This is how it feels (St. Mirren 290918)

[Jonnyboy]

Last Tuesday night we played some brilliant football but the end result was defeat. Today we were poor in a number of areas of the park and the end result was a win. As Jimmy Greaves used to say “It’s a funny old game.” I’m obviously aware of the quite lengthy debate on the main messageboard, revolving around whether a beaten team deserves any credit. For the most part that debate was lively enough but I didn’t join in because to me, football isn’t as black and white as that. I was in the ‘praise deserved despite defeat camp’ on the basis that we might not have won but we played well, all over the park. After today’s performance there will still be an amount of praise although deep down I feel we got away with three points when for large parts of the game we were second best, although once again poor finishing could have cost us dear. I’ll take that though as it helps balance out days when we deserved more on the performance put in.

With the personnel available, Neil opted for what looked like a 4-1-4-1 set up with Milligan in front of the back four, a central midfield pairing of Mallan and Hyndman, Agyepong on the right and Horgan on the left with Kamberi up front.

Hibs started the game well enough, retaining possession and keeping St Mirren pinned into their own half of the park. Whenever the hosts did break forward they found the Hibs back four and keeper solid and so it was no surprise that the opening goal went to the visitors after around fifteen minutes. A Mallan corner was delivered to the back post where David Gray had found space and his downward header bounced up into the roof of the net with Samson beaten. It was a fair reflection on the balance of play and Hibs stayed on the front foot with both Agyepong and Horgan causing the hosts concern in the wide areas.

After around half an hour it seemed Oran Kearney instructed his men to push forward ten yards and that meant our back four had less time to keep the ball and control our forward movement. In a rare attack, one of the McGinn’s was left in acres of space at our back post but with the goal gaping he screwed his shot high and wide. With half time approaching, good build up play resulted in the ball reaching David Gray some fifteen yards out but his fierce drive on the angle was pushed round the post by the diving Samson. Next, Horgan had a gilt edged chance when he got a free header from no more than six yards out but instead of heading the ball downwards he went straight for goal and only succeeded in putting his effort straight into the arms of Samson.

I’ve no idea what the St Mirren manager said to his players at half time but they looked a different side after the interval with high energy play allowing them to close us down and rush our passes. They enjoyed lots of possession but created little early on in the half although at one point, Jackson brilliantly turned Ambrose to race into the box but his low drive was saved by Bogdan. Next, a netbound effort was headed off the line by Milligan and then McPherson ghosted in at the back post but his effort drifted wide of Bogdan’s back post.

The huge Hibs support was becoming restless and rightly so as Hibs were making really heavy weather of things with any attempt at moving in on the St Mirren goal thwarted by poor decisions or bad passes. Time was dragging on and still the hosts pressed forwards with Hibs very guilty of not winning enough second ball. Thankfully the back four and keeper were on their game and so when the final whistle blew the points had been won by David Gray’s first half header. I think that’s now five goals this season for SDG which, given a couple of injury absences, is a pretty good return for a full back.

The players

Adam – With only one real save to make, Adam was not overworked but often the sign of a good goalkeeper is that he can maintain his concentration throughout and that’s exactly what he did.

SDG – Once again our captain led by example and took his goal wonderfully well. I felt there were signs of a decent partnership forming with Agyepong and I hope the fact that David had to go off after an hour or so does not mean he’s picked up an injury.

Efe – Although beaten once by Jackson, Efe was a rock today and one late piece of nifty footwork left a St Mirren player flying past him. In fact the guy went so far past he probably had to pay to get back in. Efe came oh so very close to getting a third man of the match in a row from me.

Ryan – Another decent ninety minutes from Ryan today and once again he gave his all, to the point of looking exhausted at the final whistle but he needs to stop giving away daft fouls at times though.

Lewis – With the new guy watching from the bench I thought Lewis put in a five star performance today. Defended very well and got forward with Hogan when the chance arose.

Wee Tommy – A bit of a hit and a miss from the wee fella and he visibly tired from his efforts later in the game. I like his directness but on a couple of occasions he cut in onto his left foot and had a shot when a pass to a better placed team mate was on. I love the new song for him though!

Stevie – I thought he was very poor today, was largely anonymous and seemed to avoid getting involved in any of the physical stuff. I’ve no doubt he would be tired at the end because he ran around a lot but I expect so much more from him.

Mark – Let’s just say he was an oasis of calm when all around him was mayhem, especially in the second half. I thought he was the best player on the park by a huge margin and he was my man of the match.

Emerson – Got quite involved in the first half and provided several decent passes to his team mates but he looked to have taken an injury and was replaced around the hour mark.

Daryl – Flitted in and out of the game and as I’ve said before I don’t think he can influence the game enough when out wide on the left. I’d have pushed him into the middle when Hyndman went off but he stayed where he was, hugging the line.

Flo – Not a lot went right for him today and once again we saw that lone striker is not his bag. Frustration saw him trying to do too much at times whilst on a couple of crucial occasions his first touch deserted him.

Whitty – replaced SDG and went to play left side when Lenny decided to go with a back three. That set up didn’t work for Hibs and Whitty was installed on the right of a back four for the rest of the game. I thought he defended well when it mattered.

Oli – Got a good half hour but didn’t see a lot of the ball as Hibs struggled to get any forward momentum. Had one really good chance late on but delayed his shot too long and the effort was blocked.

Slivka – Came on late to replace Wee Tommy and took up the wide right berth meaning very little was seen of him before the game ended.

Lenny – I didn’t hear his post-match interview so I’ve no idea how he felt about the game although I’d guess he had mixed feelings in terms of the outcome being positive but the general play not up to his standards.

The ref – Euan Anderson was a new name to me. I thought he handled the first half pretty well but wasn’t great in the second when blatant fouls on Stevenson, Milligan and Porteous didn’t even win a free kick.

The fans – Gave a magnificent and very noisy backing today with some cracking new songs, the Agyepong one being the pick of the bunch.

[PaulSmith]

Pretty sure it wasn’t Euan anderson as the ref

[Billy Whizz]

Great report as usual John. For me MOTM was between Efe and Ryan. The fact that Adam hardly had a save to make, shows how well we defended
I think overall we deserved the 3 points, 1st half we were dominant.
2nd half was far from satisfactory. Kept giving the ball away

Great win, bearing in mind Celtic drew here recently

[BoomtownHibees]

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Pretty sure it wasn’t Euan anderson as the ref

It was

[davemcbain]

4 bookings with none going the other way, was that a fair reflection?

[Hiber-nation]

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4 bookings with none going the other way, was that a fair reflection?

No, the refereeing was scandalous in the 2nd half, about as inconsistent a performance as you'll ever see.

[judas]

Great report again.

It’s like The Pink with brains.

[PatHead]

Found it difficult to see the game but I was down the front and all the action was at the far end!

Good report as usual but thought Efe was man of the match by a mile.

[Jonnyboy]

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Found it difficult to see the game but I was down the front and all the action was at the far end!

Good report as usual but thought Efe was man of the match by a mile.

Efe was a very close second for me. I picked MM because he is so calm and in control and never looks flustered. Efe's outrageous wrong footing of those two St M players was fantastic though

[PatHead]

Great to have a debate about who to choose. Agree MM is a great acquisition and will play a significant part this season.

[Peevemor]

I just watched the goal on YouTube. SDG said that it came from the training ground, with Flo blocking 2 defenders to leave Gray with acres of space at the back post.

It worked in this instance but I'm not sure every referee would have let it stand.

https://youtu.be/DUleGaqGXes

[Hi Heid Yin]

Another great write-up Jonnyboy and very much appreciated.
Horgan's "gilt-edged" opportunity to score was head-shakingly bad - it was more akin to a defender "nodding-the-ball-into-the keepers arms-and-safety" than what one would expect from an attacking opposition forward. Horgan is a quality player and a personal favourite, but he's gone flat the last couple of games. Then again, our entire forward line and midfielders have equally failed to score when presented with gilt-edged chances in the last 2 games.

[HibbiesandtheBaddies]

Mark – Let’s just say he was an oasis of calm when all around him was mayhem, especially in the second half. I thought he was the best player on the park by a huge margin and he was my man of the match.

Liking the sound of that!

[SideBurns]

Thanks JB, enjoyable as always. Respect your opinion of course but cannae believe Efe isnae your MoM! Imperious, class, cool as the proverbial.

[Sir David Gray]

Milligan played well and does look the part from what I've seen of him so far but I thought Ambrose was easily the best player on the pitch today.

Some of his play was sublime.

[Baldy Foghorn]

I thought Efe was imperious

[cleanyman]

It's a great win. A win away from home always is.

My motm was Efe. What a performance.

However. the second half was poor. Our two wingers worked their socks off but produced very little quality in the final third.

Kamberi also needs to work on his first touch but we all know playing as a lone striker doesn't suit him

[Hibeewilly]

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I just watched the goal on YouTube. SDG said that it came from the training ground, with Flo blocking 2 defenders to leave Gray with acres of space at the back post.

It worked in this instance but I'm not sure every referee would have let it stand.

https://youtu.be/DUleGaqGXes

The interesting thing here Peevemor is that neither of the two St Mitten players that Flo blocked appealed for a foul

[Peevemor]

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The interesting thing here Peevemor is that neither of the two St Mitten players that Flo blocked appealed for a foul

Probably because it happens all the time, especially when defending a corner or set piece. This is one of the most blatant examples I can remember seeing it work the other way.

[Keith_M]

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4 bookings with none going the other way, was that a fair reflection?

No, the Ref had completely different standards for what constitutes a foul and yellow card for each side.

There's no way we deserved four yellows and 20 fouls against, and St Mirren committed far more than the 5(?) fouls given against them.

[Hibeewilly]

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Probably because it happens all the time, especially when defending a corner or set piece. This is one of the most blatant examples I can remember seeing it work the other way.

Yes it seems to be an accepted part of the game these days

[Ronniekirk]

Thought Milligan tired understandably so Ambrose Would get my vote for Best Player
Agree we controlled first half and Lennon rightly furious eith Horgan s Headed Miss He seemed to look right at the keeper and put it straightbintonhis arms Gray showed him the value of heading ball downwsrds earlier
They missed a sitter in first half
Agree second half was dire at times We couldn't retain possession and the more changes we made the more disjointed we looked atbtimes
But our record thier isn't great so it was important to grind out the three points Third clean sheet in a row also important
Agree Kamberi up top on his own is a struggle and with Mclaren out and Ollie still learning his trade that thorny issue of not brining in a third striker is still an issue for me .Although with Boyle missing it was more of a problem yesterday
Mallan was not at his best iether and Hyndman looks like he has more to give particularly getting on score sheet
So all in all Very Hsppy with the Win and the players enjoyed going to the fans at the end of game with wee Tommy lapping it up

[PatHead]

To be fair on us, in the second half every time one of their players fell down a foul was given. It did not allow us to get any rhythm going.

[Keith_M]

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To be fair on us, in the second half every time one of their players fell down a foul was given. It did not allow us to get any rhythm going.

We weren't exactly at our best but that really didn't help.

[PatHead]

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We weren't exactly at our best but that really didn't help.

I agree with that.

[H18 SFR]

All St Mirren have is huff and puff, can see them going down/playoff.

[bigwheel]

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All St Mirren have is huff and puff, can see them going down/playoff.

yeh, I'd agree - on that performance they will be in the relegation fight all season...

[Jonnyboy]

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It's a great win. A win away from home always is.

My motm was Efe. What a performance.

However. the second half was poor. Our two wingers worked their socks off but produced very little quality in the final third.

Kamberi also needs to work on his first touch but we all know playing as a lone striker doesn't suit him

Agreed