Jonnyboy
19-02-2022, 06:38 PM
Having enjoyed progression in the Scottish Cup last time out, it was back to league business for a Hibs side that’s recent league form has been poor. Shaun Maloney was forced into making one change to his starting eleven with Josh Campbell replacing the injured Demitri Mitchell. Interestingly, there was space on the bench for youngsters Jacob Blaney and Oscar MacIntyre with both having been training with the first team squad whilst turning out for our impressive Under 18 side. One familiar face was missing as Scott Allan was not in the squad.
County started the better although an early cross from Cadden deserved a better outcome than simply flashing across the box. A poor challenge by Charles-Cook on Porteous angered the home support but referee Steven McLean did not deem it worthy of more than a free kick to Hibs. McLean was busy soon after when Jordan White nipped in behind his marker but as he neared the ball, Macey collected easily, only for White to throw himself to the ground. An outrageous dive that earned him a deserved yellow card.
Conditions under foot were not great and I was puzzled that we watered an already sodden surface before the game. Both sides were guilty of getting bogged down in midfield and although County were enjoying better in terms of possession, Macey’s goal was hardly under threat. A Jordan White shot was easily gathered by Macey whilst Cadden fizzed a shot wide of target. Around twenty five minutes in, the lively Sylvester Jasper set up Henderson near the edge of the box, but the Hibs youngster slightly delayed his shot, and the effort was blocked.
A crunching Harry Paton tackle on Jasper earned the County man a yellow card and moments later Jasper was again caught off the ball, but referee McLean awarded a free kick for a push on the Hibs man when it was plain to see that Paton, already on a yellow, caught the Hibs man at the back of his ankle, a decision that brought howls of derision from the home stands, aimed at the referee.
It had been a poor spectacle with very little quality but five minutes from the break, Jasper took a pass from Nisbet and cleverly lifted his return over the head of his marker, but Nisbet swung a boot rather than taking a touch first and the chance was gone. A poor end to the move but a second of pure quality in Jasper’s set up. The only things of note in the remaining five minutes were two bookings for Hibs players. Bushiri, perhaps angry that Paton was booting anything that moved, took the County player out and then Nisbet was booked for what McLean indicated as persistent fouling. Presumably the ref didn’t think the five first half fouls by County’s number 10 Dominic Samuel added up to a similar punishment.
The first half was so poor, the second must surely be better? In fact, it proved to be as Hibs started on the front foot and Porteous came close with a header from a Henderson corner and then in quick succession, Nisbet and Bushiri each had efforts blocked. County were rocking a bit and Henderson skipped into the box and fired a shot on target that Laidlaw did well to divert away for a corner. Henderson took that corner and the ball fell to Campbell, but Josh couldn’t get his shot through a sea of bodies in front of him. Instead, the ball returned to Campbell, and he rolled it into the path of Jake Doyle-Hayes who, from around twenty yards smashed a right footed shot low into the net. Laidlaw seemed to get a touch but couldn’t keep it out.
County reacted by surging forward from the restart and Charles-Cook got a shot away from the edge of the box which Macey saved easily. Next, Jordan Tillson was booked for a crude challenge on Henderson before Ross Callachan saw his effort from thirty yards sail harmlessly wide. With around twenty five minutes left, Jasper stole the ball from a County defender and fed it to Henderson who had only Laidlaw to face but the Hibs man went for power and his effort cannoned off the legs of the County keeper. The corner which followed saw Laidlaw make a stunning save to keep out a powerful header from Porteous.
Sylvester Jasper, who had taken a couple of healthy knocks, was then replaced by Chris Mueller before Macey made a comfortable save from Baldwin’s looping header. Hibs then made a couple more changes when Nisbet and Henderson were replaced by Scott and Wright. Next, a fabulous run down the left by Doig drew a foul from Jack Baldwin, the County man receiving a yellow card. The initial free kick from that foul was not cleared well by the County defence and the ball found Doyle-Hayes about twenty yards out. The Hibs man took the ball on his chest and as it dropped, he hit a stunning volley beyond Laidlaw to make it two for him and two for Hibs.
Doyle-Hayes was involved again when he cleaned out Ross Callachan with the County man reacting angrily to the challenge. Doyle-Hayes was booked, and, in the aftermath, you could see him and Callachan exchanging a laugh over the incident. In fact, Callachan hadn’t been doing too well in their exchanges and had been less than pleased earlier when Doyle-Hayes had nutmegged him. Scott and Campbell then had efforts blocked before County made a further change in order to try and salvage something from the game. Mueller then set up Josh Doig, but the shot was saved by Laidlaw before Shaun Maloney introduced a little more solidity to the defence by replacing Josh Campbell with Darren McGregor, but the game was won now and Hibs secured the points that lift them to fourth in the table.
The players
Macey – Matt had an easy time of it as County failed to really test him by filling the Hibs area at dead ball situations with a number of their taller players, but he stood up to the test and never looked troubled at any time.
Bushiri – Rocky got an amount of criticism after the Arbroath game with some suggesting he was really poor in the air. He may have been at Gayfield but won most of his aerial duals today.
Porteous – Against Jordan White, Ryan won the battle and defended really well. A couple of dodgy pass attempts but over the piece he was solid.
Stevenson – Injury to Mitchell meant that Lewis was left of the back three and in the first half I thought he wasn’t so great going forward. Like most of his team mates he improved after the break and despite a few dodgy punts forward, he offered more positives than negatives.
Cadden – County clearly decided to play their wide midfield players high up the park to stop Cadden and Doig from getting forward so much. Even with that, Chris managed to fire in some decent crosses as well as defending efficiently throughout.
Doyle-Hayes – I’ll confess, I thought he should be hooked at the break but soon realised there was no natural replacement on the bench. Needless to say, I’m delighted he went on to prove me wrong with two fabulous goals, the second a contender for goal of the season. My man of the match for his two goals.
Campbell – I know the laddie has his faults, but I believe good coaching will improve his game. Drawing groans of disappointment when he loses out in a tackle or passes back the way rather than forward will do little for his confidence although I recognise the frustration from the stands.
Doig – In the first half I was frustrated that he was playing too close to Stevenson and therefore closing off the chance of a pass, but he was much better in the second and his effort and commitment are admirable.
Henderson – Flitted in and out a bit but you can see the laddie has talent and can pick a pass. In my view, the more he plays the better he will get.
Jasper – Really enthused about this lad who seems to have won over us fans early in his appearances. Very tricky and always looking to move the team forward it took a few dunts from County players to try and keep him quiet.
Nisbet – The enigma that is Kevin Nisbet saw him doing some good things and some bad. I know that Maloney wants him to drop deep so that when he gets the ball, he’s facing the opponents’ goal but I feel he drops too deep at times and that draws criticism because he can’t get into an opponent’s box quickly enough.
Mueller – Once again I was impressed by his standard of play and his non stop running that caused County a few problems.
Scott – I think James has a very long way to go before we Hibs fans take to him.
Wright – Drey got the last fifteen minutes although I’m uncertain as to what his instructions were. Perhaps it was to bolster our right side because County were pushing forward there in search of a goal.
McGregor – Did what he was asked to do.
Shaun Maloney – Undoubtedly a happy man and rightly so because we won the game. I wonder what his thoughts were on our first half performance because it wasn’t great.
Referee – Steven McLean drew an amount of booing from both sets of fans with the odd, frankly bewildering, decision.
County started the better although an early cross from Cadden deserved a better outcome than simply flashing across the box. A poor challenge by Charles-Cook on Porteous angered the home support but referee Steven McLean did not deem it worthy of more than a free kick to Hibs. McLean was busy soon after when Jordan White nipped in behind his marker but as he neared the ball, Macey collected easily, only for White to throw himself to the ground. An outrageous dive that earned him a deserved yellow card.
Conditions under foot were not great and I was puzzled that we watered an already sodden surface before the game. Both sides were guilty of getting bogged down in midfield and although County were enjoying better in terms of possession, Macey’s goal was hardly under threat. A Jordan White shot was easily gathered by Macey whilst Cadden fizzed a shot wide of target. Around twenty five minutes in, the lively Sylvester Jasper set up Henderson near the edge of the box, but the Hibs youngster slightly delayed his shot, and the effort was blocked.
A crunching Harry Paton tackle on Jasper earned the County man a yellow card and moments later Jasper was again caught off the ball, but referee McLean awarded a free kick for a push on the Hibs man when it was plain to see that Paton, already on a yellow, caught the Hibs man at the back of his ankle, a decision that brought howls of derision from the home stands, aimed at the referee.
It had been a poor spectacle with very little quality but five minutes from the break, Jasper took a pass from Nisbet and cleverly lifted his return over the head of his marker, but Nisbet swung a boot rather than taking a touch first and the chance was gone. A poor end to the move but a second of pure quality in Jasper’s set up. The only things of note in the remaining five minutes were two bookings for Hibs players. Bushiri, perhaps angry that Paton was booting anything that moved, took the County player out and then Nisbet was booked for what McLean indicated as persistent fouling. Presumably the ref didn’t think the five first half fouls by County’s number 10 Dominic Samuel added up to a similar punishment.
The first half was so poor, the second must surely be better? In fact, it proved to be as Hibs started on the front foot and Porteous came close with a header from a Henderson corner and then in quick succession, Nisbet and Bushiri each had efforts blocked. County were rocking a bit and Henderson skipped into the box and fired a shot on target that Laidlaw did well to divert away for a corner. Henderson took that corner and the ball fell to Campbell, but Josh couldn’t get his shot through a sea of bodies in front of him. Instead, the ball returned to Campbell, and he rolled it into the path of Jake Doyle-Hayes who, from around twenty yards smashed a right footed shot low into the net. Laidlaw seemed to get a touch but couldn’t keep it out.
County reacted by surging forward from the restart and Charles-Cook got a shot away from the edge of the box which Macey saved easily. Next, Jordan Tillson was booked for a crude challenge on Henderson before Ross Callachan saw his effort from thirty yards sail harmlessly wide. With around twenty five minutes left, Jasper stole the ball from a County defender and fed it to Henderson who had only Laidlaw to face but the Hibs man went for power and his effort cannoned off the legs of the County keeper. The corner which followed saw Laidlaw make a stunning save to keep out a powerful header from Porteous.
Sylvester Jasper, who had taken a couple of healthy knocks, was then replaced by Chris Mueller before Macey made a comfortable save from Baldwin’s looping header. Hibs then made a couple more changes when Nisbet and Henderson were replaced by Scott and Wright. Next, a fabulous run down the left by Doig drew a foul from Jack Baldwin, the County man receiving a yellow card. The initial free kick from that foul was not cleared well by the County defence and the ball found Doyle-Hayes about twenty yards out. The Hibs man took the ball on his chest and as it dropped, he hit a stunning volley beyond Laidlaw to make it two for him and two for Hibs.
Doyle-Hayes was involved again when he cleaned out Ross Callachan with the County man reacting angrily to the challenge. Doyle-Hayes was booked, and, in the aftermath, you could see him and Callachan exchanging a laugh over the incident. In fact, Callachan hadn’t been doing too well in their exchanges and had been less than pleased earlier when Doyle-Hayes had nutmegged him. Scott and Campbell then had efforts blocked before County made a further change in order to try and salvage something from the game. Mueller then set up Josh Doig, but the shot was saved by Laidlaw before Shaun Maloney introduced a little more solidity to the defence by replacing Josh Campbell with Darren McGregor, but the game was won now and Hibs secured the points that lift them to fourth in the table.
The players
Macey – Matt had an easy time of it as County failed to really test him by filling the Hibs area at dead ball situations with a number of their taller players, but he stood up to the test and never looked troubled at any time.
Bushiri – Rocky got an amount of criticism after the Arbroath game with some suggesting he was really poor in the air. He may have been at Gayfield but won most of his aerial duals today.
Porteous – Against Jordan White, Ryan won the battle and defended really well. A couple of dodgy pass attempts but over the piece he was solid.
Stevenson – Injury to Mitchell meant that Lewis was left of the back three and in the first half I thought he wasn’t so great going forward. Like most of his team mates he improved after the break and despite a few dodgy punts forward, he offered more positives than negatives.
Cadden – County clearly decided to play their wide midfield players high up the park to stop Cadden and Doig from getting forward so much. Even with that, Chris managed to fire in some decent crosses as well as defending efficiently throughout.
Doyle-Hayes – I’ll confess, I thought he should be hooked at the break but soon realised there was no natural replacement on the bench. Needless to say, I’m delighted he went on to prove me wrong with two fabulous goals, the second a contender for goal of the season. My man of the match for his two goals.
Campbell – I know the laddie has his faults, but I believe good coaching will improve his game. Drawing groans of disappointment when he loses out in a tackle or passes back the way rather than forward will do little for his confidence although I recognise the frustration from the stands.
Doig – In the first half I was frustrated that he was playing too close to Stevenson and therefore closing off the chance of a pass, but he was much better in the second and his effort and commitment are admirable.
Henderson – Flitted in and out a bit but you can see the laddie has talent and can pick a pass. In my view, the more he plays the better he will get.
Jasper – Really enthused about this lad who seems to have won over us fans early in his appearances. Very tricky and always looking to move the team forward it took a few dunts from County players to try and keep him quiet.
Nisbet – The enigma that is Kevin Nisbet saw him doing some good things and some bad. I know that Maloney wants him to drop deep so that when he gets the ball, he’s facing the opponents’ goal but I feel he drops too deep at times and that draws criticism because he can’t get into an opponent’s box quickly enough.
Mueller – Once again I was impressed by his standard of play and his non stop running that caused County a few problems.
Scott – I think James has a very long way to go before we Hibs fans take to him.
Wright – Drey got the last fifteen minutes although I’m uncertain as to what his instructions were. Perhaps it was to bolster our right side because County were pushing forward there in search of a goal.
McGregor – Did what he was asked to do.
Shaun Maloney – Undoubtedly a happy man and rightly so because we won the game. I wonder what his thoughts were on our first half performance because it wasn’t great.
Referee – Steven McLean drew an amount of booing from both sets of fans with the odd, frankly bewildering, decision.