Jonnyboy
27-02-2022, 03:03 PM
With an injury list as long as your arm it was interesting to note that Shaun Maloney made only one change to his starting eleven and that was only because Ewan Henderson was ineligible, being on loan from Celtic. Of course, the bench looked sparse with only Doidge, Allan and McGregor having any real experience with Delferriere amongst the youngsters and bizarrely, goalkeepers David Mitchell and Kevin Dabrowski were named too.
Henderson’s absence meant a starting spot for Drey Wright, and many would have wondered why he was chosen ahead of Chris Mueller, but it became very obvious, very early on that Shaun Maloney’s game plan included a specific role for Drey and it has to be said he carried that role out very well. Celtic, on the other hand, arrived having been dumped out of Europe by Bodo/Glimt and Postecoglu made a number of changes, fielding what many would argue as close to their strongest starting eleven.
It was always going to be a tough ask for Hibs to take anything from this game, but they started well with Jasper being hauled down twice in the first five minutes as he tried to bob and weave his way past Celtic defenders. The first shot of the game came in the sixth minute when Rogic set up Abada, but the young winger’s effort was blocked. Taylor and Carter-Vickers then committed fouls on Cadden and Jasper respectively and it was odd to realise that normally, Celtic’s opponents would be breaking up the play with niggly fouls, but it was the visitors that were guilty of this as astonishingly, if my memory serves me correctly, the first foul by a Hibs player did not arrive until the 35th minute. Ahead of that, Celtic were penalised on a number of occasions for foul play and on one of those occasions, Starfelt was booked for a crude challenge on Nisbet who had to leave the field and was replaced by Doidge.
Hibs were certainly holding their own in the game and looked good at the back and in midfield as they frustrated the visitors by denying them time and space to get shots away. There wasn’t much for us fans to cheer in an attacking sense although the Celtic defenders were still being made to work but Joe Hart was having an easy afternoon. On numerous occasions, Hibs got forward but couldn’t find the killer pass or shot which was a tad frustrating.
Juranovic and Jota both carved out chances for themselves, but both failed to trouble Macey with the Hibs penalty box being well defended. Porteous and Bushiri were excellent in repelling attacks and winning headers to clear the danger whilst Macey was easily gathering high balls into the area. Even the fact that Celtic were handed two golden opportunities to trouble Macey with free kicks from around twenty yards the big keeper got his wall and his positioning right to thwart the attempts.
Right on the half time whistle, Rogic was booked for clattering into Drey Wright as those two had battled each other for the entire half. Maloney clearly and correctly identified Rogic as a threat and made sure Drey Wright would make life difficult for him, a task which he achieved with a high level of success. In time added on, Lewis Stevenson was booked for tripping Abada as the Celtic man looked favourite to break through. From the resultant free kick, Juranovic shot weakly, and Macey collected easily to keep the score at 0-0.
As a watch, the second half was not really any better than the first with niggly fouls by both sets of players meaning there was no flow to the game. In truth, that suited Hibs the better but Celtic still managed to get a shot away when Jota let fly but the ball ended up almost reaching the upper tier of the FF Stand. At the other end, Jasper raced into the box and played a neat one two with Cadden before striking a shot aimed for Hart’s far post, but the ball struck Christian Doidge before it reached its target.
Just past the hour mark, Chris Mueller replaced a tiring Drey Wright, and I was heartened when the home support clapped Wright off the pitch as the laddie deserved that for his performance. Tom Rogic had left the park too and his replacement, O’Riley was soon in the action, setting up a chance for Juranovic but once again the effort was blocked. Both Porteous and Bashiri were not shy at putting their bodies on the line to block efforts, but I reckon Ryan’s heart must have been in his mouth at one point as he sclaffed a clearance, made minimal contact and, with Macey rooted to the spot, watched the ball sail past the post by just a few inches.
In the middle of the park, Doyle-Hayes and Campbell were faring well against McGregor and Hatate and the quietening of that pair was affecting Celtic’s attempts at creating goal scoring opportunities. With around twenty minutes left, Porteous was, unfairly in my view, booked for a challenge around twenty yards from goal. O’Riley took the kick but shot harmlessly into the waiting arms of Matt Macey. Next up came another change when Lewis Stevenson, who had just been treated for an injury, was replaced by Scott Allan whose arrival was met as usual with loud acclaim.
Celtic were pretty much camped in the Hibs half by now but still they couldn’t break down this resolute Hibs eleven. Abada had another fruitless effort cleared and then Josh Doig won the ball just inside his own half, before going on a marauding run towards the Celtic goal and leaving defenders in his wake. Josh got to within ten yards, but his right footed effort crept agonisingly past Joe Hart’s right hand post. It was a stunning run and a reflection on just how good a game the laddie had.
Next into Kevin Clancy’s book was Rocky Bashiri who had bulldozed Jota with the Celtic man looking to break clear. Abada was presented with a chance at the back post but couldn’t steer his effort on target before the game moved in to six minutes added time. Six minutes! Granted, Macey had been down for treatment for a couple of minutes, but six? Even allowing for the fact that substitutions had been made, six minutes seemed excessive to say the least.
Celtic were motivated by the additional six minutes, but the Hibs players took it in their stride, although Scott Allan was booked for an obvious trip on Callum McGregor. The last chance fell to Jota who took an age to get his shot away and ended up finding that same area of the FF Stand.
The players
Macey – Had a few standard saves to make and did well in the first half to deny Maeda a shot at goal. What looked like a strained muscle had him needing treatment, but he was able to see out the game meaning neither of our two substitute goalies was needed.
Bushiri – Rocky was excellent throughout and was always alert to the danger Jota might be whenever the Celtic man got in behind Cadden. His reading of the game is improving with the going and he’s starting to look really settled on the right of a back three.
Porteous – What a performance! Superb in the air and fearless in using his body to block shots but the biggest plus for me today was his near faultless display when heading the ball away out of danger.
Doig – I was slightly surprised when Josh was pushed back to the defensive position, after Lewis had played there last week with Josh in front of him. I wondered whether the move was designed to blunt the threat from Abada and if it was it certainly worked.
Cadden – Chris had a lot more defending to do than usual, but he was up to that task and offered a bit going forward too. His one two with Jasper is worthy of mention as is his big smile upon being booked in the 96th minute for time wasting.
Doyle-Hayes – After last week’s heroics, Jake must have been in a confident mood and for me that showed in his performance. The Celtic midfield is stacked with quality and Jake did not look out of place when up against it.
Campbell – Josh has attracted a fair amount of criticism recently, but I thought he was outstanding today. Energy, commitment, no lack of skill and a will to never give anything other than 100% means, despite close competition from a couple of others, he is my man of the match.
Stevenson – Back in midfield again today he was not as involved as I’m sure he would have liked to be but still earns pass marks for a good day at the office.
Wright – For my money this was, without a doubt, his best display in a Hibs jersey. In the first half especially, he was all over the park and making a positive contribution in all areas. One cross from the right, hit first time, would have landed at the feet of an unmarked team mate but was just intercepted in time. Drey regularly gets a hard time on here and I hope today will be an exception.
Jasper – I thought he had a great first half, drifted out of things a bit for the first part of the second half and then finished strongly despite suffering from cramp. He’s exciting to watch and I’m sure he’ll continue to be so.
Nisbet – Kevin had a good start to the game and looked to be well up for it until he was hacked down by Starfelt.
Doidge – Christian didn’t really offer much of a threat in an attacking sense although he certainly wasn’t alone in that regard. What he did do very well was defend the Hibs penalty box at free kicks and corners.
Mueller – We were on the back foot for most of his time on the park, but he worked very hard in helping defend our goal.
Allan – Scotty’s strength is creating chances but given how the game was flowing he had pretty much no chance to demonstrate that. Only real thing of note was his tackle on McGregor that earned him a yellow card.
Shaun Maloney – Has every right to be proud of his players. A young team and they carried out his game plan to perfection, a game plan incidentally that deserves a lot of praise.
Referee – Kevin Clancy got all the main decisions right
Henderson’s absence meant a starting spot for Drey Wright, and many would have wondered why he was chosen ahead of Chris Mueller, but it became very obvious, very early on that Shaun Maloney’s game plan included a specific role for Drey and it has to be said he carried that role out very well. Celtic, on the other hand, arrived having been dumped out of Europe by Bodo/Glimt and Postecoglu made a number of changes, fielding what many would argue as close to their strongest starting eleven.
It was always going to be a tough ask for Hibs to take anything from this game, but they started well with Jasper being hauled down twice in the first five minutes as he tried to bob and weave his way past Celtic defenders. The first shot of the game came in the sixth minute when Rogic set up Abada, but the young winger’s effort was blocked. Taylor and Carter-Vickers then committed fouls on Cadden and Jasper respectively and it was odd to realise that normally, Celtic’s opponents would be breaking up the play with niggly fouls, but it was the visitors that were guilty of this as astonishingly, if my memory serves me correctly, the first foul by a Hibs player did not arrive until the 35th minute. Ahead of that, Celtic were penalised on a number of occasions for foul play and on one of those occasions, Starfelt was booked for a crude challenge on Nisbet who had to leave the field and was replaced by Doidge.
Hibs were certainly holding their own in the game and looked good at the back and in midfield as they frustrated the visitors by denying them time and space to get shots away. There wasn’t much for us fans to cheer in an attacking sense although the Celtic defenders were still being made to work but Joe Hart was having an easy afternoon. On numerous occasions, Hibs got forward but couldn’t find the killer pass or shot which was a tad frustrating.
Juranovic and Jota both carved out chances for themselves, but both failed to trouble Macey with the Hibs penalty box being well defended. Porteous and Bushiri were excellent in repelling attacks and winning headers to clear the danger whilst Macey was easily gathering high balls into the area. Even the fact that Celtic were handed two golden opportunities to trouble Macey with free kicks from around twenty yards the big keeper got his wall and his positioning right to thwart the attempts.
Right on the half time whistle, Rogic was booked for clattering into Drey Wright as those two had battled each other for the entire half. Maloney clearly and correctly identified Rogic as a threat and made sure Drey Wright would make life difficult for him, a task which he achieved with a high level of success. In time added on, Lewis Stevenson was booked for tripping Abada as the Celtic man looked favourite to break through. From the resultant free kick, Juranovic shot weakly, and Macey collected easily to keep the score at 0-0.
As a watch, the second half was not really any better than the first with niggly fouls by both sets of players meaning there was no flow to the game. In truth, that suited Hibs the better but Celtic still managed to get a shot away when Jota let fly but the ball ended up almost reaching the upper tier of the FF Stand. At the other end, Jasper raced into the box and played a neat one two with Cadden before striking a shot aimed for Hart’s far post, but the ball struck Christian Doidge before it reached its target.
Just past the hour mark, Chris Mueller replaced a tiring Drey Wright, and I was heartened when the home support clapped Wright off the pitch as the laddie deserved that for his performance. Tom Rogic had left the park too and his replacement, O’Riley was soon in the action, setting up a chance for Juranovic but once again the effort was blocked. Both Porteous and Bashiri were not shy at putting their bodies on the line to block efforts, but I reckon Ryan’s heart must have been in his mouth at one point as he sclaffed a clearance, made minimal contact and, with Macey rooted to the spot, watched the ball sail past the post by just a few inches.
In the middle of the park, Doyle-Hayes and Campbell were faring well against McGregor and Hatate and the quietening of that pair was affecting Celtic’s attempts at creating goal scoring opportunities. With around twenty minutes left, Porteous was, unfairly in my view, booked for a challenge around twenty yards from goal. O’Riley took the kick but shot harmlessly into the waiting arms of Matt Macey. Next up came another change when Lewis Stevenson, who had just been treated for an injury, was replaced by Scott Allan whose arrival was met as usual with loud acclaim.
Celtic were pretty much camped in the Hibs half by now but still they couldn’t break down this resolute Hibs eleven. Abada had another fruitless effort cleared and then Josh Doig won the ball just inside his own half, before going on a marauding run towards the Celtic goal and leaving defenders in his wake. Josh got to within ten yards, but his right footed effort crept agonisingly past Joe Hart’s right hand post. It was a stunning run and a reflection on just how good a game the laddie had.
Next into Kevin Clancy’s book was Rocky Bashiri who had bulldozed Jota with the Celtic man looking to break clear. Abada was presented with a chance at the back post but couldn’t steer his effort on target before the game moved in to six minutes added time. Six minutes! Granted, Macey had been down for treatment for a couple of minutes, but six? Even allowing for the fact that substitutions had been made, six minutes seemed excessive to say the least.
Celtic were motivated by the additional six minutes, but the Hibs players took it in their stride, although Scott Allan was booked for an obvious trip on Callum McGregor. The last chance fell to Jota who took an age to get his shot away and ended up finding that same area of the FF Stand.
The players
Macey – Had a few standard saves to make and did well in the first half to deny Maeda a shot at goal. What looked like a strained muscle had him needing treatment, but he was able to see out the game meaning neither of our two substitute goalies was needed.
Bushiri – Rocky was excellent throughout and was always alert to the danger Jota might be whenever the Celtic man got in behind Cadden. His reading of the game is improving with the going and he’s starting to look really settled on the right of a back three.
Porteous – What a performance! Superb in the air and fearless in using his body to block shots but the biggest plus for me today was his near faultless display when heading the ball away out of danger.
Doig – I was slightly surprised when Josh was pushed back to the defensive position, after Lewis had played there last week with Josh in front of him. I wondered whether the move was designed to blunt the threat from Abada and if it was it certainly worked.
Cadden – Chris had a lot more defending to do than usual, but he was up to that task and offered a bit going forward too. His one two with Jasper is worthy of mention as is his big smile upon being booked in the 96th minute for time wasting.
Doyle-Hayes – After last week’s heroics, Jake must have been in a confident mood and for me that showed in his performance. The Celtic midfield is stacked with quality and Jake did not look out of place when up against it.
Campbell – Josh has attracted a fair amount of criticism recently, but I thought he was outstanding today. Energy, commitment, no lack of skill and a will to never give anything other than 100% means, despite close competition from a couple of others, he is my man of the match.
Stevenson – Back in midfield again today he was not as involved as I’m sure he would have liked to be but still earns pass marks for a good day at the office.
Wright – For my money this was, without a doubt, his best display in a Hibs jersey. In the first half especially, he was all over the park and making a positive contribution in all areas. One cross from the right, hit first time, would have landed at the feet of an unmarked team mate but was just intercepted in time. Drey regularly gets a hard time on here and I hope today will be an exception.
Jasper – I thought he had a great first half, drifted out of things a bit for the first part of the second half and then finished strongly despite suffering from cramp. He’s exciting to watch and I’m sure he’ll continue to be so.
Nisbet – Kevin had a good start to the game and looked to be well up for it until he was hacked down by Starfelt.
Doidge – Christian didn’t really offer much of a threat in an attacking sense although he certainly wasn’t alone in that regard. What he did do very well was defend the Hibs penalty box at free kicks and corners.
Mueller – We were on the back foot for most of his time on the park, but he worked very hard in helping defend our goal.
Allan – Scotty’s strength is creating chances but given how the game was flowing he had pretty much no chance to demonstrate that. Only real thing of note was his tackle on McGregor that earned him a yellow card.
Shaun Maloney – Has every right to be proud of his players. A young team and they carried out his game plan to perfection, a game plan incidentally that deserves a lot of praise.
Referee – Kevin Clancy got all the main decisions right