This is how it feels (Queen of the South 05 04 21)

[Jonnyboy]

It had seemed a long wait to see Hibs in Scottish Cup action, given they were involved in the final tie of the round but finally the day arrived, and Jack Ross made just one change to his starting eleven in replacing a travel weary Ofir Marciano with Matt Macey. The conditions were pretty awful and the playing surface not much better and that contributed to a relatively poor first half showing from the men from Leith but a goal close to the interval set Hibs up nicely for a much better second half.

Playing into the face of a strong wind, Hibs struggled to put their passing game together as Queens made the stronger start to the game. An early scare came in the shape of poor marking at the back post for a corner but thankfully the usually deadly Stephen Dobbie blasted wildly over the bar from close range. At the other end, a Newell effort was blocked and then that man Dobbie popped up again at the other end but sent a headed effort over the bar.

A fine move saw Nisbet push the ball into the path of the inrushing Martin Boyle and the Hibs man struck a fierce shot which looked as though it might end up in the net but struck the bottom of keeper Ferguson which took all the pace out of the effort and the ball was cleared. The hosts were enjoying the bulk of possession without really troubling Macey and his opposite number Ferguson was relieved to see a snap shot from Nisbet fly wide of his right hand post. Dobbie and Shields looked lively, but the final ball rarely reached them as Hibs defended stoutly and the pace of Boyle was always a threat to their rearguard.

Christian Doidge was causing problems for their central defenders and a header from the Hibs man came close to breaking the deadlock. Snow began to fall, just to add to the rotten conditions but with half time looming the number 9 put Hibs ahead when the hosts failed to deal with a Boyle corner and Doidge poked the ball home from close range. Right on the whistle, McCabe struck a fantastic free kick which hit the angle of outside of the post and bar although I’m fairly certain Macey had it covered.

Hibs were like a team transformed in the second half and with the weather conditions improving, they began to impose themselves on the game. Swarming forward they had the hosts pinned back and long range efforts from both Nisbet and Boyle cleared the bar and then Doig put a sumptuous cross into the six yard box but there were no takers. Hibs continued to push but couldn’t find a second goal with both Doig and Nisbet off target around the hour mark. I began to worry that we’d get frustrated and soon added to my worry that the hosts might just survive the onslaught and put us under pressure.

In a fine move, Dobbie sent Shields racing in on goal with Hanlon in pursuit. The striker got a fine shot away but a marvellous save by Macey kept his side in the lead. Soon after, Dobbie went down in the box under challenge from Newell. Dobbie thought it was a penalty, I didn’t and thankfully Willie Collum agreed. Having secured possession of the ball, Newell burst forward some sixty or seventy yards before sending a slide rule pass into the path of Doidge who raced free to beat Ferguson from around ten yards. I confess I worried that Doidge might squander the opportunity because he had a lot of time to think about what kind of effort on goal, he’d make but it was a case of ‘ye of little faith’ as far as I was concerned.

Three minutes later, Nisbet sent Boyle through and travelling at full speed the Hibs man was first to the ball and fired a lovely shot over the diving keeper to make it 3-0. To their credit the hosts kept going and a shot from Jones was saved low to his left by Macey. In the minutes around the 75 mark, Jack Ross made two changes in replacing Irvine and Boyle with Magennis and Cadden. It made sense because to all intents and purposes the tie was won and it was good to give some other players some minutes of action and Magennis soon had a left footed effort saved by Ferguson.

With ten minutes left the hosts pulled a goal back when Jones sent the impressive Maxwell through on goal. The on loan Rangers player nutmegged Hanlon before poking the ball past the approaching Macey. In the not so distant past, I might have been fretted Hibs would press the panic button, but I needn’t have worried because we finished the game very much on the front foot.

A difficult venue, in shocking conditions and on an iffy playing surface has been negotiated safely and Hibs will now face a trip to Stair Park to take on Stranraer in the next round. Ahead of that, we have a trip to Ibrox and if Hibs can play like they did for most of the second half we might just get a decent outcome.

The players

Macey – Matt wasn’t exactly overworked but he did make a crucial save when Hibs were only 1-0 ahead. He seems comfortable with the ball at his feet and willing to come off his line when needs be.

McGinn – Paul was caught out a couple of times in the first half but to be fair to him, a hurried pass from Newell when he wasn’t even facing the ball was hardly his fault.

Porteous – Ryan was solid throughout and his use of the ball was good too. He resisted the urge to send a sixty yard effort forward into no man’s land as well, which he’s been guilty of a bit lately.

Hanlon – Nutmegged for their goal but even the best players in the world get nutmegged sometimes! He defended well, which is his main job after all.

Boyle – Flitted in and out for the first forty minutes but was a thorn in the flesh of his opponents thereafter. His corner at the first goal was good, given the strong wind and he took his goal extremely calmly to kill the tie off.

Gogic – I read some pre match thoughts that we didn’t need Gogic tonight, but I think his performance proved otherwise. I thought he was the principal reason the Queens front men received such poor service from their midfield.

Newell – Played very deep in the first half and like Gogic was involved mostly defensively but he came into his own in the second and was involved in the majority of our better moves.

Irvine – I think Jackson struggled more than most with the playing surface, but he put in a decent shift and, pleasingly, he got into their penalty area a fair few times.

Doig – Most of our first half play came down our right and so Josh was relatively quiet, but he got going in the second and continues to impress both on and off the ball.

Nisbet – I thought Kevin wasn’t wearing his shooting boots tonight as he missed a few decent chances to score but he worked really hard and his through ball for the third goal was a peach.

Doidge – At both ends of the park he continues to be a valuable asset and getting two goals tonight will boost his confidence no end. Like summariser James McFadden I am picking Doidge as my man of the match.

Magennis – Good to see him back on the pitch and the minutes he had will help get him up to speed for the run in to the end of the season.

Cadden – Not involved that much but did what he had to do in seeing out the game.

Wright – I actually wish JR had given him longer on the pitch. 3-0 up and no fans to groan he might just have taken the opportunity to show there’s a player in there.

Jack Ross - Looked livid at times in the first half but was rightfully all smiles at the end.

Referee – Willie Collum got most things right, including refusing the penalty.

[Bishop Hibee]

Great summary of the game. Some folk criticising Mackey for the goal but I thought Maxwell miss hit it which made it look like he could have done better.

[Greenbeard]

"Swarming" sums up the second half performance perfectly JB.
Said it before but I wish Newell would sometimes put the laces through the ball when he has a shot instead of always trying to pass it into the net. Belt it man!

[NAE NOOKIE]

For the first 25 minutes we were poor, but after that we got into the game far more and the second half was probably as good as we have played all season, even if it was championship level opposition.

A few observations:

Newell .. only his finishing lets him down, as another poster said, smash the bloody thing.

Hanlon ... Paul had a decent game overall, but I thought his attempted challenge on their scorer was lame.

Nisbet .... His outfield play was pretty good, but he has to be judged as a striker, on that basis his wild shot in the second half was abysmal considering the time he had and the chance he was gifted after that should have been easily tucked away but he made an utter dock of it. The guy really needs to add a bit of composure to his game, because not even working the keeper with either of those chances is not the mark of a 3 million quid striker.

[BILLYHIBS]

Brilliant Jonnyboy as usual

I’m a big fan of Kevin Nisbet but I really expect a HIBS player/Scotland international to score a chance like that he had time to take a touch and bury it

Only saying this because I had a HIBS win, Boyle to score, BTTS, most goals in the second half and Nisbet to definitely score 11/1 😬

Oh brilliant second half team performance need to keep that going all the way to the Final

[Unseen work]

Very good win after a tough first half. It was too slow and ponderous with us using McGinn as our starter for the attack every time and it was too obvious he was looking for the slide pass to Nisbet who would then clip it into Boyle. The goal before half time came at a very good time.

Brilliant second half performance. Dominant, created chances and pressed them all over the park.

I was watching it thinking anyone could pop up with a goal.

The only slight issue for me was the defence and how a QOTS player twice burst through the middle of the park under very little pressure. The first one with Shields and the second was the goal. The position from the back 3 had completely gone on both occasions.

The positives for me though was that Boyle, Doidge and I might surprise people with this but Gogic, we’re all brilliant. Gogic was a lot better on the ball than when he first arrived and was driving forward into space and committing the opposition.

All 3 goals were brilliantly taken and we were unfortunate not to have 5 or 6.

Hopefully we can take the confidence from today into Saturday, although it’s a completely different game.

Special mention to Magennis who was good when he came on imo. By that point the game had gone but he came on and when he was on the ball played at a real intensity, he also harried the opposition and put in a couple of crunching tackles which was good to see - he’ll take confidence from that.

Delighted to hear Ross sounding more positive and speaking with more intent too.

[brog]

Brilliant second half performance. Dominant, created chances and pressed them all over the park.

I was watching it thinking anyone could pop up with a goal.

The only slight issue for me was the defence and how a QOTS player twice burst through the middle of the park under very little pressure. The first one with Shields and the second was the goal. The position from the back 3 had completely gone on both occasions.

I was thinking exactly the same as you but watching highlights again this morning I believe your 1st comment (highlighted) actually helped bring about the 2nd situation, (also highlighted). I was delighted to see us perform the high press so effectively & great credit to the players for their effort & energy in really difficult conditions. For Queens goal however we had 4 players in or about the sub but when he wriggled free it left Maxwell with a one on one even though we had 7 outfield players in our own half at the time. I think it's just one of the consequences of those tactics & even the masters, Man City, get caught out from time to time. If we put in that effort & combine it with the 2 outstanding 2nd half goals we scored, I'll be happy to accept that risk.
Thanks as ever John.

[PatHead]

Good summary. Only disagreed on Maxwell. Thought he got ripped a new one by Boyle.
Queens weren't up to much after 20 minutes but that was down to us taking control.
Cup is in the bag.

[lord bunberry]

Great summary as always, but I’m not sure what you meant regarding Wright, he’s never played in front of any hibs fans.

[Jonnyboy]

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Great summary as always, but I’m not sure what you meant regarding Wright, he’s never played in front of any hibs fans.

Not so far but my thinking was, based on many comments on here, Wright would draw negative vibes from fans in the ground. Maybe I’m kinda over projecting 😯

[marinello59]

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Not so far but my thinking was, based on many comments on here, Wright would draw negative vibes from fans in the ground. Maybe I’m kinda over projecting 😯

I think you are right based purely on the negative vibes that must have been coming from my house when he came on.
His Hibs career hasn't really gone according to plan so I do agree, at 3-0 it would have been better for him to get more time on the park when the pressure was off.

[WestCoastHibby]

A great result with very well worked/taken goals. Many thought QoS were a potential banana skin but not one bit of it. My "wee team " is Stranraer. Always had a soft spot for them and used to watch regularly back in the 80s when home on leave. However Hibs should take care of them in due course.
Highlight of Mon for me though was Allan Johnstone's Barnet. Genuinely amusing and scary at the same time....

[scoopyboy]

It gets on my wick when folks on here come on with the we don't need Gogic for this game nonsense.

It's been tried for games against the so called lesser opposition and all that happens is they run right through us because there is no resistance in our midfield.

If fit and in reasonable form then for me he starts every game irrespective of who we play . He is a better player than a lot of people give him credit for.

[Brightside]

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It gets on my wick when folks on here come on with the we don't need Gogic for this game nonsense.

It's been tried for games against the so called lesser opposition and all that happens is they run right through us because there is no resistance in our midfield.

If fit and in reasonable form then for me he starts every game irrespective of who we play . He is a better player than a lot of people give him credit for.

I mentioned that prior to the game. My thought being that we shouldnt need a DM against lesser opposition - its clear tho that as long as we go with a 3 at the back we need Gogic to start. I thought he was outstanding last night, and he is now a must pick for pretty much every game. Thats a big change around from the start of his Hibs career. With that in mind we now have about 8 players trying to get the remaining 2 spaces....

[SanFranHibs]

The Goals

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PAV0vJwmApw

[ancient hibee]

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I mentioned that prior to the game. My thought being that we shouldnt need a DM against lesser opposition - its clear tho that as long as we go with a 3 at the back we need Gogic to start. I thought he was outstanding last night, and he is now a must pick for pretty much every game. Thats a big change around from the start of his Hibs career. With that in mind we now have about 8 players trying to get the remaining 2 spaces....

He's now got the confidence to get up in support and adds weight at both ends of the park. Some of his passes are awful but others are pretty good.Without wanting to run down a player, particularly as I couldn't picture him even though he'd played against us in the league cup final,Gogic's influence on games is what I expected from Irvine but I'm afraid I don't see it.
The usual interesting match report.