarity with his teammates increases.

Boyle .... 7 .... Quiet in the first half, far better in the second and took his penalty well. I know the OP liked his corner for our first, but once again for me his dead ball delivery was poor overall, surely we can do better than this.

Doidge .... 6 .... Worked hard enough and unlucky that his header wasn't further away from the keeper.

Murphy ... 7 .... Looked dangerous, won a penalty and hit the post, so a decent contribution from him.

SUBS.

Porteous .... 7 .... Scored and defended solidly enough, I think it was him that hit that ridiculous passback to Rocky and if it was, WTF Ryan?

Nesbit .... 5 ... Ran about a lot, but in all honesty for a striker he hasn't looked close to a goal since scoring against Celtic.

Magennis ... 3 ... for coming on.

The ref .... One of the better performances from a ref this season.

Jack Ross. Will be happy with a good result, though hopefully he will be mindful that prior to the sending off we looked like we could have played all night without troubling the St Mirren keeper. On that note, I heard Goodwin say his side were dominating until the sending off, if two shots miles wide amounts to domination then aye ok.

We seem to be back on track results wise, but the big question over Jack Ross is his inability to win big games, this Saturday is huge for us, so lets see.

[Septimus]

Following every match I usually send a breif resume to my sons in which I mention my man of the match. Last night I could not think of one which, on reflection, is how it should be.

[BILLYHIBS]

I thought up until the sending off we were pretty toothless, after it we did the right thing in trying to recycle the ball and look for an opening. As another poster said, after we cenceded what was a very good breakaway goal by St Mirren we lost the bloody plot, humping the ball up the park when a simple pass was available, we panicked when we simply didn't have to. All in all though its a great result against a team whose last two results were their best of the season.

Marciano .... 6 .... Had little to do in all honesty, his kicking was shorter than usual due to the conditions and he did well with a mental passback from Porteous. Why he chose to punch a ball even I could have caught only he will know.

McGinn .... 6 .... He was solid enough, but caught out at the equaliser ... sometimes a crunching hack followed by a booking is the right way to go.

McGregor... 7 ... Looked absolutely untroubled during his 45 minutes.

Hanlon .... 6 ..... He did nothing spectacular, but I cant say I saw him get much wrong either ... if he was at fault for their goal so was everybody else.

Doig .... 6 ... Defended ok and tried to get down the wing without much success, though he did put in a couple of decent balls.

Gogic ... 6 .... Broke up play pretty effectively and used the ball better than usual, how he doesn't get booked for persistent fouling in every game is anybody's guess.

Irvine ... 6 .... quieter than he has been in the last couple of games, but he has definitely improved our midfield.

Cadden ... 6 ... Did ok, but I want to see a lot more from him as his fitness and familiarity with his teammates increases.

Boyle .... 7 .... Quiet in the first half, far better in the second and took his penalty well. I know the OP liked his corner for our first, but once again for me his dead ball delivery was poor overall, surely we can do better than this.

Doidge .... 6 .... Worked hard enough and unlucky that his header wasn't further away from the keeper.

Murphy ... 7 .... Looked dangerous, won a penalty and hit the post, so a decent contribution from him.

SUBS.

Porteous .... 7 .... Scored and defended solidly enough, I think it was him that hit that ridiculous passback to Rocky and if it was, WTF Ryan?

Nesbit .... 5 ... Ran about a lot, but in all honesty for a striker he hasn't looked close to a goal since scoring against Celtic.

Magennis ... 3 ... for coming on.

The ref .... One of the better performances from a ref this season.

Jack Ross. Will be happy with a good result, though hopefully he will be mindful that prior to the sending off we looked like we could have played all night without troubling the St Mirren keeper. On that note, I heard Goodwin say his side were dominating until the sending off, if two shots miles wide amounts to domination then aye ok.

We seem to be back on track results wise, but the big question over Jack Ross is his inability to win big games, this Saturday is huge for us, so lets see.

It’s Nisbet :greengrin

[BILLYHIBS]

Brilliant as usual Jonnyboy

Good to see Kevin Nisbet remains focused and hasn’t thrown his toys out the pram

Let’s hope he gets his move

Well done

:thumbsup:

[worcesterhibby]

I thought it was interesting that it was Murphy trying hit the byeline, rather than cutting inside that won us the corner, that led to the goal. I thought Jamie was my man of the match too and I agree that his willingness to drive forward with the ball, rather than passing sideways was crucial last night.

I thought the team worked very hard last night and pressed as a team very effectively.

[SonOfDavidFrancey]

Didn’t you feel penalty was pretty soft?

[Peevemor]

Didn’t you feel penalty was pretty soft?

Not at all. On Hibs TV I think Cliff spoke about a shove, but the St Mirren defender caught Murphy's leg and didn't even protest the award of the penalty or his booking.

[Argylehibby]

Not at all. On Hibs TV I think Cliff spoke about a shove, but the St Mirren defender caught Murphy's leg and didn't even protest the award of the penalty or his booking.

The referee gestured it was for a pull. I think the defender was pulling his arm and Jamie fell when the guy let go. Ref was in a great position to see it.

[Jonnyboy]

Didn’t you feel penalty was pretty soft?

Not really, no. Tugged at his arm and clipped his heel at the same time ✅

[Peevemor]

The referee gestured it was for a pull. I think the defender was pulling his arm and Jamie fell when the guy let go. Ref was in a great position to see it.

OK, I never noticed that - he definitely caught Murphy's leg/heel in any case.

[superfurryhibby]

A good win and that’s all that really matters. I thought Doidge put in a decent shift and Boyle, Gogic and Murphy had decent games. Paul McGinn has shown lapses of concentration in his defensive duties a few times this season and it was the same last night. An avoidable goal which game St Mirren hope and put the team under pressure.

[Greenbeard]

Personally I thought Gogic had a good game, especially 2nd half. Opinions eh !
Don't get me wrong; I am a Gogic fan and think he has been MoM contender in recent games. I am also not saying he played badly last night; just that he is not the most suited to being the deep central midfield playmaker who is the main recipient of the ball from defenders when we had more space after they went down to 10.

[brog]

Thanks John. Martin B created on his own the pivotal moment in the game, the red card. He crossed/passed for Porto's goal, Doidge's header & Murphy's shot off the post. He also scored our 2nd goal from the spot. Not sure how much more he needed to do to win the coveted Jonnyboy MOTM. 😁

[Jonnyboy]

Thanks John. Martin B created on his own the pivotal moment in the game, the red card. He crossed/passed for Porto's goal, Doidge's header & Murphy's shot off the post. He also scored our 2nd goal from the spot. Not sure how much more he needed to do to win the coveted Jonnyboy MOTM. 😁

Cheers, B. I agree MB did all of those things and it was a close call re man of the match. I tipped in favour of Jamie because I felt he contributed for the whole 90 minutes.

As an aside I felt MB came into his own once he was pushed out wide. Was good to see him running at people again ✅

[B.H.F.C]

Cheers, B. I agree MB did all of those things and it was a close call re man of the match. I tipped in favour of Jamie because I felt he contributed for the whole 90 minutes.

As an aside I felt MB came into his own once he was pushed out wide. Was good to see him running at people again ✅

Second half was the best Boyle has played for ages. Could have quite easily had another couple of assists on top of the assist and goal he did get.

[Jonnyboy]

Second half was the best Boyle has played for ages. Could have quite easily had another couple of assists on top of the assist and goal he did get.

Yep, looked like his old self again. Long may it continue 👌

[brog]

Cheers, B. I agree MB did all of those things and it was a close call re man of the match. I tipped in favour of Jamie because I felt he contributed for the whole 90 minutes.

As an aside I felt MB came into his own once he was pushed out wide. Was good to see him running at people again ✅

Cheers John, I was of course only teasing but I do get perplexed at the amount of criticism MB gets. We have very few game changers in our team & Martin is by far our #1 in that regard.

[PatHead]

Cheers, B. I agree MB did all of those things and it was a close call re man of the match. I tipped in favour of Jamie because I felt he contributed for the whole 90 minutes.

As an aside I felt MB came into his own once he was pushed out wide. Was good to see him running at people again ✅

Very fair report. I wasn't sure about the man of the match but having watched the highlights on sportscene I felt Boyler did deserve it. Thought Murphy was close though and it was good to see him going outside as well. Too often he cuts inside.
Agree with the comments on sportscene that there is a lot more to come from this side. Hopefully we can get back in the ground sometime to see it.

[Highwayman]

Good report as always.I’ve only managed to watch the highlights from SPFL on YouTube and wondered where Obika appeared from to score the St Mirren goal.He seemed to appear in the Hibs box alone and unmarked.Did anybody see on the live screening who was supposed to be tracking him back.

[Greenbeard]

Good report as always.I’ve only managed to watch the highlights from SPFL on YouTube and wondered where Obika appeared from to score the St Mirren goal.He seemed to appear in the Hibs box alone and unmarked.Did anybody see on the live screening who was supposed to be tracking him back.
Hanlon starts chasing back with a 20 yard start on Obika. Porteous starts from way higher up the pitch and although he hares back, he is never going to get back to cover Obika's central run. So why Hanlon shifts across to double up on the boy McGinn is chasing is beyond me. Poor decision. McGinn is in a position to at least make it difficult to get in a cross/pass and as it turns out, when the pass comes it is behind McGinn, not in front of him. Hanlon should have stayed more central to cover Obika's run.

[Carheenlea]

Missed a clear Hibs corner deep into injury time that would have allowed us to see the game out in their half, but other than that he (whisper it) did well.

Aye, that was a bad one for him to miss, but given the two players shielding ball you can’t really be too critical for him missing the ball coming off the St Mirren defender at right on the line after great work from Doig. Benefit of the doubt in the attacking teams favour would have been nice though..

[CockneyRebel]

Hanlon starts chasing back with a 20 yard start on Obika. Porteous starts from way higher up the pitch and although he hares back, he is never going to get back to cover Obika's central run. So why Hanlon shifts across to double up on the boy McGinn is chasing is beyond me. Poor decision. McGinn is in a position to at least make it difficult to get in a cross/pass and as it turns out, when the pass comes it is behind McGinn, not in front of him. Hanlon should have stayed more central to cover Obika's run.


Only seen the highlights but it looked to me that Porto got back in time to close Obika down a bit more than he did but he stood off him a wee bit too much which allowed Obika to take an unchallenged shot. A tighter closing down would have meant Obika having to do something more to get a shot away. Just the way I saw it from the highlights.

[brog]

Hanlon starts chasing back with a 20 yard start on Obika. Porteous starts from way higher up the pitch and although he hares back, he is never going to get back to cover Obika's central run. So why Hanlon shifts across to double up on the boy McGinn is chasing is beyond me. Poor decision. McGinn is in a position to at least make it difficult to get in a cross/pass and as it turns out, when the pass comes it is behind McGinn, not in front of him. Hanlon should have stayed more central to cover Obika's run.

Not true I'm afraid. Porteous is actually level with Obika when the pass is made. As for Hanlon it's immediately apparent that Connolly has the run on McGinn so if Hanlon doesn't go over then the St M player has a free run on goal. He's actually a bit unlucky in that he's trying so hard to get back that he overruns the play & the scuffed pass bobbles between him & McGinn. Porto doesn't do much wrong either, because he's partly turning, Obika gets away from him & he couldn't catch him. It seems we always need to blame someone for every goal we concede. We could go back to where Nisbet & Doidge (I think) lost the ball in the St M box & Gogic then allowed his man to beat him & get the pass away. The main culprit unfortunately was Paul McGinn & he'll know that.

[PH91]

Hanlon starts chasing back with a 20 yard start on Obika. Porteous starts from way higher up the pitch and although he hares back, he is never going to get back to cover Obika's central run. So why Hanlon shifts across to double up on the boy McGinn is chasing is beyond me. Poor decision. McGinn is in a position to at least make it difficult to get in a cross/pass and as it turns out, when the pass comes it is behind McGinn, not in front of him. Hanlon should have stayed more central to cover Obika's run.

Connolly has done mcginn for pace, the only reason he gets near to him again is because hanlon comes across. If he didn't, connolly would have cut across mcginn and been in on goal.

Porteous' starting position is terrible, I have no idea why he was 10 yards ahead of mcginn and hanlon. Just a lack of concentration and organisation at the back.

[superfurryhibby]

Something that did stand out for me was St Mirren's commitment to playing the ball out from the back. They rarely hoofed anything up the field, from bye kicks to the keeper punting it from hand. Maybe being a man down influenced this approach. By contrast, we did this a lot.

Maybe being a man down makes the percentages less favourable to the hoofed approach?

I