This is how it feels (Kilmarnock 18 02 23)

***Jonnyboy*** · 18-02-2023 07:44 PM

An impressive goal scoring first half performance and an early second half goal was enough to see Hibs earn an important three points, resulting in a move up to fourth in the table. A clean sheet was also enjoyed and the guys at the back deserved that reward. With Joe Newell absent, Lee Johnson surprised many by playing CJ Egan-Riley in a midfield role whilst starting places were also given to Cadden, Cabraja and Henderson.

Hibs started the game strongly and inside the first five minutes, Campbell flashed a shot just wide of the target and then the hosts won a series of corners forcing Killie to defend in depth. Around the ten minute mark there was an incredible spell of pressure as Youan, Cabraja and Cadden all forced Killie keeper Sam Walker into impressive stops. A minute later, Killie might have snatched the lead when Jones fired in a front post cross that Chris Stokes met on the half volley but David Marshall was alert to the danger and made an instinctive save, sending the ball over the bar.

McGeady and Youan were causing all sorts of bother but Killie were resolute and denied them both shots on goal but in the sixteenth minute, Stokes needlessly conceded a corner which McGeady fired into the box allowing Will Fish to outjump Mayo and bullet the ball past Sam Walker. The visitors were finding it hard to close down a Hibs side that always seemed to have an extra man to pick out for a pass and on more than one occasion, Walker was there to make crucial saves. In a rare foray forward, Vassell almost punished Hibs with a header that sailed wide and there was a bit of an inquest as Hanlon and Co., debated who had left the Killie man unmarked.

Campbell and Henderson were having fine games and Youan was unlucky when, after Campbell had set up the chance, Walker saved a thunderbolt of a shot destined for the top corner of the net. Soon after, Egan-Riley set up Henderson but the latter was thwarted by yet another fine save from Walker. Henderson was denied a goal moments later when Youan set him up but despite Henderson firing the ball past Walker, Wright was on the line to boot the ball clear. At the other end, Hibs defended a corner well and Aiden McGeady was set free on the left by David Marshall. McGeady had acres of room to run into but three or four strides later he pulled up with what looked like a hamstring injury, causing him to be replaced by Matthew Hoppe.

With half time approaching, Walker again denied Hibs with a couple of good saves, first from Cadden and then Campbell. It is no exaggeration to suggest Hibs could have had four goals by this stage but excellent goalkeeping and perhaps a lack of composure from the home men meant it was a single goal lead going into the interval.

Hibs made no changes at the break whilst Killie withdrew Stokes, Alston and Jones, replacing them with Taylor, Polworth and Robinson, Derek McInnes clearly having set a plan to get back into the game. Two minutes later, that plan was severely dented when a lovely dinked pass from Henderson found Jeggo whose low ball into the middle wasn’t cleared and Matthew Hoppe pounced to prod the ball over the line from close range. That should have prompted Hibs to relax a bit and settle into a pattern that would see them pushing Killie back but instead it seemed to galvanise the visitors and they began to enjoy more meaningful possession. Polworth and McKenzie both got shots away with the first blocked and the second bringing a save out of Marshall.

On the hour mark, Hoppe found space at the edge of the box but dragged his shot wide of the far post and then Youan worked some trickery before feeding Henderson but the latter found Walker in good form again and the chance of a third goal was lost. Not long after that, Henderson who had worked his socks off was replaced by Kyle Magennis. It was heartening to witness the warm applause Henderson received as he departed. Around six minutes later, Vassell showed a high boot as he went into a challenge with Cabraja, and referee John Beaton issued a yellow card to the Killie man. Beaton was then alerted by the VAR official that the card might possibly need to be red and after consulting the pitchside monitor Beaton did indeed cancel the yellow and show a straight red. I sit high in the East Stand and didn’t see the actual challenge clearly, so I don’t know whether the ultimate decision was correct but the fact that Cabraja had stayed on his feet and that even the home fans were booing the decision perhaps suggest the punishment was wrong. What really annoyed me about this episode was that once again it seems that the VAR official was refereeing the game and not John Beaton.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, Hibs set about trying to make use of their man advantage and both Jeggo and Campbell had shots saved before Fish’s effort from close range was blocked. To be fair to Killie, they didn’t just drop deep and looked to get on the front foot when the opportunity arose and with fifteen minutes left, McInnes threw on another fresh set of legs in Ryan Alebiosu who replaced a limping Danny Armstrong. Cabraja was then shown a yellow for hauling back Joe Wright before Hoppe missed a glorious chance which, if anything, was clearer than the one he scored.

Hibs then made a triple change with Miller, Doyle-Hayes and Tavares replacing Cabraja, Jeggo and Cadden which, I thought at the time might be just a little bit of a gamble but turned out not to be in the end. Killie had one last throw of the dice in terms of personnel when they replaced Brad Lyons with Alan Power but before they could benefit from it Youan should have put the game to bed but was wasteful with the opportunity. In time added on, a long ball caught Hanlon out and Robinson skipped away from him, shot under the diving Marshall but was thwarted by a goal line clearance from Egan-Riley allowing Hibs another three points and, impressively, another clean sheet.

The players

Marshall – A fantastic instinctive save early on and a few run of the mill ones helped him keep a deserved clean sheet.

Cadden – Fine going forward but caught out a few times in defence. It was interesting in the second half when Killie concentrated on attacking down their left that Cadden was moved forward and replaced by Egan-Riley.

Fish – Absolutely rock solid and he can ping a pass at times too. Came very close to getting my man of the match award.

Hanlon – Other than that late mistake as the ball sailed over his head I thought he was fine and it is clear how much he and Fish communicate with each other.

Cabraja – Not always the best defensively, he was largely ok and managed to get forward quite often.

Egan-Riley – A polished performance from a guy that is clearly a fine footballer. Whether in midfield or defence he was excellent and wins my man of the match award.

Jeggo – Dare I say he fits the Matty Jack role well? Breaks play up and plays sensible passes in order to retain possession.

Henderson – This was the Ewan Henderson I want to see more of. Fantastic first half and played with confidence rather than letting his shoulders slump when things don’t go quite right for him.

Campbell – 100% effort from first ‘til last and a fair few telling passes and tackles. Am delighted he’s beeen rewarded with a contract extension.

McGeady – I’ll be honest and say I was getting frustrated with him as his tricky footwork sometimes baffled him rather than his marker. Sorry to see him off injured though.

Youan – How do I sum him up? He is a delight/joy to watch as he takes on multiple defenders in tight situations and still comes out with the ball at his feet. However, why did he delay getting a shot away on so many occasions?

Hoppe – In the right place at the right time for his goal but should have had two.

Magennis – Looked a bit ring rusty which is not surprising really.

Miller – Looked more mobile than the last time I saw him.

Tavares – Was crunched in an early tackle but got up and got on with it.

Doyle-Hayes – Like Magennis, looked ring rusty.

Lee Johnson – We can’t fault the run we are on and he deserves his fair share of the credit.

Referee – John Beaton – Some frankly bewildering decisions and that’s apart from the red card which has been universally ridiculed by the Sportsound ‘experts’.

***Ryan91*** · 18-02-2023 07:48 PM

Having seen the Red Card incident on Sportscene, I'm further convinced it's not a red. It's a yellow for endangering an opponent, but there's zero malice in it.

***BILLYHIBS*** · 18-02-2023 08:08 PM

Thanks Jonnyboy

Red card was a yellow at best both players had their eyes on the prize if anything the hibs man moved towards the Killie player hence the boos from the home support

Harsh

Another VAR injustice

Maybe Fish will make us forget Porto

**B.H.F.C** · 18-02-2023 08:23 PM

Originally Posted by Ryan91

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Having seen the Red Card incident on Sportscene, I'm further convinced it's not a red. It's a yellow for endangering an opponent, but there's zero malice in it.

Agree. But nice of Sportscene to discuss that for a good few minutes with virtually zero chat on how well we played. We were actually poorer after the red card, switched off a bit.

**IberianHibernian** · 18-02-2023 08:30 PM

Thanks for report as always .
Agree about Egan - Riley as MOM though Fish or Jeggo could also have been picked .
Killie were really poor ( apart from their goalie who looks like a real find ) even with 11 players and I thought we relaxed too much in the second half . Other teams will punish us more for slackness . Hopefully McGeadie won`t miss many games since he`s helping to make others have more space and time on ball even on days like today when he wasn`t at his best . Ironically McGeadie would have been better with Hoppe who replaced him as he often had noone to cross to in a good attacking position .

***jws1875*** · 18-02-2023 08:30 PM

Originally Posted by Ryan91

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Having seen the Red Card incident on Sportscene, I'm further convinced it's not a red. It's a yellow for endangering an opponent, but there's zero malice in it.

I didn't think it was a red card at the time. Interestingly I actually thought the linesman was trying to tell Beaton it was a red who then basically told him to be quiet with a hand gesture.

**NAE NOOKIE** · 18-02-2023 09:31 PM

A very very good performance by Hibs in the first half, how the hell we weren't 3 - 0 up at half time is beyond me, answers on a postcard to the Killie goalie I suppose.

As it was a super header by Fish gave us a half time lead and then a well taken goal by Hoppe all but finished the game even with 40 minutes still to go. Quite strange how Killie looked better after going down to 10 men, but given how we played in the first half it's a wee bit disappointing that Hibs didn't add to the goals tally

Absolutely everybody played well in this one, but nods to Fish, Youan, Egan - Riley and Jeggo who all played really well. Though as many have pointed out Youan blotted his copy book a wee bit by being far too over elaborate at times either passing up a chance to shoot or simply not passing when that would have been the better option ... the guy is tricky as ****, but just needs to learn when its better to shoot or pass than try and beat 4 guys 20 times.

As for the red card, I had a perfect view of the incident and I was a bit surprised the guy was even given a yellow card, yes his foot was up but Cabraja definitely moved into it rather than the foot being aimed at him ..... I was absolutely astonished when the guy was sent off after the ref checked the incident on the screen .... an absolutely ridiculous decision.
It was telling that the red was greeted by cheers from the east where folk maybe didn't have a good view of what happened, whereas some folk in the west .. including me ... actually booed the red card, which tells you all you need to know about what a stupid decision it was.

***Hibrandenburg*** · 18-02-2023 09:40 PM

Thanks for the report JB, been up to my neck in it work wise the past few weeks and appreciate a place to go where I know I'll get a good summary of the game.

***Ryan91*** · 18-02-2023 10:30 PM

Originally Posted by B.H.F.C

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Agree. But nice of Sportscene to discuss that for a good few minutes with virtually zero chat on how well we played. We were actually poorer after the red card, switched off a bit.

Didn't really feel like that, maybe it was because I was in Hospitality today and had a number of beers pre-match, but I felt we were completely in control of the game from start to finish, barring a save from Marshall and a goal-line clearance from Egan-Riley.

***JohnM1875*** · 19-02-2023 01:32 AM

Originally Posted by Ryan91

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Having seen the Red Card incident on Sportscene, I'm further convinced it's not a red. It's a yellow for endangering an opponent, but there's zero malice in it.

It's never a red card and they'll win their inevitable appeal.

***Brightside*** · 19-02-2023 07:10 AM

Originally Posted by Ryan91

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Didn't really feel like that, maybe it was because I was in Hospitality today and had a number of beers pre-match, but I felt we were completely in control of the game from start to finish, barring a save from Marshall and a goal-line clearance from Egan-Riley.

We were poor when we brought on Jair. Need to get him loaned out pronto. He’s current nowhere near our level.

***O'Rourke3*** · 19-02-2023 08:59 AM

Originally Posted by NAE NOOKIE

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A very very good performance by Hibs in the first half, how the hell we weren't 3 - 0 up at half time is beyond me, answers on a postcard to the Killie goalie I suppose.
.

I said at the time if Youan had shot first time rather than the touch, giving Walker time to set himself up, we may have a second. Similar with Henderson's attempt. He was entitled to shoot but a slip pass to the right and we may have had another. Good win though.

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***erin go bragh*** · 19-02-2023 09:33 AM

Originally Posted by IberianHibernian

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Thanks for report as always .
Agree about Egan - Riley as MOM though Fish or Jeggo could also have been picked .
Killie were really poor ( apart from their goalie who looks like a real find ) even with 11 players and I thought we relaxed too much in the second half . Other teams will punish us more for slackness . Hopefully McGeadie won`t miss many games since he`s helping to make others have more space and time on ball even on days like today when he wasn`t at his best . Ironically McGeadie would have been better with Hoppe who replaced him as he often had noone to cross to in a good attacking position .

Looked a bad hamstring pull for McGeady, could see him out till the split, shame as he was looking menacing down the left.