This is how it feels (Celtic 15 05 21)
Having secured their third place finish, Hibs faced Celtic at Easter Road in the final league match of the season and as predicted by many fans and alluded to by Jack Ross himself in the lead up to the game there were wholesale changes to the starting eleven. Only McGregor, Gogic and Hallberg remained from the win at Pittodrie whilst Celtic were close to full strength in what was Scott Brown’s last game for the Hoops. Of course, the game also featured a last appearance in the shape of Ofir Marciano and he was prominent in Hibs securing a point in a 0-0 draw.
Like many, I was puzzled when I heard the names of the starting eleven for Hibs as it was unclear who would be playing in the striker role. As it turned out, both Hallberg and Wright took turns in being furthest forward, but it was evident from early in the game that the plan was, first and foremost, to frustrate Celtic and stop them playing.
The visitors started the better and early efforts by Edouard, Turnbull and Elyounoussi were blocked with the last of that three witnessing Darren McGregor clearing from almost on the goal line. On the seven minute mark, Darren McGregor should really have done better when he was afforded a free header from a corner, but the big defender guided his attempt over the bar. Minutes later, Murphy looked to break clear but was impeded by Kenny who found his name in the book as a result.
At times, it was alarming to see Ajer burst forward unimpeded but thankfully, for the most part, nothing came from his final ball. Marciano then made a fine save to deny Elyounoussi with a dive low to his left before Turnbull tested the keeper with a powerful drive that Rocky collected safely. It was all Celtic in a possession sense, but they were finding it difficult to break down a resolute Hibs. Still, the visitors were creating chances, but none could be described as clear cut and two Christie efforts and a trundler from Calum McGregor failed to trouble Marciano.
Another of those runs from Ajer led to him being brought down around twenty yards from goal. Edouard struck a fine shot into the top corner, but Willie Collum had blown for some sort of infringement and the Celtic man’s retaken effort struck the Hibs wall and was cleared. With half time looming, Edouard was once again denied and then Drey Wright got the opportunity to have a pop at goal, but his shot was both high and wide of the target.
The second half began with two fouls on the trot by Kyle Magennis and I confess I was surprised Willie Collum kept the yellow card in his pocket. Said card did emerge some five minutes in to the half when Welsh hauled Murphy back as the Hibs man tried to break forward. From the resultant free kick, Porteous headed the ball down to Hallberg but the Swede’s shot at goal flew high. Hallberg was convinced the ball had deflected off Ajer, but Willie Collum disagreed. Approaching the hour mark, Gogic was booked for as pretty harmless challenge, making me start to fret that he’d get another and perhaps miss the final.
A double substitution saw the arrival of Forest and Griffiths with John Kennedy no doubt hoping they’d be able to find cracks in the Hibs rearguard and Griffiths was soon involved but his shot was blocked and then, at the other end, an effort from Gogic suffered the same outcome. A few Hibs players were starting to tire, which was unsurprising given that they hadn’t had a lot of playing minutes lately, and both Murphy and Hallberg were replaced by Irvine and Doidge. Whatever influence Kennedy thought Forest could offer was thwarted given that the Celtic man couldn’t get the better of Stevenson and was soon moved to the other wing where he fared no better.
David Gray who looked puggled after five minutes was eventually replaced by Paul McGinn and I have to say that puggled he may have been, but he gave every ounce of his being to deny Celtic in their efforts to score. At the same time as Gray departed, so too did Drey Wright who was replaced by Josh Doig. At that point I was excited to see how Josh would do playing wide left of midfield as Stevenson retained his left back slot. Around ten minutes from the end, Scott Brown tried his luck from around twenty yards but pulled his effort wide of Marciano’s right hand post. I mention this because it had become obvious that Celtic had run out of ideas and were restricted to long range efforts.
The game was petering out but before it ended, Turnbull saw a shot blocked and then Griffiths released Forest, but Marciano was quick off his line to smother the ball at the feet of the Celtic man. Right at the death I thought Hibs had won it, but Irvine’s shot flew over the bar. With no goals in the game, it’s worth pointing out that Barkas never had a save to make whereas Rocky was superb in finishing his Hibs career on a high.
The players
Marciano – Rocky made several good saves during the game and he looked both solid and assured throughout. Over the piece he’s done a fine job and I wish him every success at his new club, wherever that may be.
Gray – As I said, SDG looked puggled early on and that’s no surprise given his substantial lack of game time but being the player he is, he offered 100% effort and commitment throughout.
McGregor – Once again Daz was immense and easily the best man on the park. Obviously, he gets my man of the match award and I’m astonished that the BBC reporter gave it to Elyounoussi who started well enough but fell away so much he was subbed before the end.
Porteous – Ryan was solid enough today with no daft decisions taken and both he and Daz have given Jack Ross a selection headache ahead of the final.
Stevenson – Lewis never gave an inch and defended extremely well. I lost count of the number of times he took up the correct position to cover his central defenders should they make a mistake. Young Josh is learning from the best, in my opinion.
Gogic – Perhaps not quite so prominent as he had been against the Dons, he still put in one hell of a shift and both Turnbull and McGregor were never given a moments peace.
Newell – Joe was involved throughout and yet hardly got a mention in commentary, though I suspect that was because he was blocking spaces for Celtic to work in, rather than spraying passes left, right and centre.
Magennis – I thought Kyle put in a great shift and the fact that he covered so much ground and yet still survived the ninety minutes seems to show he’s getting the minutes to get up to speed.
Wright – I thought he had a good first half and that he showed signs of the player we hoped we’d signed. Quieter in the second but then the whole of the second half was quieter than the first.
Murphy – Another good shift from Jamie who was asked to play a slightly deeper role than usual, which he did to good effect.
Hallberg – Proved to us all, including the West Stand assistant, that beating the offside trap is a lot harder than it looks! Fair play to him though as he was another that put in a great shift.
Irvine – Got about the park well and was unlucky not to get a corner when his shot on the turn clearly clipped Ajer’s boot on the way over the bar.
Doidge – I’m simply glad the big fella avoided injury if I’m honest.
McGinn – Had to face Forest who’d switched wings and did so admirably.
Doig – Ten minutes doesn’t give a player a lot of time to make an impact.
Jack Ross – Full of praise for his ‘fringe’ players and rightly so. It has become increasingly obvious that Jack is a good man manager and that is a precious skill in itself.
Referee – Willie Collum was largely untroubled which is a good thing for a referee.
