Jonnyboy
02-04-2022, 06:14 PM
A much changed Hibs side faced in form Dundee United at Easter Road with both clubs desperate for the three points that would strengthen their bid for a top six finish. Porteous (suspended), Campbell, Stevenson and Wright dropped out and were replaced by Hanlon, Doyle-Hayes, Mueller and debutant Harry Clarke. I confess I was excited about the starting eleven as I envisaged Dundee United struggling to contain Mueller, Melkersen and Jasper with all three being extremely mobile but that excitement, at least in the first half was misplaced.
Hibs started brightly enough, and Joe Newell had the first effort at goal, but his shot was blocked and United were soon creating chances for themselves. One such chance arrived in the tenth minute when the old failing of struggling to defend crosses properly allowed United to take the lead. Tony Watt was wide right, and Clarke couldn’t prevent his cross to the back post where Ryan Edwards rose to head the ball back across goal and Ross Graham beat his marker in the jump to head home past a helpless Dabrowski. It was a really poor goal to lose but seemed to give Hibs the incentive to strike back quickly. Clarke fed Jasper whose effort was blocked but reached Newell who struck the ball cleanly enough but was thwarted by the diving block of Charlie Mulgrew.
Next to try his luck was Niskanen who hit the side netting before Clarke looked to have broken clear in chasing a Hanlon pass, but he was flagged offside. The game was very stop start with passes going astray or fouls being committed to break the play. I was growing sick of the sound of Don Robertson’s whistle and frustrated that a number of clear fouls, for both sides in fairness, were not awarded whilst silly wee pushes or nudges saw the game grind to a halt.
Five minutes from the break, Clarke struck a fierce drive from around twenty yards and though it looked like the effort might clear the crossbar, Siegrist took no chances and tipped the ball over for a corner. I could sense the mood in the stands as Hibs huffed and puffed but any thoughts of booing were hushed by the striking of a fine equaliser. A Cadden cross from the right flew over the head of Liam Smith and arrived at Harry Clarke who took one touch to control the ball before firing a fierce left footed daisy cutter beyond Siegrist and into the net. Moments later, Melkerson wriggled free and got his shot away but there were too many bodies in the way for it to reach the target.
Sylvester Jasper, who had looked to be struggling, was replaced at half time by Ewan Henderson and Hibs started the half much better than they had played to that point. A couple of corners saw Bushiri and Mueller striking shots at goal but neither really troubled Siegrist. For their part, United seemed content to try and keep the ball without making any attempt to put Dabrowski under pressure and Hibs took advantage of their possession by pretty much camping in the United half. Joe Newell was pushing his luck a bit as he had committed a number of fouls but so too had Tony Watt who should have been booked for the most obvious simulation you are ever likely to see but referee Robertson clearly thought otherwise.
Just after the hour mark, Don Robertson finally found his yellow card and booked Liam Smith for a crude challenge on Ewan Henderson and soon after a Joe Newell corner resulted in a good old fashioned stramash in the United penalty area as the ball reached Melkersen who had a pop at goal but that was blocked with the ball falling to Henderson and then Mueller with those shots being blocked on route to the goal. Then, Melkersen and Cadden were each unsuccessful with efforts before Shaun Maloney replaced Bushiri with Drey Wright who, moments later, cut in from the left and looked ready to shoot but opted instead to lay the ball into the path of Doyle-Hayes who was quickly closed down and the chance was gone.
Dabrowski was largely untroubled at that point but was pleased to see Sporle shoot high over the bar from distance. With ten minutes left and surprisingly to me at least, Joe Newell was replaced by James Scott who quickly won his side a corner. Henderson’s delivery found Clarke, but the Hibs man couldn’t keep his header on target.
United started to up their attacking game at that point and Sporle had another go but with the same outcome as his last and then with two minutes of normal time to go, Chris Mueller went down in the box. From my vantage point it looked a foul, but Don Robertson deemed it simulation and booked Mueller. I’d like to see it again before criticising the referee for his decision as obviously he was a lot closer to the incident than me.
There had been a number of substitutions and a couple of lengthy delays for treatment to players, but I was surprised to see that the referee added six minutes of time to the game. United substitute Cudjoe had a chance but wasted it and then Tony Watt was (finally) booked for a bad foul on Josh Doig before Melkersen missed an absolute sitter to seal the win in the fifth of the added minutes. Mueller picked him out and with the whole goal to aim at, Melkersen blasted the ball over the bar.
A huge disappointment to only draw and now it looks like we’ll have to win at Tynecastle next week to get be in the top six at the split.
The players
Dabrowski – I’m pretty sure Kev only had one save of note to make. I was too far away to see whether he might have claimed the header back across goal that led to the United opener.
Bushiri – As a central defender he may have been jointly culpable for the goal but otherwise I thought he did ok.
Hanlon – His first full match back and it showed at times, and I think it might have been him that Ross Graham outjumped for the goal.
Doig – Playing in the position I like to see him play and got forward many times to contribute to attacking moves.
Cadden – Another good display from Chris who got the assist for the goal.
Doyle-Hayes – Still doesn’t push us forward often enough for me.
Newell – I thought Joe was having a good game and was puzzled when he got hooked.
Clarke – I’ll be honest as I thought he’d be replaced at the interval but then he scored that cracking goal! Went on to grow into the game and was involved plenty in the second half. Gets my man of the match award.
Jasper – Looked off it almost from the start and blunted a couple of good attacking moves by trying to go himself when he had team mates in good positions around him.
Mueller – Worked hard but little came off for him. Not sure about the booking, I’d like to see the challenge again.
Melkersen – Largely anonymous in the first half and more involved in the second but that late miss was a scunner.
Henderson – Ewan needs to work on his core strength as he’s too easily bumped off the ball in my view.
Wright – There was an instance today when he played a fine pass to Scott, but the ball was intercepted because Scott was on his heels. Groans towards Wright were unfair in my opinion.
Scott – On the pitch for fifteen minutes all told and made not the blindest difference to our attacking play.
Shaun Maloney – Folk near me were calling for his head after United scored. Harsh in the extreme but unless we play as we did in the second half for the whole game at Tynecastle, those calls will just grow louder.
Referee – Don Robertson booked Mueller for simulation but totally ignored the fact that he’d waved play on when Tony Watt dived.
Hibs started brightly enough, and Joe Newell had the first effort at goal, but his shot was blocked and United were soon creating chances for themselves. One such chance arrived in the tenth minute when the old failing of struggling to defend crosses properly allowed United to take the lead. Tony Watt was wide right, and Clarke couldn’t prevent his cross to the back post where Ryan Edwards rose to head the ball back across goal and Ross Graham beat his marker in the jump to head home past a helpless Dabrowski. It was a really poor goal to lose but seemed to give Hibs the incentive to strike back quickly. Clarke fed Jasper whose effort was blocked but reached Newell who struck the ball cleanly enough but was thwarted by the diving block of Charlie Mulgrew.
Next to try his luck was Niskanen who hit the side netting before Clarke looked to have broken clear in chasing a Hanlon pass, but he was flagged offside. The game was very stop start with passes going astray or fouls being committed to break the play. I was growing sick of the sound of Don Robertson’s whistle and frustrated that a number of clear fouls, for both sides in fairness, were not awarded whilst silly wee pushes or nudges saw the game grind to a halt.
Five minutes from the break, Clarke struck a fierce drive from around twenty yards and though it looked like the effort might clear the crossbar, Siegrist took no chances and tipped the ball over for a corner. I could sense the mood in the stands as Hibs huffed and puffed but any thoughts of booing were hushed by the striking of a fine equaliser. A Cadden cross from the right flew over the head of Liam Smith and arrived at Harry Clarke who took one touch to control the ball before firing a fierce left footed daisy cutter beyond Siegrist and into the net. Moments later, Melkerson wriggled free and got his shot away but there were too many bodies in the way for it to reach the target.
Sylvester Jasper, who had looked to be struggling, was replaced at half time by Ewan Henderson and Hibs started the half much better than they had played to that point. A couple of corners saw Bushiri and Mueller striking shots at goal but neither really troubled Siegrist. For their part, United seemed content to try and keep the ball without making any attempt to put Dabrowski under pressure and Hibs took advantage of their possession by pretty much camping in the United half. Joe Newell was pushing his luck a bit as he had committed a number of fouls but so too had Tony Watt who should have been booked for the most obvious simulation you are ever likely to see but referee Robertson clearly thought otherwise.
Just after the hour mark, Don Robertson finally found his yellow card and booked Liam Smith for a crude challenge on Ewan Henderson and soon after a Joe Newell corner resulted in a good old fashioned stramash in the United penalty area as the ball reached Melkersen who had a pop at goal but that was blocked with the ball falling to Henderson and then Mueller with those shots being blocked on route to the goal. Then, Melkersen and Cadden were each unsuccessful with efforts before Shaun Maloney replaced Bushiri with Drey Wright who, moments later, cut in from the left and looked ready to shoot but opted instead to lay the ball into the path of Doyle-Hayes who was quickly closed down and the chance was gone.
Dabrowski was largely untroubled at that point but was pleased to see Sporle shoot high over the bar from distance. With ten minutes left and surprisingly to me at least, Joe Newell was replaced by James Scott who quickly won his side a corner. Henderson’s delivery found Clarke, but the Hibs man couldn’t keep his header on target.
United started to up their attacking game at that point and Sporle had another go but with the same outcome as his last and then with two minutes of normal time to go, Chris Mueller went down in the box. From my vantage point it looked a foul, but Don Robertson deemed it simulation and booked Mueller. I’d like to see it again before criticising the referee for his decision as obviously he was a lot closer to the incident than me.
There had been a number of substitutions and a couple of lengthy delays for treatment to players, but I was surprised to see that the referee added six minutes of time to the game. United substitute Cudjoe had a chance but wasted it and then Tony Watt was (finally) booked for a bad foul on Josh Doig before Melkersen missed an absolute sitter to seal the win in the fifth of the added minutes. Mueller picked him out and with the whole goal to aim at, Melkersen blasted the ball over the bar.
A huge disappointment to only draw and now it looks like we’ll have to win at Tynecastle next week to get be in the top six at the split.
The players
Dabrowski – I’m pretty sure Kev only had one save of note to make. I was too far away to see whether he might have claimed the header back across goal that led to the United opener.
Bushiri – As a central defender he may have been jointly culpable for the goal but otherwise I thought he did ok.
Hanlon – His first full match back and it showed at times, and I think it might have been him that Ross Graham outjumped for the goal.
Doig – Playing in the position I like to see him play and got forward many times to contribute to attacking moves.
Cadden – Another good display from Chris who got the assist for the goal.
Doyle-Hayes – Still doesn’t push us forward often enough for me.
Newell – I thought Joe was having a good game and was puzzled when he got hooked.
Clarke – I’ll be honest as I thought he’d be replaced at the interval but then he scored that cracking goal! Went on to grow into the game and was involved plenty in the second half. Gets my man of the match award.
Jasper – Looked off it almost from the start and blunted a couple of good attacking moves by trying to go himself when he had team mates in good positions around him.
Mueller – Worked hard but little came off for him. Not sure about the booking, I’d like to see the challenge again.
Melkersen – Largely anonymous in the first half and more involved in the second but that late miss was a scunner.
Henderson – Ewan needs to work on his core strength as he’s too easily bumped off the ball in my view.
Wright – There was an instance today when he played a fine pass to Scott, but the ball was intercepted because Scott was on his heels. Groans towards Wright were unfair in my opinion.
Scott – On the pitch for fifteen minutes all told and made not the blindest difference to our attacking play.
Shaun Maloney – Folk near me were calling for his head after United scored. Harsh in the extreme but unless we play as we did in the second half for the whole game at Tynecastle, those calls will just grow louder.
Referee – Don Robertson booked Mueller for simulation but totally ignored the fact that he’d waved play on when Tony Watt dived.