This is how it feels (The Rangers 01 12 2021)

[Jonnyboy]

I wasn’t able to be at Easter Road tonight and so had to watch on via Sky Sports.

Jack Ross went with the starting eleven that had beaten the Rangers last time out at Hampden whilst the visitors arrived with a new manager. From the TV pictures there seemed to be a disappointing number of empty seats in both the East and the Famous Five, but it was, after all, a freezing cold night. Of course, the South Stand looked packed and those present enjoyed a night of singing their ugly songs.

The opening stages of the game were relatively well matched with the first chance falling to the visitors as Hagi fired an effort wildly off target, but as time wore on, it was the Rangers that enjoyed the better possession. An early ‘clash’ between Porteous and Morelos witnessed Ryan getting pushed in the back and going down holding his head. That little episode drew a word of caution for the Hibs man; John Beaton not amused at the theatrics, and I’ll be honest, I wish Ryan would just focus on his game rather than trying to get Morelos booked. It’s a personal feud and one which Ryan is unlikely to win given the referees we have to tolerate in this country.

On the quarter hour, Boyle got a shot away, but the angle favoured McGregor in the Rangers goal and there was a scare when Hanlon fell awkwardly in a challenge and was down for a while getting treatment for what looked like a knee problem. Thankfully he was able to resume and saw out the whole ninety minutes. The game was being played at some pace and yet chances were scarce at either end. The number of misplaced passes from both sides was surprising. In Joe Aribo, the Rangers have a very gifted player but tonight his effect on proceedings was less than usual, thanks to the tireless work of Joe Newall and Jake-Doyle Hayes.

In twenty four minutes, the first booking of the game was given to Connor Goldson for a late challenge on Kevin Nisbet and moments later, Beaton evened things up by booking Doyle-Hayes for a challenge on Hagi. The half was not the best in terms of entertaining football and certainly as a Hibs fan I wasn’t enjoying how many half chances were being given up. Thankfully, the best of those half chances fell to Goldson whose header from a corner was straight at Macey. There was one through ball which Boyle raced on to but was ruled offside. Watching the replay, it looked to me as though Bassey was level with him but neither Ian Crocker nor Andy Walker thought it worth querying the call.

A Hibs corner near the half time whistle saw the ball bouncing around in the Rangers box but when Hibs failed to capitalise, the Rangers broke quickly, and Hibs’ central defenders were struggling to get back allowing Aribo to pick out Morelos with a cross. The rotund striker was all alone, six yards out and steered his header well wide of the post.

The contrast of this first forty five when measured against the first forty five at Hampden was stark, but I would say we restricted the Rangers to pretty much half chances and so we were certainly competitive, especially in the midfield area.

Hibs started the second half in a much more positive way with Chris Cadden causing the Rangers all sorts of problems down our right hand side. A foul on Cadden led to Campbell feeding Boyle but the latter’s effort was blocked by Bassey. Almost immediately the Rangers rushed downfield and as the Hibs defence backed off, Kent fired a shot just high and wide of Macey’s right hand post.

It's fair to say that both sides suffered from play breaking down in the final third although a quick throw saw Newell break into the box, deliver a low ball towards Nisbet only for Goldson to somehow deflect the ball past the Hibs striker. At the other end, Kamara set Kent up and the Rangers man struck a fierce shot at goal which Macey diving to his right, pushed past the near post.

The visitors made a double substitution, clearly trying to inject something different in to the play. I have to say I thought Hibs should have done the same at that point and I’d have replaced Campbell with Murphy – not because I thought Campbell wasn’t putting in a good shift, but rather because I felt we needed more creativity than young Josh was offering. On seventy seven minutes, Aribo danced into the Hibs box, rounded Newell and evaded Hanlon but the resultant effort on goal hit the side netting. A decent effort from about twenty yards by Arfield thudded into Macey’s chest and as the ball bounced back towards the Rangers man, Paul McGinn stepped in with a clearance.

With the clock ticking down I thought maybe it would finish at 0-0 as neither side had deserved all three points but then with six minutes of normal time left, the Rangers were awarded a penalty. Kent tried to cut on to his right foot and Porteous dangled a leg resulting in Kent hitting the turf. I confess that my instant reaction was that it was a penalty, and I was raging at Porteous for conceding it but after watching replays from various angles I’d say it was minimal contact but contact all the same. For me, Kent was starting to go down before that contact was made and the fact that John Beaton took a few seconds to award the penalty suggests he wasn’t 100% sure and yet, he gave it which kinda makes a mockery of the need to be 100% certain and not just guess.

Kemar Roofe, off the bench to replace Morelos, sent Macey the wrong way and gave his side a lead they didn’t really deserve. The immediate reaction from Jack Ross was to replace Cadden and Campbell with Allan and Murphy – too little and far too late for my money as even with an additional five minutes of added time we were never going to open the Rangers up, especially when their new manager reacted to his side going ahead by replacing a forward with a defender.

The players – it’s hard to be overly critical because they didn’t do badly over the piece.

Macey – Had a couple of decent saves but was largely untroubled.

McGinn – With Kent his direct opponent he dealt with that challenge pretty well.

Porteous – If I had enough hair to tear out, I’d be tearing it out tonight. From his ridiculous and obvious attempts to get Morelos booked to his daft challenge for the penalty, he needs to cut that stuff out pronto. Having said all of that I really liked the rest of his game and I just wish he’d focus on that.

Hanlon – It didn’t look good when Paul had that lengthy first half treatment, but he carried on and put in a very good shift.

Cadden – I reckon this was his best game yet and even though he was subbed late on he’s seen off a couple of others to win my man of the match award.

Doyle-Hayes – I understand why the two ex-Rangers players on the impartial Sky Sports panel picked out Jake as their man of the match. He came close for me too.

Newell – I didn’t learn until after the game that Joe had been disciplined by the club. This is not the place to air my views on that. Suffice to say I thought he was involved from start to finish and never gave our opponents a moments peace.

Doig – Josh got into some great attacking positions but more often than not his delivery into the box was patchy.

Campbell – I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again that Josh has all the attributes to go far in this game. He was in the running for my man of the match and although I’ve read that some posters don’t see it with him, I invite them to look again!

Boyle – This was one of Martin’s quieter nights and the reason why is not obvious although he was pretty well marshalled throughout.

Nisbet – Worked hard and tried to link play but twice I saw him fire a pass across the pitch that went straight to an opponent, leading to pressure on our defence.

Murphy – Brought on too late to have any impact.

Allan – See Murphy

Jack Ross – It seemed to me as though he was settling for a point and should have reacted in kind when the Rangers made their first two changes.

Referee – John Beaton was ok, but I can’t help but wonder if his delayed decision to award the penalty was influenced by the roar from the South Stand.

[hibbie02]

As always a good summary JB. I thought Porto was generally great but agree he needs to keep his concentration on his game, not on getting others in trouble.

I think we played very well as a team and snuffed the Huns out of the game. If we played that way against most teams we would win. They clearly pulled their full backs further back to prevent Boyle getting any space and Doig from getting to far forward. Campbell had a really good game and I may disagree with your assessment that he wasn't creative. One cross in particular stood out.

We failed to trouble their defence and I feel Doidge may have made a difference if he had been available. I think a draw would have been a fair result, but not surprised at them getting a late pen.

[number9dream]

Very frustrating since we merited a point in a game that was high on energy but low on quality.
I can understand JR sticking rather than twisting with subs since a it looked a stick-on draw until Porto, who settled into a very solid match, had his little nibble.
Nobody played badly but I hope the team is freshened up to give us more attacking menace at home to Motherwell on Saturday.

[Radium]

It is always good to read your thoughts on the game and there’s nothing I can argue with re tonights game


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[hibby6270]

To expand on your assessment on Boyle and Campbell.

Boyle was ‘quieter’’ tonight because he was being played through the middle as support to Nisbet.

Campbell - I think - was given a specific role tonight to be a “3rd” midfield spoiler to break up play and support JDH and Newell.He did that very well. However, when I’ve seen him as support to Nisbet, that seems to be his more natural game.

As ever, just my opinion, but that’s how I saw it.

Everything else? Spot on as usual.:greengrin

[St.Kristopher]

Porto was doing is best in a tricky situation. He had to be there. If you look at the replay he was doing his best to put pressure on but then tried to get his let out the way. I don’t think we can fault him, such fine margins.

[NAE NOOKIE]

We were very unfortunate not to come away from that with a point, especially in the second half I thought we were more than a match for them with only our inability to make many clear cut chances and an inability to make more of the few we did create the only real criticism I would have. What did please me was Hibs pressing with energy which had quite a bit to do with the sticky buns poor passing at times.

Nobody had a poor game for Hibs tonight and IMO it was a pretty decent team effort without anybody being brilliant, we deserved better than we got IMO.

Macey ....6 .... Made a few decent saves, though sometimes his distribution could be better and quicker.

McGinn .... 6 .... Defended well and got forward reasonably well.

Porteous ... 6 .... His overall play was very good at times I thought, but as the OP says he needs to forget the personal feud with their fat striker, he's not worth the effort. I couldn't really see the penalty so cant judge if his challenge was rash or not.

Hanlon .... 6 .... I thought he had a solid game and like his defensive mates had to deal with quite a few breakaways from the opposition which for the most part him and his colleagues dealt with well.

Doig .... 6 .... I think he's becoming a better defender and he got forward well tonight without putting too many balls into the box .. needs to check his studs during the warm up, cos tonight he looked like he needed longer ones.

Newell .... 7 .... Really competitive in the midfield, neat and tidy on the ball too.

Doyle - Hayes ... 6 .... He worked hard and did as much as anybody to keep our 2nd half momentum going.

Cadden .... 7 .... He was decent in the second half, but IMO should have done better than shoot 3 feet past the post from a decent position.

Boyle ... 6 .... Didn't have the impact he can have in games, but tried to make things happen when he did get the ball, not his night unfortunately.

Campbell ... 6 .... I don't think anybody is ever going to be disappointed with his workrate, but if he keeps his place he is going to need a goal to make all the running about worthwhile.

Nisbet .... 6 ... Not for the first time in games I've seen he didn't seem to trust his pace a couple of times tonight trying to cut back when he could have just ran at an opponent he had one on one ... I think it was him who was played into the box and didn't take the shot, instead losing the ball by trying to take a touch, just hit the bloody thing mate.

SUBS: Allan and Murphy weren't given enough time, like the OP I think both should have been brought on at least 10 minutes earlier.

Beaton .... Couldn't wait to hand them free kicks and WTF was he on at that throw in, it was so clearly kicked out by a sticky bun you have to wonder if he's bloody well colour blind. He also stopped a Hibs move so that a sticky bun with a leg injury could get treatment, I was under the impression refs were only instructed to stop the game for head injuries.

[Dalkeith Boy]

Totally agree about Porteous John...he needs to cut out all these boyish antics of slamming the turf and pretending he is hurt, and stop running to the ref all the time. He needs to grow up, concentrate on the game and the team and let his talent do the talking.

[BILLYHIBS]

Brilliant Jonnyboy

Too many wrong choices in the final third for me by both teams spoiled the game as an entertaining and attacking spectacle

Cadden and Boyle really need to get on the same wavelength before the Cup Final Boyle likes the ball outside his man in space for him to run on to not inside where there are other defenders in congested areas

Jack Ross settling for a draw makes him a divisive figure amongst HIBS supporters far too cautious for me - just imho of course

Tin hat on and green tinted specs but Kent should have been booked for diving at the pen as Porto pulls his leg away at the last second but never gonna happen against Der Hun in a month of Sundays

Shudda just jumped out of the way and let him go down as he was diving anyway

Seen it too many times against them

Soft award as the OP says Brother Beaton hesitated and never even booked Ryan he just guessed

Scottish football is a joke

Kenny Miller and Fatty Boyd were both laughing like pooches at the end post match

Sky Sports really need to get some HIBS representation on board in the interests of balance

Maybes Kevin Thomson :greengrin

[JimBHibees]

Brilliant Jonnyboy

Too many wrong choices in the final third for me by both teams spoiled the game as an entertaining and attacking spectacle

Cadden and Boyle really need to get on the same wavelength before the Cup Final Boyle likes the ball outside his man in space for him to run on to not inside where there are other defenders in congested areas

Jack Ross settling for a draw makes him a divisive figure amongst HIBS supporters far too cautious for me - just imho of course

Tin hat on and green tinted specs but Kent should have been booked for diving at the pen as Porto pulls his leg away at the last second but never gonna happen against Der Hun in a month of Sundays

Shudda just jumped out of the way and let him go down as he was diving anyway

Seen it too many times against them

Soft award as the OP says Brother Beaton hesitated and never even booked Ryan he just guessed

Scottish football is a joke

Kenny Miller and Fatty Boyd were both laughing like pooches at the end post match

Sky Sports really need to get some HIBS representation on board in the interests of balance

Maybes Kevin Thomson :greengrin

Sky sports are a joke with that panel.

[500miles]

I don't get the criticism about Porteous playing mind games with the opposition. It clearly gets under the Rangers fans and players skin and is a brave way to behave against teams that will usually end up making you look foolish with the greater spending power they have.

If he played for Celtic he'd be getting called the next captain and the successor to Scott Brown.

[Brightside]

I actually thought Porto was MoM! Defensively he was excellent. One tiny mistake and they got a pen. Gutted for him.

[JimBHibees]

I actually thought Porto was MoM! Defensively he was excellent. One tiny mistake and they got a pen. Gutted for him.

Yep thought he was the best player on the pitch.

[Fuzzywuzzy]

I thought that it was a good game to watch. Both sides were sloppy at times and we lost the ball too cheaply at times.

[loanheadhibby]

Yep thought he was the best player on the pitch.

And yet cost us a point,

Gifts Rangers a goal at Hampden,
Makes mistake trying to clear ball for St Johnstone goal
Makes mistake last night by hanging a lazy leg out

We need to score at least 2 every week to win as we know Ryan will likely cause us to lose a goal.

No doubting the laddies ability but he must clear his head during games and concentrate for the full 90.

[JimBHibees]

And yet cost us a point,

Gifts Rangers a goal at Hampden,
Makes mistake trying to clear ball for St Johnstone goal
Makes mistake last night by hanging a lazy leg out

We need to score at least 2 every week to win as we know Ryan will likely cause us to lose a goal.

No doubting the laddies ability but he must clear his head during games and concentrate for the full 90.

You stay negative I will stay positive :greengrin

All players make mistakes thought he was unlucky last night and on another day eg against another team probably no pen

[BILLYHIBS]

You stay negative I will stay positive :greengrin

All players make mistakes thought he was unlucky last night and on another day eg against another team probably no pen

Martin Boyle pulls that stunt at Ibroke with 5 minutes to go and it is a straight red for simulation

Ryan says he never touched him and Jack Ross agreed after watching it back

5.08 in the link below pulls his leg away

https://youtu.be/KBQBBdkbOAU

[JimBHibees]

Martin Boyle pulls that stunt at Ibroke with 5 minutes to go and it is a straight red for simulation

Ryan says he never touched him and Jack Ross agreed after watching it back

5.08 in the link below pulls his leg away

https://youtu.be/KBQBBdkbOAU

There is another angle from behind the goal there was contact on his boot minimal though. Certainly from Beatons angle looked like no contact

[loanheadhibby]

You stay negative I will stay positive :greengrin

All players make mistakes thought he was unlucky last night and on another day eg against another team probably no pen

I’m going to be positive/negative! What a player he will be once he cuts out the mistakes.

He was magnificent at Hampden as well but there is no getting away from it, we need 2 goals to win a game at moment as he is throwing one in a game.

If others had made mistakes to cost goals, they would rightly be called out for it. Ryan should not be treated any differently

[LeithMike]

Some thoughts from the comfort of my armchair:

Definite pen.

Porteous - JB is spot on, focus on defending and he'll.come good. Penalty was a mistake that anyone could have.made though - pleased to see he was still on his feet and hadn't dived in but maybe needs to learn just to hold off players more rather than win the ball, especially in the penalty box.

Nisbet - a few mistakes but appears to me to be offering up for the ball more than recent weeks and showed good touches. It shows he is a good player when focused.

Doig - I think Mackie looked a better defender when Doing first broke through but I can see why Hibs wanted £5m for Doig. He's so positive, strong and athletic with great feet and I think he could be transported into any level of football. If he can work on his defending he is going to be a really top full-back and I hope Hibs don't sell him on the cheap after his recent dip in form (along with the whole team).

Hibs are looking better over the last couple of weeks. Hopefully we can kick on a bit now and give Celtc a game in the final (something we've yet to do under JR but he's overcome some other hurdles recently).

Think we definitely suit 3-5-2 better too.

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[Greenbeard]

Folk saying (elsewhere) that we didn't really create any clear cut chances. But had Goldson not got that world class flick on Newell's cross from the right of the box second half, Nisbet was perfectly poised for a tap in.

[madhatter]

I actually thought Porto was MoM! Defensively he was excellent. One tiny mistake and they got a pen. Gutted for him.

He was one of our best players last night. No doubt about that. However, for a CB he got dragged about because he was too emotional and went running towards the man with the ball rather than fill a position shielding the goal on a few occasions. Perfect example is the pen, he could have slotted in beside McGinn and filled the space inside but instead went straight for Kent which due to his angle of approach gave Kent an easy out and Porteous pulled out just a bit too late. I would claim for that pen but think it couldn't be much softer.

He made more than a few mistakes in that match. He either came out on top in the resultant contest or fought back to rectify so definitely was a strong performer but he needs to calm down against Rangers. Very rarely do you see a CB come out on top when approaching an attacker in the box the way Porteous did against Kent.

If he cleaned up on some of the defending and improved his aerial leap (as much as he can) he would have a very bright future ahead of him. Can't see him being at Hibs too much longer.

[B.H.F.C]

Folk saying (elsewhere) that we didn't really create any clear cut chances. But had Goldson not got that world class flick on Newell's cross from the right of the box second half, Nisbet was perfectly poised for a tap in.

I think Goldson was lucky rather than world class with that one..

We need players that are prepared to have a shot every now and again. There was one that opened up perfectly for Newell in the second half and instead of having a go he dinks a nothing ball in to the box. Scoring goals is a real issue for us at the moment.

[BoomtownHibees]

Boyle was ‘quieter’’ tonight because he was being played through the middle as support to Nisbet.


Yet last time he played in that position against last nights’ opposition he scored a hat trick

[Allant1981]

Very soft penalty, folk have been hammering porteous for it but genuinely dont think he went in with the intent to foul kent, again though if that had been at the other end we would have been screaming for it

[blackpoolhibs]

I actually thought Porto was MoM! Defensively he was excellent. One tiny mistake and they got a pen. Gutted for him.


Yep thought he was the best player on the pitch.

Me too, by a country mile. :top marks

[500miles]

....and not switch off once per game. He went to sleep for the More Or Less free header. Plug didn't even have to work to get the space. And some space. At least 5 yards.

That was Cadden, Porteous was on the edge of the box due to the Rangers countering quickly. Porto would have been in that position to cut out ant passes to late runners from midfield.

[Danderhall Hibs]

That was Cadden, Porteous was on the edge of the box due to the Rangers countering quickly. Porto would have been in that position to cut out ant passes to late runners from midfield.

I’ve been wondering why we frequently seem to have the wrong people marking up - same at St Johnstone when RP was free in the middle when the 2 players attacking the ball were being picked up by Cadden and Campbell.

I thought RP would’ve been MOM last night if he hadn’t given the penalty away - he was excellent apart from a couple of minutes after he was spoken to by Beaton. He booted one out the park then attempted to go on a mazy in his own half straight after that.

There was also a time (at least one) where he considered diving into smash Kent and decided to stay on his feet so signs he’s learning.

[Tyler Durden]

He was one of our best players last night. No doubt about that. However, for a CB he got dragged about because he was too emotional and went running towards the man with the ball rather than fill a position shielding the goal on a few occasions. Perfect example is the pen, he could have slotted in beside McGinn and filled the space inside but instead went straight for Kent which due to his angle of approach gave Kent an easy out and Porteous pulled out just a bit too late. I would claim for that pen but think it couldn't be much softer.

He made more than a few mistakes in that match. He either came out on top in the resultant contest or fought back to rectify so definitely was a strong performer but he needs to calm down against Rangers. Very rarely do you see a CB come out on top when approaching an attacker in the box the way Porteous did against Kent.

If he cleaned up on some of the defending and improved his aerial leap (as much as he can) he would have a very bright future ahead of him. Can't see him being at Hibs too much longer.

I totally agree with this. Forget about the level of contact etc, Porto had no need to be in that position. When Kent receives the ball McGinn is facing him up and would likely try to push him wide. Porteous needed to stay central. Such a shame as he'd been faultless prior to that but ultimately this rush of blood has cost us.

Re the OP and Cadden as MOTM. I'm gobsmacked by that. I think Cadden is a very limited player and more often than not he lacks any final ball. I'd get him benched on Saturday and put Boyle back out wide, with Doidge coming in.

[Mikey_1875]

.

Re the OP and Cadden as MOTM. I'm gobsmacked by that. I think Cadden is a very limited player and more often than not he lacks any final ball. I'd get him benched on Saturday and put Boyle back out wide, with Doidge coming in.

Cadden is a funny one. Taken on his own he has actually grown on me in the last few games. He is clearly very committed and has a fantastic engine which I think serves us well against the better teams in the league.

I do think that he makes us worse as a collective in attack though. He is very predictable going forward where he is down the line and cross almost every time and i’m not sure that plays to our strengths. Especially when it’s Boyle and Nisbet up top. Doig is similar but not as guilty as Cadden. They need to add more variety to their game and come inside more often.

I can definitely see us going back to Boyle wide in a 3-5-2 or 4 at the back with Boyle and Murphy as wingers when we have everyone back up to speed and not playing either of the OF.

[Greenbeard]

That was Cadden, Porteous was on the edge of the box due to the Rangers countering quickly. Porto would have been in that position to cut out ant passes to late runners from midfield.
So it was. Apologies to the big man.

[Hiber-nation]

.

Re the OP and Cadden as MOTM. I'm gobsmacked by that. I think Cadden is a very limited player and more often than not he lacks any final ball. I'd get him benched on Saturday and put Boyle back out wide, with Doidge coming in.

Aye Cadden is so limited. We need more than an honest trier with a good engine who puts in 1 good ball out of 5.

[jacomo]

Aye Cadden is so limited. We need more than an honest trier with a good engine who puts in 1 good ball out of 5.


He’s certainly more limited than the player I thought we were getting.

He’s a decent rwb but little more than that. If we had more options up front he’d probably be deputy to Boyle in that position.

[jacomo]

Great match report JB.

Sitting on what we had because ‘we didn’t deserve to lose’ was playing with fire imo, and so it proved.

Haven’t seen the penalty again but no complaints last night. More raging about the offside call against us which looked plain wrong.

[Dunbar Hibee]

I wasn’t able to be at Easter Road tonight and so had to watch on via Sky Sports.

Jack Ross went with the starting eleven that had beaten the Rangers last time out at Hampden whilst the visitors arrived with a new manager. From the TV pictures there seemed to be a disappointing number of empty seats in both the East and the Famous Five, but it was, after all, a freezing cold night. Of course, the South Stand looked packed and those present enjoyed a night of singing their ugly songs.

The opening stages of the game were relatively well matched with the first chance falling to the visitors as Hagi fired an effort wildly off target, but as time wore on, it was the Rangers that enjoyed the better possession. An early ‘clash’ between Porteous and Morelos witnessed Ryan getting pushed in the back and going down holding his head. That little episode drew a word of caution for the Hibs man; John Beaton not amused at the theatrics, and I’ll be honest, I wish Ryan would just focus on his game rather than trying to get Morelos booked. It’s a personal feud and one which Ryan is unlikely to win given the referees we have to tolerate in this country.

On the quarter hour, Boyle got a shot away, but the angle favoured McGregor in the Rangers goal and there was a scare when Hanlon fell awkwardly in a challenge and was down for a while getting treatment for what looked like a knee problem. Thankfully he was able to resume and saw out the whole ninety minutes. The game was being played at some pace and yet chances were scarce at either end. The number of misplaced passes from both sides was surprising. In Joe Aribo, the Rangers have a very gifted player but tonight his effect on proceedings was less than usual, thanks to the tireless work of Joe Newall and Jake-Doyle Hayes.

In twenty four minutes, the first booking of the game was given to Connor Goldson for a late challenge on Kevin Nisbet and moments later, Beaton evened things up by booking Doyle-Hayes for a challenge on Hagi. The half was not the best in terms of entertaining football and certainly as a Hibs fan I wasn’t enjoying how many half chances were being given up. Thankfully, the best of those half chances fell to Goldson whose header from a corner was straight at Macey. There was one through ball which Boyle raced on to but was ruled offside. Watching the replay, it looked to me as though Bassey was level with him but neither Ian Crocker nor Andy Walker thought it worth querying the call.

A Hibs corner near the half time whistle saw the ball bouncing around in the Rangers box but when Hibs failed to capitalise, the Rangers broke quickly, and Hibs’ central defenders were struggling to get back allowing Aribo to pick out Morelos with a cross. The rotund striker was all alone, six yards out and steered his header well wide of the post.

The contrast of this first forty five when measured against the first forty five at Hampden was stark, but I would say we restricted the Rangers to pretty much half chances and so we were certainly competitive, especially in the midfield area.

Hibs started the second half in a much more positive way with Chris Cadden causing the Rangers all sorts of problems down our right hand side. A foul on Cadden led to Campbell feeding Boyle but the latter’s effort was blocked by Bassey. Almost immediately the Rangers rushed downfield and as the Hibs defence backed off, Kent fired a shot just high and wide of Macey’s right hand post.

It's fair to say that both sides suffered from play breaking down in the final third although a quick throw saw Newell break into the box, deliver a low ball towards Nisbet only for Goldson to somehow deflect the ball past the Hibs striker. At the other end, Kamara set Kent up and the Rangers man struck a fierce shot at goal which Macey diving to his right, pushed past the near post.

The visitors made a double substitution, clearly trying to inject something different in to the play. I have to say I thought Hibs should have done the same at that point and I’d have replaced Campbell with Murphy – not because I thought Campbell wasn’t putting in a good shift, but rather because I felt we needed more creativity than young Josh was offering. On seventy seven minutes, Aribo danced into the Hibs box, rounded Newell and evaded Hanlon but the resultant effort on goal hit the side netting. A decent effort from about twenty yards by Arfield thudded into Macey’s chest and as the ball bounced back towards the Rangers man, Paul McGinn stepped in with a clearance.

With the clock ticking down I thought maybe it would finish at 0-0 as neither side had deserved all three points but then with six minutes of normal time left, the Rangers were awarded a penalty. Kent tried to cut on to his right foot and Porteous dangled a leg resulting in Kent hitting the turf. I confess that my instant reaction was that it was a penalty, and I was raging at Porteous for conceding it but after watching replays from various angles I’d say it was minimal contact but contact all the same. For me, Kent was starting to go down before that contact was made and the fact that John Beaton took a few seconds to award the penalty suggests he wasn’t 100% sure and yet, he gave it which kinda makes a mockery of the need to be 100% certain and not just guess.

Kemar Roofe, off the bench to replace Morelos, sent Macey the wrong way and gave his side a lead they didn’t really deserve. The immediate reaction from Jack Ross was to replace Cadden and Campbell with Allan and Murphy – too little and far too late for my money as even with an additional five minutes of added time we were never going to open the Rangers up, especially when their new manager reacted to his side going ahead by replacing a forward with a defender.

The players – it’s hard to be overly critical because they didn’t do badly over the piece.

Macey – Had a couple of decent saves but was largely untroubled.

McGinn – With Kent his direct opponent he dealt with that challenge pretty well.

Porteous – If I had enough hair to tear out, I’d be tearing it out tonight. From his ridiculous and obvious attempts to get Morelos booked to his daft challenge for the penalty, he needs to cut that stuff out pronto. Having said all of that I really liked the rest of his game and I just wish he’d focus on that.

Hanlon – It didn’t look good when Paul had that lengthy first half treatment, but he carried on and put in a very good shift.

Cadden – I reckon this was his best game yet and even though he was subbed late on he’s seen off a couple of others to win my man of the match award.

Doyle-Hayes – I understand why the two ex-Rangers players on the impartial Sky Sports panel picked out Jake as their man of the match. He came close for me too.

Newell – I didn’t learn until after the game that Joe had been disciplined by the club. This is not the place to air my views on that. Suffice to say I thought he was involved from start to finish and never gave our opponents a moments peace.

Doig – Josh got into some great attacking positions but more often than not his delivery into the box was patchy.

Campbell – I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again that Josh has all the attributes to go far in this game. He was in the running for my man of the match and although I’ve read that some posters don’t see it with him, I invite them to look again!

Boyle – This was one of Martin’s quieter nights and the reason why is not obvious although he was pretty well marshalled throughout.

Nisbet – Worked hard and tried to link play but twice I saw him fire a pass across the pitch that went straight to an opponent, leading to pressure on our defence.

Murphy – Brought on too late to have any impact.

Allan – See Murphy

Jack Ross – It seemed to me as though he was settling for a point and should have reacted in kind when the Rangers made their first two changes.

Referee – John Beaton was ok, but I can’t help but wonder if his delayed decision to award the penalty was influenced by the roar from the South Stand.

John Beaton was ok? Can't believe i've just read that.

[Jones28]

Cadden was superb last night, showed some nice bits of skill, put crosses in where he could, a couple of nice ones the Doidge would have really benefitted from, the wee lane change where he sent Barasic over on his arse and somehow was penalised was excellent.

[Highwayman]

Fine report as always JB.

I also couldn’t make it to ER last night and watched the game on Sky Sports.

I was somewhat concerned when Paul Hanlon went down with minimal contact and it looked like he might not be able to carry on.Didn’t realise until Ian Crocker mentioned it that there was no Darren McGregor on the bench.Stevenson was being made ready to come on if needed.If Hanlon couldn’t have carried on.Does anyone have views on what the reconstructed line up would have been and what the situation is concerning McGregor.

Porteous has to get more savvy concerning certain things.My first reaction on Kent going down that it was a penalty,just what Kent had engineered and used Porteous to this end.

If this had happened to say Boyle at the other end,we would have been screaming for a penalty.

[Jones28]

Fine report as always JB.

I also couldn’t make it to ER last night and watched the game on Sky Sports.

I was somewhat concerned when Paul Hanlon went down with minimal contact and it looked like he might not be able to carry on.Didn’t realise until Ian Crocker mentioned it that there was no Darren McGregor on the bench.Stevenson was being made ready to come on if needed.If Hanlon couldn’t have carried on.Does anyone have views on what the reconstructed line up would have been and what the situation is concerning McGregor.

Porteous has to get more savvy concerning certain things.My first reaction on Kent going down that it was a penalty,just what Kent had engineered and used Porteous to this end.

If this had happened to say Boyle at the other end,we would have been screaming for a penalty.

I would have thought Lewis would have gone to LWB and Doig would have moved in to cover PH's position. Gogic might have been an option for a straight swap but Ross doesn't want to throw him in to games where players are going to run at him as he's a booking waiting to happen.

[Hiber-nation]

Cadden was superb last night, showed some nice bits of skill, put crosses in where he could, a couple of nice ones the Doidge would have really benefitted from, the wee lane change where he sent Barasic over on his arse and somehow was penalised was excellent.

He had a really good spell in the 2nd half when he looked like the player I remember from Motherwell but he was awful in the first, constantly gave the ball away.

[GreenNWhiteArmy]

i thought we played well without troubling the angry man between the sticks - what's the story with Mcgregor anyway? why is he perma-angry? it's just so weird and uncalled for

RE us making subs earlier, tbh i didnt see a need to change the formation (which the subs would've), other than freshening up maybe Murphy/Allan for Boyle/Cadden and maybe fresh legs in the middle, the game for me was going well. How many times did Tavernier or Barisic cause us problems? that for me was because of our formation. Had we gone to a back 4 earlier i'm sure they'd have fancied getting forward a bit more

Players wise, Porto, JDH and Newell were our best players with Cadden, Hanlon, Campbell not far behind. They're the league leaders and current champions, and we've kept them largely quiet.

Macey didnt have a great deal to do. I must admit his kicking worries me. A quieter evening for Boyle but i'll put that down to GVB identifying he's our danger man. Nisbet has looked much livelier the last couple of weeks which is a major positive.

Games coming thick and fast so i'm sure JR will rotate one or two for the weekend clash with the well

[superfurryhibby]

A good report as always John.

A few observations from me.

Macey needs to catch some of the balls coming at him. He's always eager to parry a shot, why not just catch the blasted thing?

Cadden has a pretty impressive engine, he's working really hard. However, I'm not seeing huge football intelligence there. He must make more of the possession coming his way.

I thought Nisbet worked really hard and led the line well. He was up against a giant in yon Shirley Bassey and overall did well. Some great touches and strong play. However, he could have really cost us with some poor attempts at passing.

Porto needs to focus on his own game. Let other players take up the cudgels. I thought the same on Saturday and last night was no different. He had a good game, showed a lot of courage on the ball. Shame about the penalty, perhaps he or McGinn (not 100% sure if he was the other covering player) the challenge needed to be earlier. Once Kent is in the box, there was always going to be trouble.

We had plenty of possession, with some spells of dominance, but never really threatened the goal enough. It was a battling performance. Rangers looked more dangerous on the counter attack and that's how their goal eventually came.

I was disappointed not to gain a point, but overall there were some decent performances in a pretty competitive game.

[Tyler Durden]

Cadden was superb last night, showed some nice bits of skill, put crosses in where he could, a couple of nice ones the Doidge would have really benefitted from, the wee lane change where he sent Barasic over on his arse and somehow was penalised was excellent.

After he was past Barisic in that incident he flashed the ball across the 6 yard line - miles in front of Boyle and Nisbet. That sums Cadden up for me, gets into good positions and then generally it's a "hit and hope" cross.

[Greenbeard]

i thought we played well without troubling the angry man between the sticks - what's the story with Mcgregor anyway? why is he perma-angry? it's just so weird and uncalled for

RE us making subs earlier, tbh i didnt see a need to change the formation (which the subs would've), other than freshening up maybe Murphy/Allan for Boyle/Cadden and maybe fresh legs in the middle, the game for me was going well. How many times did Tavernier or Barisic cause us problems? that for me was because of our formation. Had we gone to a back 4 earlier i'm sure they'd have fancied getting forward a bit more

Players wise, Porto, JDH and Newell were our best players with Cadden, Hanlon, Campbell not far behind. They're the league leaders and current champions, and we've kept them largely quiet.

Macey didnt have a great deal to do. I must admit his kicking worries me. A quieter evening for Boyle but i'll put that down to GVB identifying he's our danger man. Nisbet has looked much livelier the last couple of weeks which is a major positive.

Games coming thick and fast so i'm sure JR will rotate one or two for the weekend clash with the well
He's just a huge fud pure and simple.