Jonnyboy
08-01-2023, 04:23 PM
In what was a massive game for a number of reasons, Hibs came out on top to earn a welcome three points thanks largely to a fabulous Kevin Nisbet hat trick. I say largely because there were other important performances from his team mates that helped him boost his goals tally and two things resonated with me in that regard. Porto might be leaving but this was a fabulous and wholly committed performance from him and Aiden McGeady was outstanding in dispelling any thoughts about his ability, fitness and example setting.
Lee Johnson made three changes from the eleven that started against Hearts. Having served his suspension, Ryan Porteous took a place in the centre of defence in place of Paul Hanlon whilst Magennis and McGeady came in for McKirdy and Fish.
After Lee Johnson’s comments following the Hearts defeat, it was imperative that his players set out to right his perceived wrongs and in that regard, they looked up to it from the first minute. With Porteous and Magennis both subjected to pretty industrial challenges inside the first five minutes, it was clear the hosts were committed to stopping Hibs setting the pace but Elie Youan was the first to have a strike on goal with his shot drifting wide after he’d been set up by McGeady. The latter was looking really lively and a cross from the left was diverted goalwards by the head of Magennis but straight at the keeper. A defensive muddle allowed Blair Spittal to get a shot away but thankfully the Motherwell man sclaffed the effort wide of the post.
Just a minute or so later, McGeady’s trickery allowed him space to deliver a ball into Nisbet who controlled the ball with his right foot before striking a left footed effort past the helpless Kelly as the 1200 odd Hibs fans behind the goal roared their delight. The hosts were put on the back foot for a while with both a Porteous header and a McGeady strike missing the target but, slowly, Motherwell began to play with more confidence as they favoured attacking down their left where Cadden was struggling a bit and Youan was providing limited assistance to the full back. A Slattery shot was well saved by Marshall at the expense of a corner and Hibs didn’t deal well when the ball was delivered into the box. Eventually the ball arrived with Van Veen on their left and his cross resulted in Lamie striking the crossbar with a header. Soon after that near miss, Cadden had to go off injured and was replaced by Henderson which meant Josh Campbell had to slot in at right back.
Motherwell were having the better of it now and Marshall did really well to save a netbound shot after the ball came through the legs of a host of players before a Spittal header flew wide of the target. Sean Goss, who had fouled his way through the game, was lucky to escape a booking after deliberately kicking the ball straight at Henderson as the Hibs man lay on the ground after being fouled by McGinn. Soon after that, McGinn found himself in space near the edge of the Hibs box and had time to fire in a decent effort but that was well blocked by Porteous, ensuring Hibs would go in to the break leading 1-0.
The hosts started the second half in a positive manner and were providing substitute McKinstry with plenty of the ball as he faced Josh Campbell who didn’t look 100% comfortable in an unfamiliar right back slot. Five minutes into the half though, Nisbet took in a Youan pass and worked his way across the eighteen yard line, but he was off balance in getting a shot away and his effort cleared the bar by a distance. The Hibs man only had to wait another couple of minutes before his next shot hit the net. McKinstry fouled Magennis and Porteous took a quick free kick with the flight of the ball finding Penney off balance as Youan raced in behind him to deliver a fine low pass into the middle where Nisbet tapped home from close range.
The two goal cushion lasted just seven minutes as a long ball out from the back wasn’t cut out by Campbell and McKinstry was allowed to take a touch before striking a low shot into the net, through the legs of the advancing Marshall. Motherwell got a boost from that and enjoyed some good possession without really putting the Hibs defence under a lot of pressure. For their part, Hibs went looking for a third goal and a fine cross from Stevenson found Nisbet stretching just a bit too much to get his header on target.
I’ll be honest here, I was concerned that Hibs were just allowing Motherwell to have the bulk of possession and efforts from McKinstry, Slattery and Solholm (twice) could have proved very costly but blocks and a couple of saves kept the visitors ahead. In an effort to change the flow of the game, Lee Johnson replaced Magennis and Youan with Cabraja and Hanlon which resulted in Stevenson switching to right back with Cabraja taking the left spot and Hanlon slotting in alongside Rocky at centre back with Porteous moving into midfield, where he was joined by Campbell who looked a lot more comfortable playing further forward.
A mere sixty seconds after the changes, Hibs scored again although none of the substitutes had a hand it. Yet another foul by Goss on Nisbet allowed a quick free kick to reach Campbell on the right. Josh looked up and saw Nisbet lose his defender to run front post and sweep Campbell’s cross high into the net to make it 3-1. This put the visitors on the front foot for a spell and a couple of corners were earned as a result of this though neither came to much. The introduction of two more substitutes by Motherwell didn’t really have the impact Stevie Hammill will have hoped for and it took a hefty challenge on Nisbet to foil the striker from breaking through on goal. Solholm was the offender, and he was rightly booked for the challenge. From around thirty yards, Porteous struck the resulting free kick and though he struck the ball well and with pace, it didn’t trouble Kelly in the home goal.
Another double substitution saw Kenneh and Melkersen replace Nisbet and McGeady, both of whom looked pretty tired but that was hardly surprising as both had put in excellent shifts. In the last minute of the ninety, Newell was booked for a foul on Solholm and then in the first minute of the four added on, Motherwell nabbed a second goal as a forward pass down their right caught Cabraja under the flight of the ball allowing them to get a cross in that Hibs failed to clear allowing substitute Tierney to swivel and hit a shot inside Marshall’s left hand post.
I was back to fretting a bit now and with the seconds ticking down, Motherwell broke away down their right. Porto was racing back and clipped the heels of the ‘Well man in front of him but that went unseen by the ref. Porto continued his run back and a crucial foot was stretched out to stop a cross reaching an unmarked opponent who would have had a tap in. Thankfully, my fretting stopped soon after as the ref blew the final whistle.
Pretty much everyone knew we had to win this game and we did. Hopefully this will be the start of an uplift in our season and to follow it up by beating Dundee United next time out, would put a whole different complexion on where we are.
The players
Marshall – Had a couple of excellent saves and was blameless for the goals conceded.
Cadden – Had been struggling a bit in trying to mark two men before having to go off injured after half an hour.
Rocky – A decent performance from him over the piece.
Porteous – Looked more than comfortable at left centre back and had a positive influence on the outcome after moving into midfield.
Stevenson – Looked comfortable and assured in both full back positions and I felt McKinstry was much less of a threat once Lewis moved to the right.
Magennis – Always busy and always happy to take a pass regardless of how tightly marked.
Newell – Worked very hard and put in a few decent passes and tackles.
Campbell – Wasn’t really great at right back but managed an assist after he was moved forward. He reminds me of Ian Murray, in that his versatility means nobody really knows his most effective position.
Youan – Some bright spots and his pace clearly worried the Motherwell defenders. Got an assist and hopefully will learn from McGeady who looked up before crossing for the first goal. Elie needs to mimic that in future.
Nisbet – Kev looks back to his very best. Three well taken goals and his general play and workrate were both excellent. For obvious reasons, my man of the match.
McGeady – I think we saw today that Aiden still has much to offer. He was a menace to the ‘Well defence whenever he had possession, and it was fantastic watching him sprinting back to help out defending in the latter stages of the game.
Henderson – I really feel for the laddie as he is clearly struggling to find any kind of positive form. Perhaps a loan for the rest of the season would benefit him?
Cabraja – Proved to me at least, that Johnson is right to play Lewis ahead of him.
Hanlon – A couple of good clearances but if I’m going to be really picky, I’d like to have seen him try harder to prevent Van Veen setting up their second goal.
Melkersen – Nothing much to say as his time on the park was for only a few minutes.
Kenneh – Same as Melkersen really.
Lee Johnson – Must surely be a happy and possibly relieved man.
Referee – David Munro did ok I thought.
Far side Assistant ref – Like me, he could do with losing a fair few pounds!
Lee Johnson made three changes from the eleven that started against Hearts. Having served his suspension, Ryan Porteous took a place in the centre of defence in place of Paul Hanlon whilst Magennis and McGeady came in for McKirdy and Fish.
After Lee Johnson’s comments following the Hearts defeat, it was imperative that his players set out to right his perceived wrongs and in that regard, they looked up to it from the first minute. With Porteous and Magennis both subjected to pretty industrial challenges inside the first five minutes, it was clear the hosts were committed to stopping Hibs setting the pace but Elie Youan was the first to have a strike on goal with his shot drifting wide after he’d been set up by McGeady. The latter was looking really lively and a cross from the left was diverted goalwards by the head of Magennis but straight at the keeper. A defensive muddle allowed Blair Spittal to get a shot away but thankfully the Motherwell man sclaffed the effort wide of the post.
Just a minute or so later, McGeady’s trickery allowed him space to deliver a ball into Nisbet who controlled the ball with his right foot before striking a left footed effort past the helpless Kelly as the 1200 odd Hibs fans behind the goal roared their delight. The hosts were put on the back foot for a while with both a Porteous header and a McGeady strike missing the target but, slowly, Motherwell began to play with more confidence as they favoured attacking down their left where Cadden was struggling a bit and Youan was providing limited assistance to the full back. A Slattery shot was well saved by Marshall at the expense of a corner and Hibs didn’t deal well when the ball was delivered into the box. Eventually the ball arrived with Van Veen on their left and his cross resulted in Lamie striking the crossbar with a header. Soon after that near miss, Cadden had to go off injured and was replaced by Henderson which meant Josh Campbell had to slot in at right back.
Motherwell were having the better of it now and Marshall did really well to save a netbound shot after the ball came through the legs of a host of players before a Spittal header flew wide of the target. Sean Goss, who had fouled his way through the game, was lucky to escape a booking after deliberately kicking the ball straight at Henderson as the Hibs man lay on the ground after being fouled by McGinn. Soon after that, McGinn found himself in space near the edge of the Hibs box and had time to fire in a decent effort but that was well blocked by Porteous, ensuring Hibs would go in to the break leading 1-0.
The hosts started the second half in a positive manner and were providing substitute McKinstry with plenty of the ball as he faced Josh Campbell who didn’t look 100% comfortable in an unfamiliar right back slot. Five minutes into the half though, Nisbet took in a Youan pass and worked his way across the eighteen yard line, but he was off balance in getting a shot away and his effort cleared the bar by a distance. The Hibs man only had to wait another couple of minutes before his next shot hit the net. McKinstry fouled Magennis and Porteous took a quick free kick with the flight of the ball finding Penney off balance as Youan raced in behind him to deliver a fine low pass into the middle where Nisbet tapped home from close range.
The two goal cushion lasted just seven minutes as a long ball out from the back wasn’t cut out by Campbell and McKinstry was allowed to take a touch before striking a low shot into the net, through the legs of the advancing Marshall. Motherwell got a boost from that and enjoyed some good possession without really putting the Hibs defence under a lot of pressure. For their part, Hibs went looking for a third goal and a fine cross from Stevenson found Nisbet stretching just a bit too much to get his header on target.
I’ll be honest here, I was concerned that Hibs were just allowing Motherwell to have the bulk of possession and efforts from McKinstry, Slattery and Solholm (twice) could have proved very costly but blocks and a couple of saves kept the visitors ahead. In an effort to change the flow of the game, Lee Johnson replaced Magennis and Youan with Cabraja and Hanlon which resulted in Stevenson switching to right back with Cabraja taking the left spot and Hanlon slotting in alongside Rocky at centre back with Porteous moving into midfield, where he was joined by Campbell who looked a lot more comfortable playing further forward.
A mere sixty seconds after the changes, Hibs scored again although none of the substitutes had a hand it. Yet another foul by Goss on Nisbet allowed a quick free kick to reach Campbell on the right. Josh looked up and saw Nisbet lose his defender to run front post and sweep Campbell’s cross high into the net to make it 3-1. This put the visitors on the front foot for a spell and a couple of corners were earned as a result of this though neither came to much. The introduction of two more substitutes by Motherwell didn’t really have the impact Stevie Hammill will have hoped for and it took a hefty challenge on Nisbet to foil the striker from breaking through on goal. Solholm was the offender, and he was rightly booked for the challenge. From around thirty yards, Porteous struck the resulting free kick and though he struck the ball well and with pace, it didn’t trouble Kelly in the home goal.
Another double substitution saw Kenneh and Melkersen replace Nisbet and McGeady, both of whom looked pretty tired but that was hardly surprising as both had put in excellent shifts. In the last minute of the ninety, Newell was booked for a foul on Solholm and then in the first minute of the four added on, Motherwell nabbed a second goal as a forward pass down their right caught Cabraja under the flight of the ball allowing them to get a cross in that Hibs failed to clear allowing substitute Tierney to swivel and hit a shot inside Marshall’s left hand post.
I was back to fretting a bit now and with the seconds ticking down, Motherwell broke away down their right. Porto was racing back and clipped the heels of the ‘Well man in front of him but that went unseen by the ref. Porto continued his run back and a crucial foot was stretched out to stop a cross reaching an unmarked opponent who would have had a tap in. Thankfully, my fretting stopped soon after as the ref blew the final whistle.
Pretty much everyone knew we had to win this game and we did. Hopefully this will be the start of an uplift in our season and to follow it up by beating Dundee United next time out, would put a whole different complexion on where we are.
The players
Marshall – Had a couple of excellent saves and was blameless for the goals conceded.
Cadden – Had been struggling a bit in trying to mark two men before having to go off injured after half an hour.
Rocky – A decent performance from him over the piece.
Porteous – Looked more than comfortable at left centre back and had a positive influence on the outcome after moving into midfield.
Stevenson – Looked comfortable and assured in both full back positions and I felt McKinstry was much less of a threat once Lewis moved to the right.
Magennis – Always busy and always happy to take a pass regardless of how tightly marked.
Newell – Worked very hard and put in a few decent passes and tackles.
Campbell – Wasn’t really great at right back but managed an assist after he was moved forward. He reminds me of Ian Murray, in that his versatility means nobody really knows his most effective position.
Youan – Some bright spots and his pace clearly worried the Motherwell defenders. Got an assist and hopefully will learn from McGeady who looked up before crossing for the first goal. Elie needs to mimic that in future.
Nisbet – Kev looks back to his very best. Three well taken goals and his general play and workrate were both excellent. For obvious reasons, my man of the match.
McGeady – I think we saw today that Aiden still has much to offer. He was a menace to the ‘Well defence whenever he had possession, and it was fantastic watching him sprinting back to help out defending in the latter stages of the game.
Henderson – I really feel for the laddie as he is clearly struggling to find any kind of positive form. Perhaps a loan for the rest of the season would benefit him?
Cabraja – Proved to me at least, that Johnson is right to play Lewis ahead of him.
Hanlon – A couple of good clearances but if I’m going to be really picky, I’d like to have seen him try harder to prevent Van Veen setting up their second goal.
Melkersen – Nothing much to say as his time on the park was for only a few minutes.
Kenneh – Same as Melkersen really.
Lee Johnson – Must surely be a happy and possibly relieved man.
Referee – David Munro did ok I thought.
Far side Assistant ref – Like me, he could do with losing a fair few pounds!