Jonnyboy
10-05-2022, 10:10 PM
For the visit to Dens Park, it was unsurprising that Paul Hanlon was excluded from the squad, given the news that he has been playing through injury and requires an operation to his knee. Included in the starting eleven were James Scott and Rocky Bushiri with Jake Doyle-Hayes and Elias Melkerson dropped to the bench where they were joined by our promising youngster Ethan Laidlaw. In this last but one league fixture, Dundee had everything to play for in their fight to avoid the drop whilst Hibs were pursuing seventh spot and the higher financial reward than a lower placed finish would bring but the hosts won the day as Hibs reverted to type by dominating the ball for large parts of the game but doing nothing with it, suffering a humiliating 3-1 defeat in the process.
In a fast start to the game, Joe Newell had ample opportunity to get a shot away from around 20 yards, but you just knew he wouldn’t do it because it would seem he has no confidence in his own ability to shoot from distance, so he rarely does. The chance to go 1-0 up soon turned in to us going 1-0 down when Zak Rudden was left in acres of space on the left side of the Hibs box. The striker hit his shot fiercely, but Macey was able to parry it away. Unfortunately, Niall McGinn was on hand to tap the ball into an empty net. It was a sloppy goal to concede but par for the course for this Hibs side.
To be fair, Hibs reacted to that setback, at least in terms of retaining possession of the ball. Around five minutes after conceding, James Scott unleashed a decent effort but sadly it was straight at the keeper. Campbell and Clarke also had a go but both shots were blocked. There wasn’t a lot of quality on display, and I have to say that referee Craig Napier didn’t help matters by continually blowing up at the point of any physical contact between players. The game was 25 minutes old when Napier decided he’d seen one too many tackles and booked Josh Mulligan for a foul on Bashiri.
Hibs were trying hard to press home their possession advantage and fifteen minutes before the interval they did just that when James Scott latched on to a decent through ball from Newell and finished well after shrugging off his marker before cutting in from the left and firing the ball through the legs of Harry Sharp in the Dundee goal. There’s no doubt in my mind that at that point in the game it was no more than Hibs deserved but, as time would show, the remaining hour of the game would prove to be a nightmare. The hosts then scored what looked to be a perfectly good goal only to have it disallowed, presumably for offside, even though the scorer clearly wasn’t.
Shortly after the Hibs goal, Cammy Kerr was racing towards the Hibs box when Stevenson fouled him and got a yellow card which he clearly felt was harsh, but the truth is, the ref got one right for a change. From the resultant free kick, Niall McGinn got his shot on target, but it was an easy save for Macey. Henderson, who had been doing his best to get Hibs forward then struck a shot from around 25 yards that barely had enough power to reach the keeper, never mind test him. Jordan McGhee then saw his headed effort easily saved by Macey and moments later, Bushiri was booked for a foul on Marshall which was soft in my book. In the closing stages of the half, Paul McGinn, Doig and Campbell all had efforts that failed to trouble Sharp in any way.
Neither side made any changes at the break and in the first minute of the second half, Porteous misjudged the flight of the ball when trying to header it back to Macey. It was falling short as Rudden raced in but thankfully the Hibs keeper got there first. Over the next couple of minutes, Campbell saw a header saved and then Paul McGinn had a shot from a Henderson cross but that suffered the same fate as Campbell’s header. Soon after, James Scott took a dull one from Jordan McGhee who was booked for the challenge. Scott limped for a bit after that but soon after he got a shot away when Stevenson provided the pass before Niall McGinn missed the target at the other end.
On the hour mark there was a flurry of substitutions when Jasper replaced Henderson whilst Dundee brought on talisman Charlie Adam alongside Luke McCowan, Byrne and McMullan making way. Almost immediately, Dundee came to life under the promptings of Adam and within five minutes of his arrival, the hosts took a 2-1 lead. Mulligan headed home from close range following a headed pass from McCowan. It’s true to say Adam wasn’t involved in that goal but his sheer presence added hugely to Dundee’s approach. One other thing to say about that goal, I felt Macey was flat footed on his line in failing to come and collect a ball he should have done.
Minutes later, Scott took a pass from Stevenson and struck his shot well enough, but McGhee blocked the effort as it looked to be beating Sharp in the Dundee goal. Seconds later, Adam fed Rudden, but the Dundee strikers shot suffered the same fate as Scott’s. For all their possession earlier in the game Hibs were now being run ragged by a side full of fight and determination, qualities sadly lacking as far as Hibs were concerned. Truthfully, we were all over the place defensively and the answer to that from the Hibs bench was to remove Campbell and the freshly injured Porteous and replace them with Doyle-Hayes and Melkersen.
The hosts were now seeking to extend their lead and looked likely to do so. Bushiri cleared one off the line and Rudden had two bites at the cherry but was thwarted by Bushiri for the first before dragging another effort wide with the whole goal to aim at. With five minutes left, Jasper failed to control the ball near the edge of the Hibs box. The ball fell to Charlie Adam who blasted it past Macey to make it 3-1. Shocking defending but in fairness it was a wonderful strike.
A couple of minutes later, Joe Newell was booked for hacking down Max Anderson. It was typical Joe, a pointless tackle following a show of petulance on his part. Jasper then had the chance to get a shot away but wanted to beat several defenders first and the opportunity was gone as were the three points.
But for a fortuitous three points away to St. Mirren we’d have been right in the play off mix and once again I’ll say that for me this season can’t end soon enough because radical changes are required to our playing staff.
The players – No man of the match award – nobody deserves it.
Macey – I thought he might have made a better job of it for the first goal, and I am certain he could have done better for the second. The guy just doesn’t use his feet to get across goal and looks glued to his line at crucial times.
McGinn – There was only a few that came anywhere near being classed as OK and Paul is one of them.
Bushiri – Given the criticism he’s had on here for being poor in the air I made a point of watching that part of his game tonight and he actually did OK but don’t get me started on the rest of his game.
Porteous – Sometimes I think Ryan’s arrogance is a problem and tonight I glimpsed that a couple of times. That headed back pass early in the second half closely followed by a miss control when he was trying to be clever. Just play the game Ryan, you don’t need to show off.
Clarke – Harry is one of the few I thought was OK but still short of where he needs to be performance wise.
Stevenson – I felt really sorry for Lewis tonight. Gave his usual 100% but was let down by others around him. Not exonerating him from blame because nobody deserves that.
Newell – Joe did a Joe tonight. Fine when things are going his way and a liability when they’re not. I’m aware he has some strong supporters on here, but the truth is he’s not as good as they think or indeed, he thinks.
Campbell – Another who has his detractors but tonight I thought he was one of the OK ones because he worked hard, covered acres of grass and contrary to the belief of some never hid once.
Doig - Caught under the ball for their second goal.
Henderson – Whoever decided he’s our dead ball specialist needs to have a serious word with themselves.
Scott – Worked very hard and took his goal well.
Jasper – Arguably turned the game against Aberdeen but I have only three observations about him tonight. He’s had his hair cut, he fell over a lot, and he set up Adam for the third goal with the touch of a carthorse.
Melkersen – Looked lost.
Doyle-Hayes – allowed Charlie Adam to rattle him with a daft wee nudge so that Jake’s concentration was on that ‘feud’ rather than his job.
SDG – I find it alarming that against Aberdeen and again tonight we loaded our eleven with defenders and played exactly the way we did under Shaun Maloney. It’s bordering on blasphemy I know but he can’t be immune from criticism.
Referee – Craig Napier was shocking from start to finish.
In a fast start to the game, Joe Newell had ample opportunity to get a shot away from around 20 yards, but you just knew he wouldn’t do it because it would seem he has no confidence in his own ability to shoot from distance, so he rarely does. The chance to go 1-0 up soon turned in to us going 1-0 down when Zak Rudden was left in acres of space on the left side of the Hibs box. The striker hit his shot fiercely, but Macey was able to parry it away. Unfortunately, Niall McGinn was on hand to tap the ball into an empty net. It was a sloppy goal to concede but par for the course for this Hibs side.
To be fair, Hibs reacted to that setback, at least in terms of retaining possession of the ball. Around five minutes after conceding, James Scott unleashed a decent effort but sadly it was straight at the keeper. Campbell and Clarke also had a go but both shots were blocked. There wasn’t a lot of quality on display, and I have to say that referee Craig Napier didn’t help matters by continually blowing up at the point of any physical contact between players. The game was 25 minutes old when Napier decided he’d seen one too many tackles and booked Josh Mulligan for a foul on Bashiri.
Hibs were trying hard to press home their possession advantage and fifteen minutes before the interval they did just that when James Scott latched on to a decent through ball from Newell and finished well after shrugging off his marker before cutting in from the left and firing the ball through the legs of Harry Sharp in the Dundee goal. There’s no doubt in my mind that at that point in the game it was no more than Hibs deserved but, as time would show, the remaining hour of the game would prove to be a nightmare. The hosts then scored what looked to be a perfectly good goal only to have it disallowed, presumably for offside, even though the scorer clearly wasn’t.
Shortly after the Hibs goal, Cammy Kerr was racing towards the Hibs box when Stevenson fouled him and got a yellow card which he clearly felt was harsh, but the truth is, the ref got one right for a change. From the resultant free kick, Niall McGinn got his shot on target, but it was an easy save for Macey. Henderson, who had been doing his best to get Hibs forward then struck a shot from around 25 yards that barely had enough power to reach the keeper, never mind test him. Jordan McGhee then saw his headed effort easily saved by Macey and moments later, Bushiri was booked for a foul on Marshall which was soft in my book. In the closing stages of the half, Paul McGinn, Doig and Campbell all had efforts that failed to trouble Sharp in any way.
Neither side made any changes at the break and in the first minute of the second half, Porteous misjudged the flight of the ball when trying to header it back to Macey. It was falling short as Rudden raced in but thankfully the Hibs keeper got there first. Over the next couple of minutes, Campbell saw a header saved and then Paul McGinn had a shot from a Henderson cross but that suffered the same fate as Campbell’s header. Soon after, James Scott took a dull one from Jordan McGhee who was booked for the challenge. Scott limped for a bit after that but soon after he got a shot away when Stevenson provided the pass before Niall McGinn missed the target at the other end.
On the hour mark there was a flurry of substitutions when Jasper replaced Henderson whilst Dundee brought on talisman Charlie Adam alongside Luke McCowan, Byrne and McMullan making way. Almost immediately, Dundee came to life under the promptings of Adam and within five minutes of his arrival, the hosts took a 2-1 lead. Mulligan headed home from close range following a headed pass from McCowan. It’s true to say Adam wasn’t involved in that goal but his sheer presence added hugely to Dundee’s approach. One other thing to say about that goal, I felt Macey was flat footed on his line in failing to come and collect a ball he should have done.
Minutes later, Scott took a pass from Stevenson and struck his shot well enough, but McGhee blocked the effort as it looked to be beating Sharp in the Dundee goal. Seconds later, Adam fed Rudden, but the Dundee strikers shot suffered the same fate as Scott’s. For all their possession earlier in the game Hibs were now being run ragged by a side full of fight and determination, qualities sadly lacking as far as Hibs were concerned. Truthfully, we were all over the place defensively and the answer to that from the Hibs bench was to remove Campbell and the freshly injured Porteous and replace them with Doyle-Hayes and Melkersen.
The hosts were now seeking to extend their lead and looked likely to do so. Bushiri cleared one off the line and Rudden had two bites at the cherry but was thwarted by Bushiri for the first before dragging another effort wide with the whole goal to aim at. With five minutes left, Jasper failed to control the ball near the edge of the Hibs box. The ball fell to Charlie Adam who blasted it past Macey to make it 3-1. Shocking defending but in fairness it was a wonderful strike.
A couple of minutes later, Joe Newell was booked for hacking down Max Anderson. It was typical Joe, a pointless tackle following a show of petulance on his part. Jasper then had the chance to get a shot away but wanted to beat several defenders first and the opportunity was gone as were the three points.
But for a fortuitous three points away to St. Mirren we’d have been right in the play off mix and once again I’ll say that for me this season can’t end soon enough because radical changes are required to our playing staff.
The players – No man of the match award – nobody deserves it.
Macey – I thought he might have made a better job of it for the first goal, and I am certain he could have done better for the second. The guy just doesn’t use his feet to get across goal and looks glued to his line at crucial times.
McGinn – There was only a few that came anywhere near being classed as OK and Paul is one of them.
Bushiri – Given the criticism he’s had on here for being poor in the air I made a point of watching that part of his game tonight and he actually did OK but don’t get me started on the rest of his game.
Porteous – Sometimes I think Ryan’s arrogance is a problem and tonight I glimpsed that a couple of times. That headed back pass early in the second half closely followed by a miss control when he was trying to be clever. Just play the game Ryan, you don’t need to show off.
Clarke – Harry is one of the few I thought was OK but still short of where he needs to be performance wise.
Stevenson – I felt really sorry for Lewis tonight. Gave his usual 100% but was let down by others around him. Not exonerating him from blame because nobody deserves that.
Newell – Joe did a Joe tonight. Fine when things are going his way and a liability when they’re not. I’m aware he has some strong supporters on here, but the truth is he’s not as good as they think or indeed, he thinks.
Campbell – Another who has his detractors but tonight I thought he was one of the OK ones because he worked hard, covered acres of grass and contrary to the belief of some never hid once.
Doig - Caught under the ball for their second goal.
Henderson – Whoever decided he’s our dead ball specialist needs to have a serious word with themselves.
Scott – Worked very hard and took his goal well.
Jasper – Arguably turned the game against Aberdeen but I have only three observations about him tonight. He’s had his hair cut, he fell over a lot, and he set up Adam for the third goal with the touch of a carthorse.
Melkersen – Looked lost.
Doyle-Hayes – allowed Charlie Adam to rattle him with a daft wee nudge so that Jake’s concentration was on that ‘feud’ rather than his job.
SDG – I find it alarming that against Aberdeen and again tonight we loaded our eleven with defenders and played exactly the way we did under Shaun Maloney. It’s bordering on blasphemy I know but he can’t be immune from criticism.
Referee – Craig Napier was shocking from start to finish.