Jonnyboy
08-10-2022, 06:31 PM
A loud roar of acclaim sounded around the home stands when the great man himself, Franck Sauzee, was introduced to the crowd. Looking fit and as though he could still pull on the famous green and white jersey, Franck didn’t have much to say but was obviously enjoying the applause from the crowd and that kinda set the tone for the afternoon as the game itself was entertaining and at times was played like a cup tie with both sides intent on attacking.
Lee Johnson adopted the philosophy that you shouldn’t change something if it isn’t broken and so the starting eleven was the same as last time out against Ross County. For their part, Motherwell arrived full of confidence following their 5-0 win in Dingwall. The visitors posted the first threat when Sean Goss saw his low drive flash past the post and then Boyle tested Kelly at the other end, but the keeper saved comfortably. Youan was next to try his luck, but his effort was blocked after Kuharevich set up the chance.
The game was being played at a blistering pace and the ball was flying from end to end as both sides sought to break the deadlock. Around the quarter hour mark, Motherwell defenders were throwing themselves in front of successive efforts by Cadden, Newell and Boyle but it was the visitors that next looked likely to score when Joe Efford screwed a shot wide after being fed the ball by Spittal. That would be Spittal’s last contribution as he limped off to be replaced by Ross Tierney. The visitors were having some joy down their right side with ex Hibee Paul McGinn often being used as the out ball and Cabraja getting little help from Youan in terms of tracking back.
Nohan Kenneh was doing well in the holding role where he broke down a few Motherwell attacks and his distribution once he retrieved the ball was both simple and effective. After the opening thirty minutes or so the pace of the game slowed a little which was unsurprising given the hundred mile an hour stuff that both sides had served up to that point. Both Hibs central defenders were solid, and Kevin van Veen was forced to live off scraps, but the big striker did get one fine pass away allowing Efford a shot at goal, but it was weak and failed to trouble Marshall. With around five minutes of the half remaining, Efford broke through on goal and Hanlon was forced to bring him down, earning a yellow card for the challenge with the resultant free kick simply a poor effort from van Veen.
Prior to the half time whistle, Newell had a shot blocked and then Slattery chopped down Josh Campbell some twenty odd yards from goal. Ryan Porteous took the resultant free kick, but his powerful effort was straight at Kelly.
Motherwell started the second half brightly and Slattery had a shot at goal, but it failed to reach the target and then van Veen shot high and wide from a good position before Kuharevich set Youan up to hit a fierce shot, but Kelly got down well to save. Soon after, Hibs broke free after defending a corner and the ball eventually fell to Porteous who was clean through on goal but was hauled down by Connor Shields drawing a red card from referee Grant Irvine. Interestingly, Shields was up and walking off almost before his team mates could argue the decision with the referee. A minute later, Youan broke free on the left but ran the ball out of play and was immediately replaced by Harry McKirdy.
A man up now, Hibs set about trying to break the deadlock with Motherwell getting everyone behind the ball to stifle the hopes of the home side. Newell twice and Cadden both tested the keeper without beating him but it’s fair to say that Motherwell didn’t just sit deep all of the time and that when the opportunity arose, they attacked in numbers. Twenty minutes into the half, Magennis and Stevenson replaced Kenneh and Cabraja and soon after the deadlock was broken when a Boyle cross reached Ryan Porteous who bulleted a header past Kelly and took a nasty head knock in the process. Both Porto and the man with whom he had clashed required lengthy treatment before the game restarted.
Around the seventy minute mark, Motherwell replaced van Veen, Slattery and Tierney with Moult, Cornelius and O’Donnell and almost immediately Goss struck a sweet low shot that looked netbound until David Marshall dived to his left and pushed the ball around the post. It was a fine save as the ball was travelling and had come through a lot of bodies. To their credit, Motherwell brought some pressure in seeking an equaliser, but Hibs were defending strongly, and Marshall’s goal was hardly threatened. Porteous was in the thick of it again when Efford was booked for bringing him down and soon after, Lamie was booked for hauling down Boyle.
With ten minutes left, Kuharevich was replaced by Melkersen, and Hibs had to adjust their attacking options a bit as there was no longer any point in high crosses into the box. A foul by Goss allowed Magennis an opportunity to try his luck from the free kick but the effort was high of the target. Magennis soon had another chance but dallied on the ball and the chance was gone. McKirdy was then booked for a harmless shove before Paul McGinn was replaced by McKinstry with the former getting warm applause from the home fans as he left the pitch.
With five minutes of additional time to play, Motherwell threw everything at Hibs but could not break down a resolute defence and the three points stayed at Easter Road, Hibs moving up to the place as a result.
The players
Marshall – Other than one excellent save in the second half, Marshall was largely untroubled.
Cadden – Chris was his usual energetic self and got up and down the park to good effect.
Porteous – Ryan’s enjoying his football right now and he was a colossus today. His header for the goal was extremely brave and his performance over the ninety minutes was close to faultless. Needless to say, he’s my man of the match.
Hanlon – Back to his very best after a ropey start following his return from injury. Paul defended well and his use of the ball was very good.
Cabraja – I thought he struggled a bit today with his use of the ball not the best. In his defence he was often left with two men to mark when Youan failed to track back.
Kenneh – Getting better with every game he was calm and controlled in his holding role and has developed a knack of intercepting a pass just as it is being made.
Boyle – I’ve seen Boyler play better as his final pass was not always the best but he’s still a threat and was willing to put his shift in right up until the final whistle.
Campbell – Josh has been high profile in recent games and for all the right reasons. Today he was quieter than he has been whilst still managing to cover every blade of grass.
Newell – Joe has been a bit of a revelation in his role further up the park and whilst he pinged a few excellent passes I felt the game passed him by a little.
Youan – So frustrating as he clearly has the skill on the ball but his lack of awareness of space and team mates around him often lets him down.
Kuharevich – A fine shift from the big fella who is clearly much more than just an old fashioned target man. He showed quickness of thought and a deft touch on the ball and it’s only a first goal that’s eluding him at the moment.
McKirdy – All legs and movement I got the impression he was just trying too hard. Has positives to offer, I think.
Magennis – I often think that when a player is returning from a long term injury it’s their attitude to the physicality of tackling that defines them. Kyle showed no signs of that bothering him and got stuck in from his first minute on the park.
Stevenson – A wounded animal is a dangerous animal and Motherwell were wounded after the sending off. They swarmed forward more and more, and the calm head and precise defending of Lewis reaffirmed that he still has much to offer when required.
Melkersen - Didn’t really show much in his short spell on the park.
Lee Johnson – I heard his post-match interview and was pleased that he recognised the efforts of the players whilst making clear there is more to come.
Referee – Grant Irvine was hugely pernickety in insisting free kicks be taken from the exact blade of grass on which the offence was committed. Annoying more than anything really.
Lee Johnson adopted the philosophy that you shouldn’t change something if it isn’t broken and so the starting eleven was the same as last time out against Ross County. For their part, Motherwell arrived full of confidence following their 5-0 win in Dingwall. The visitors posted the first threat when Sean Goss saw his low drive flash past the post and then Boyle tested Kelly at the other end, but the keeper saved comfortably. Youan was next to try his luck, but his effort was blocked after Kuharevich set up the chance.
The game was being played at a blistering pace and the ball was flying from end to end as both sides sought to break the deadlock. Around the quarter hour mark, Motherwell defenders were throwing themselves in front of successive efforts by Cadden, Newell and Boyle but it was the visitors that next looked likely to score when Joe Efford screwed a shot wide after being fed the ball by Spittal. That would be Spittal’s last contribution as he limped off to be replaced by Ross Tierney. The visitors were having some joy down their right side with ex Hibee Paul McGinn often being used as the out ball and Cabraja getting little help from Youan in terms of tracking back.
Nohan Kenneh was doing well in the holding role where he broke down a few Motherwell attacks and his distribution once he retrieved the ball was both simple and effective. After the opening thirty minutes or so the pace of the game slowed a little which was unsurprising given the hundred mile an hour stuff that both sides had served up to that point. Both Hibs central defenders were solid, and Kevin van Veen was forced to live off scraps, but the big striker did get one fine pass away allowing Efford a shot at goal, but it was weak and failed to trouble Marshall. With around five minutes of the half remaining, Efford broke through on goal and Hanlon was forced to bring him down, earning a yellow card for the challenge with the resultant free kick simply a poor effort from van Veen.
Prior to the half time whistle, Newell had a shot blocked and then Slattery chopped down Josh Campbell some twenty odd yards from goal. Ryan Porteous took the resultant free kick, but his powerful effort was straight at Kelly.
Motherwell started the second half brightly and Slattery had a shot at goal, but it failed to reach the target and then van Veen shot high and wide from a good position before Kuharevich set Youan up to hit a fierce shot, but Kelly got down well to save. Soon after, Hibs broke free after defending a corner and the ball eventually fell to Porteous who was clean through on goal but was hauled down by Connor Shields drawing a red card from referee Grant Irvine. Interestingly, Shields was up and walking off almost before his team mates could argue the decision with the referee. A minute later, Youan broke free on the left but ran the ball out of play and was immediately replaced by Harry McKirdy.
A man up now, Hibs set about trying to break the deadlock with Motherwell getting everyone behind the ball to stifle the hopes of the home side. Newell twice and Cadden both tested the keeper without beating him but it’s fair to say that Motherwell didn’t just sit deep all of the time and that when the opportunity arose, they attacked in numbers. Twenty minutes into the half, Magennis and Stevenson replaced Kenneh and Cabraja and soon after the deadlock was broken when a Boyle cross reached Ryan Porteous who bulleted a header past Kelly and took a nasty head knock in the process. Both Porto and the man with whom he had clashed required lengthy treatment before the game restarted.
Around the seventy minute mark, Motherwell replaced van Veen, Slattery and Tierney with Moult, Cornelius and O’Donnell and almost immediately Goss struck a sweet low shot that looked netbound until David Marshall dived to his left and pushed the ball around the post. It was a fine save as the ball was travelling and had come through a lot of bodies. To their credit, Motherwell brought some pressure in seeking an equaliser, but Hibs were defending strongly, and Marshall’s goal was hardly threatened. Porteous was in the thick of it again when Efford was booked for bringing him down and soon after, Lamie was booked for hauling down Boyle.
With ten minutes left, Kuharevich was replaced by Melkersen, and Hibs had to adjust their attacking options a bit as there was no longer any point in high crosses into the box. A foul by Goss allowed Magennis an opportunity to try his luck from the free kick but the effort was high of the target. Magennis soon had another chance but dallied on the ball and the chance was gone. McKirdy was then booked for a harmless shove before Paul McGinn was replaced by McKinstry with the former getting warm applause from the home fans as he left the pitch.
With five minutes of additional time to play, Motherwell threw everything at Hibs but could not break down a resolute defence and the three points stayed at Easter Road, Hibs moving up to the place as a result.
The players
Marshall – Other than one excellent save in the second half, Marshall was largely untroubled.
Cadden – Chris was his usual energetic self and got up and down the park to good effect.
Porteous – Ryan’s enjoying his football right now and he was a colossus today. His header for the goal was extremely brave and his performance over the ninety minutes was close to faultless. Needless to say, he’s my man of the match.
Hanlon – Back to his very best after a ropey start following his return from injury. Paul defended well and his use of the ball was very good.
Cabraja – I thought he struggled a bit today with his use of the ball not the best. In his defence he was often left with two men to mark when Youan failed to track back.
Kenneh – Getting better with every game he was calm and controlled in his holding role and has developed a knack of intercepting a pass just as it is being made.
Boyle – I’ve seen Boyler play better as his final pass was not always the best but he’s still a threat and was willing to put his shift in right up until the final whistle.
Campbell – Josh has been high profile in recent games and for all the right reasons. Today he was quieter than he has been whilst still managing to cover every blade of grass.
Newell – Joe has been a bit of a revelation in his role further up the park and whilst he pinged a few excellent passes I felt the game passed him by a little.
Youan – So frustrating as he clearly has the skill on the ball but his lack of awareness of space and team mates around him often lets him down.
Kuharevich – A fine shift from the big fella who is clearly much more than just an old fashioned target man. He showed quickness of thought and a deft touch on the ball and it’s only a first goal that’s eluding him at the moment.
McKirdy – All legs and movement I got the impression he was just trying too hard. Has positives to offer, I think.
Magennis – I often think that when a player is returning from a long term injury it’s their attitude to the physicality of tackling that defines them. Kyle showed no signs of that bothering him and got stuck in from his first minute on the park.
Stevenson – A wounded animal is a dangerous animal and Motherwell were wounded after the sending off. They swarmed forward more and more, and the calm head and precise defending of Lewis reaffirmed that he still has much to offer when required.
Melkersen - Didn’t really show much in his short spell on the park.
Lee Johnson – I heard his post-match interview and was pleased that he recognised the efforts of the players whilst making clear there is more to come.
Referee – Grant Irvine was hugely pernickety in insisting free kicks be taken from the exact blade of grass on which the offence was committed. Annoying more than anything really.