This is how it feels (Raith Rovers 090219)

[Jonnyboy]

For many, many years I used to dread Scottish Cup days because they invariably ended in pain but 21 May 2016 finally cured that ill and so now I kinda look forward to these although in truth I was a bit nervous about today. For a variety of well documented reasons, Hibs are not at their best and Raith Rovers would arrive feeling they had a real chance of causing a cup upset. Rovers may be League One side but they are full time and are in a rich vein of form. Thankfully my concern was ill founded as although Hibs were not at their best they were still good enough to reach the quarter final draw.

Missing from the eleven that started at Celtic Park in midweek was Sean Mackie and Oli Shaw who dropped to the bench whilst Ryan Gauld missed out through injury. In came Daryl Horgan, Stevie Mallan and Mark McNulty all of whom would go on to have a positive impact on the outcome. One player who retained his starting place was David Gray who had surprisingly recovered from an injury that forced his substitution at Celtic Park.

Hibs put on the pressure right from the off and won a few corners as well as having Raith keeper Robbie Thomson pull off a couple of saves. Mallan in particular was busy and had a couple of near misses with efforts from outside the box. Raith were mostly pinned back but around the tenth minute mark a long range effort by Dingwall had Rocky diving to his right to beat the shot away. The hosts were playing some decent football with the aforementioned Mallan seeing a volley dip just over the bar whilst both Horgan and Slivka were busy in keeping the ball moving and Milligan sitting in front of the central defenders providing effective cover.

Not long after that dipping effort from Mallan, Hibs took the lead when Slivka fed the ball to Horgan who dropped his shoulder to evade a defender before sending a sweet left foot strike high into the far corner of Thomson’s net. Moments later, Flanagan broke free and was bearing down on the Hibs goal until a fine last ditch tackle by Hanlon stopped the Raith man from being clear through. Heartened by that chance, Rovers created another and a fine cross into the six yard box should have been headed home by Dingwall but his effort flew well wide.

Having survived those moments, Hibs took control again with Mallan and Milligan in particular catching the eye. After another Mallan effort had drifted just wide, Hibs scored again when a Horgan ball into the box was chested down by McNulty to the waiting Slivka and the Hibs man fired home from around twelve yards.

The wind had been affecting a fair bit of the play with the ball either flying long or dropping short. Hibs had mastered that problem in the first half but at the start of the second half the visitors coped better and had a couple of efforts at goal although neither really troubled Rocky. At the other end both Horgan and Mallan went close before Hibs scored again near the hour mark. A lovely ball over the top from Horgan saw McNulty race clear, drawing Thomson out of his goal and then slotting the ball past him into the net.

Around five minutes later, Horgan went down injured and was immediately replaced by Stephane Omeonga who quickly got involved and made a great run down the right before his low cross into the middle was cut out by Murray with Kamberi lurking. Rovers were throwing everything they had at Hibs and pulled a goal back around fifteen minutes from time. Flanagan’s near post corner was met by Murray who bulleted his header past the helpless Marciano. Five minutes later, Milligan had to be replaced due to injury with Whittaker coming on to the park.

There was nervousness in Hibs’ play for a while and it was noticeable that Raith’s ball retention in the final third had improved after Milligan went off but the home side dealt well with the threat although Rocky had to look smart to save a fierce drive by Dingwall. With five minutes left, Kamberi brilliantly turned his man right in front of the tunnel before setting off down the left hand side but in his desperation to score he overcooked his effort which flew over the bar. Next, Kamberi picked out Slivka in acres of space on the edge of the Rovers box but the midfielder dallied on the ball and his effort was deflected for a corner.

It wasn’t a classic performance by any stretch of the imagination but the object of the exercise was to get our name into the hat for the quarter final draw and that was achieved in relative comfort. If the new manager, whoever that may be, was in the stand he would have gotten a fair idea of the job he is taking on.

The players

Rocky – Called upon to make saves a couple of times but had little to do otherwise. I still think he needs to work on his distribution but in fairness the wind today made life a bit more difficult for him.

SDG – I was both surprised and delighted that SDG had recovered from his knock on Wednesday last as he was the out ball on numerous occasions during the game. SD wears his heart on his sleeve and as is almost always the case he gave everything he had this afternoon.

Daz – Largely untroubled, Daz pretty much strolled through the game and only looked to have been made to work a bit harder when Raith brought Chris Duggan off the bench with around twenty minutes to go.

Paul – Recent displays have not been great but he looked much more assured today and his ability to read the play seemed back in working order. Passing also improved as I recall only one or two going astray.

Lewis – Standard fare from Lewis who looked comfortable, assured and in control of any threat aimed at him.

Viki – One of his better games as he got more involved in the play centrally. Scored one and made chances for others and so he gets pass marks from me.

Stevie – Mallan was involved throughout the game and seemed to pop up wherever the ball was both in attack and defence. This looked much more like the Stevie Mallan of earlier in the season and he was very unlucky not to get his name on the scoresheet.

Mark – Last Wednesday he left me wondering whether he should get a starting place but today was his best performance yet in a Hibs strip. He played the holding midfield role so well and was able to contribute going forward too; he was my man of the match today, even though he didn’t last the full ninety minutes.

Daryl – Took his goal really well and set up the third with as fine ball into the path of McNulty. He always seems to want the ball, never shies away from getting involved and is probably one of those players that need a prolonged run in the team to bring out the very best in him.

Sparky – I thought he was pretty quiet for the first part of the match but he grew into it and once he got going he was non-stop in terms of effort. Made a number of very clever runs to create space for himself or Flo and when he took Horgan’s pass in his stride you just knew he was going to hit the target.

Flo – It’s like Groundhog Day where I sit as some around me criticise every single aspect of his play. Some harbour a dislike so intense that they cannot bring themselves to praise any positivity in his play. It’s quite sad really as it seems blatantly obvious to me that the laddie’s confidence meter is hovering around the empty mark. I still believe that if the new manager can get him going again he’ll get back to scoring goals on a regular basis.

Stephane – Got around half an hour and was impressive both in his use of the ball and his running off it. Has obvious talent and I look forward to seeing more of it.

Whitty – Arrived into the game when Raith were having a bit more of possession and although he didn’t do anything of any great note he used his experience to help get the team over the finish line.

Oli – Another whom I was surprised to see after that clatter he took at Celtic Park. Oli wasn’t on the park for long enough to make a huge impact but his use of the ball was fine.

Eddie May/Grant Murray – I’m not sure about Grant’s thoughts regarding his stint as joint temporary first team coach but I do know Eddie’s and he’ll be a happy man once the new manager arrives next week.

The fans – A really poor turn out from Hibs fans and the atmosphere suffered although I noticed that the drummer suddenly appeared early in the second half to try and get things going. A special mention for the Raith fans who turned out in numbers and stayed with their team until the end.

Bobby Madden – He will never again have an easier ninety minutes than he did today as Rovers came to play football rather than resorting to the kind of spoiling tactics you get from the likes of Aberdeen. Not a single yellow card and that kinda emphasises my point.

[hibsbollah]

Agree as usual with the assessment.

Good point about the ref having an easy day. When the ref blew for a foul on 29 mins I had a feeling it was the first contact foul he'd given, which is quite amazing if true. It made it more entertaining as a spectacle, so different from last week's stop start whistlefest.

[BILLYHIBS]

Brilliant as usual Jonnyboy picked my mom as being Mark Milligan did not think you would agree as you have your favourites but Great minds think alike!

Flo badly needs a goal to get back up and running and as a boost to his confidence

[Jonnyboy]

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Brilliant as usual Jonnyboy picked my mom as being Mark Milligan did not think you would agree as you have your favourites but Great minds think alike!

Flo badly needs a goal to get back up and running and as a boost to his confidence

They're all my favourites, Billy

[BILLYHIBS]

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They're all my favourites, Billy

I know

It was meant as a dig at previous recent critiques on your excellent match reports

You are doing an excellent job just keep doing what you are doing

[Jonnyboy]

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I know

It was meant as a dig at previous recent critiques on your excellent match reports

You are doing an excellent job just keep doing what you are doing

I know

[greenlex]

Decent JC and spot on. My only slight criticism of Milligan was at the raith goalwhen beaten too easy in the air. In his defence have already sustained the knock previous that hindered him. He was replaced shortly after.

[Hibs Class]

I had Milligan as my MOTM today as well.

[MB62]

Having been suffering with flu like symptoms all week, Easter Road was not the place I wanted to be today, nevertheless, I dragged myself along (had already bought our tickets)
Have to agree with pretty much everything you said J.C. and if I didn't know better, would think you were sitting listening to me at game.
Before the game, my mate said 'Horgan's back' Great I said but I'm not a big fan of his, too hot and cold (bit like I have been feeling all week) today he was hot.
I also mentioned exactly the same about the ref, not a nasty tackle in the game.
Kamberi is possibly where I slightly disagree. The laddie tries but is trying too hard to get himself on the scoresheet. Particularly in the 2nd half, I felt a few times he could have laid the ball off to player in a better scoring position but chose to go himself. He also needs to learn to relax his legs when receiving a pass as his first touch is hopeless, and STOP TRYING THAT STUPID WEE FLICK, it's never worked yet.
Comfortable victory against a team that tried to play fitba rather than kick us off the park. I can see why they are doing so well in their division.
Delighted to be in the draw for the next round and hopefully things will start to settle down when the new boss arrives.

[JohnM1875]

Didn't think Hanlon was great at all today. He's nowhere near the levels of last season. Where's Gail these days?! Starting to think she was right! Haha. Slivka was my MOTM, closely followed by Milligan, who I wrote off a few weeks ago.

[Hibeesmad]

Hanlon has been off his best form ever since he came back from injury. Maybe there is still something playing up? I though Horgan, Slivka, Mallan and Milligan were stand outs today. Kamberi needs a goal asap

[thebakerboy]

Got to agree with most of that including Bobby Madden being OK but he gave a corner against Hibs which was clearly wrong and much protested by Hibs defenders , at this point I said to the guy that sits next to me Madden will give a free kick to Hibs as soon as the corner is taken and he did. Why not just admit he was wrong and give the goal kick . Egos !!!!

[IWasThere2016]

Thanks JC

[GreenCastle]

Fair assessment as always.

Felt Hanlon was actually ok first half and made a great tackle when they were close to being 1v1.

The pitch looked poor and windy conditions mean lots of mistakes.

Said it on another thread - Flo needs to work on his basics 1st touch and flick ons. Doubt they do this player specific stuff in training.

Agreed about Flo too - some fans moan all the time and even when he does well won’t clap. I wonder if this will change ever after the Lennon incident. Guess the best way is to find last seasons form and also score goals / work hard for the team.

Not sure why Bigi wasn’t involved again as he showed promise against Aberdeen.

[Forza Fred]

Enjoy the reports, and John is entitled to see things as differently as each individual does

Watching in half slumber on Hibs TV I would be tempted to give MOM to Slivka...whom I admit is a player who would not usually gain my praise......but have noticed he seems to be getting involved more recently.

As for Mark Milligan, well, the form he displayed when he first came is what I would call his ‘norm’

He is a good player, albeit in the twilight of his career now, so he isn’t going to make lung bursting 30 yard runs, but he will make clever passes and important interceptions and tackles as a result of his skill, positioning sense and experience, even if he could have done better on this occasion when it came to their goal.

[Shrekko]

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Said it on another thread - Flo needs to work on his basics 1st touch and flick ons. Doubt they do this player specific stuff in training.

Agreed about Flo too - some fans moan all the time and even when he does well won’t clap. I wonder if this will change ever after the Lennon incident. Guess the best way is to find last seasons form and also score goals / work hard for the team.

I thought and still think the vast majority of the crowd are supporting Kamberi and clapping even the most basic bit of play from him. There’s always a few who won’t but I think it’s simply down to his form. As you rightly say... if he gets back to last years performances nobody will be complaining. I actually think it’s now the key to our season... we need him, McNulty and Shaw to start firing.

Flo is definitely trying hard enough now but he has so many things he needs to improve ...and he needs to quickly.

[Mango Man]

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Enjoy the reports, and John is entitled to see things as differently as each individual does

Watching in half slumber on Hibs TV I would be tempted to give MOM to Slivka...whom I admit is a player who would not usually gain my praise......but have noticed he seems to be getting involved more recently.

As for Mark Milligan, well, the form he displayed when he first came is what I would call his ‘norm’

He is a good player, albeit in the twilight of his career now, so he isn’t going to make lung bursting 30 yard runs, but he will make clever passes and important interceptions and tackles as a result of his skill, positioning sense and experience, even if he could have done better on this occasion when it came to their goal.

Thought Mi!ligan was really good today, almost Mcgeouch like, would quite like to see his pass completion stats for this game.

[Forza Fred]

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Thought Mi!ligan was really good today, almost Mcgeouch like, would quite like to see his pass completion stats for this game.

Yep, he IS a good player.

The only negative comment I made when hearing we had signed him was..

“Wish we had signed him 10 years ago”

[NAE NOOKIE]

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I thought and still think the vast majority of the crowd are supporting Kamberi and clapping even the most basic bit of play from him. There’s always a few who won’t but I think it’s simply down to his form. As you rightly say... if he gets back to last years performances nobody will be complaining. I actually think it’s now the key to our season... we need him, McNulty and Shaw to start firing.

Flo is definitely trying hard enough now but he has so many things he needs to improve ...and he needs to quickly.

I agree with this …. most of the folk around me were clapping Kamberi when he did something good and weren't too hard on him when things didn't work out.

It was a pathetic turn out from the Hibs fans today ….. If Raith did bring 1,700 which it didn't look far off then there was 7000 odd Hibs fans in the stadium, if the crowd the announcer gave of 9000 plus is correct. I never thought the cup final factor would last forever, but it already looks like the rot is beginning to set in.

It will be interesting to see what the crowd is for the Hamilton game … not the official crowd but the actual crowd. I sincerely hope that on the back of our first real glitch since 2016 the survival and future of this fitba club isn't already being handed back to the usual 8,000 or so suspects who have to keep it going every time the fair weather fans decide to bugger off back to shopping with the wife on a Saturday.

[number9dream]

A performance for the new manager to build on, with our midfielders busy and McNulty getting off the mark.
Hanlon was pretty shaky though and the diamond formation relies heavily on Gray and Stevenson bombing up and down to provide width, which could be an issue against better opposition.

[Brightside]

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Didn't think Hanlon was great at all today. He's nowhere near the levels of last season. Where's Gail these days?! Starting to think she was right! Haha. Slivka was my MOTM, closely followed by Milligan, who I wrote off a few weeks ago.

I’ve accepted Hanlon has had a poor few games. But he had an excellent game yesterday. I can see people are no waiting for any mistake that Hanlon makes so they can go back to the good old days of saying he is weak and slow.

[JimBHibees]

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I’ve accepted Hanlon has had a poor few games. But he had an excellent game yesterday. I can see people are no waiting for any mistake that Hanlon makes so they can go back to the good old days of saying he is weak and slow.

Thought he played better and use of the ball was an improvement however got caught very easily for the one on one in the first half but done brilliantly to get back though guy should have got shot away. We do need him and everyone else to be honest to up their games and improve performances hopefully that will come when new manager in and a bit of stability.

[Brightside]

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Thought he played better and use of the ball was an improvement however got caught very easily for the one on one in the first half but done brilliantly to get back though guy should have got shot away. We do need him and everyone else to be honest to up their games and improve performances hopefully that will come when new manager in and a bit of stability.

Agreed. And stick to a back 4!

[Allant1981]

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I’ve accepted Hanlon has had a poor few games. But he had an excellent game yesterday. I can see people are no waiting for any mistake that Hanlon makes so they can go back to the good old days of saying he is weak and slow.

Hanlon is slow, you cant disagree with that surely, and he was no where near excellent yesterday, he had a decent enough game but something still doesn't look right with him

[BILLYHIBS]

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Hanlon is slow, you cant disagree with that surely, and he was no where near excellent yesterday, he had a decent enough game but something still doesn't look right with him

Certainly not the Hanlon of old hopefully he will turn his form around under the new Manager

GGTTH

[Allant1981]

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Certainly not the Hanlon of old hopefully he will turn his form around under the new Manager

GGTTH

Fingers crossed because when fully fit he is a very good player and an important player for us

[Eyrie]

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I agree with this …. most of the folk around me were clapping Kamberi when he did something good and weren't too hard on him when things didn't work out.

It was a pathetic turn out from the Hibs fans today ….. If Raith did bring 1,700 which it didn't look far off then there was 7000 odd Hibs fans in the stadium, if the crowd the announcer gave of 9000 plus is correct. I never thought the cup final factor would last forever, but it already looks like the rot is beginning to set in.

It will be interesting to see what the crowd is for the Hamilton game … not the official crowd but the actual crowd. I sincerely hope that on the back of our first real glitch since 2016 the survival and future of this fitba club isn't already being handed back to the usual 8,000 or so suspects who have to keep it going every time the fair weather fans decide to bugger off back to shopping with the wife on a Saturday.

Any drop in the actual crowd present against Hamilton should be offset by the new manager's debut being a very winnable fixture.

[bookert]

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Hanlon is slow, you cant disagree with that surely, and he was no where near excellent yesterday, he had a decent enough game but something still doesn't look right with him

I'm one of hanlons biggest fans, feel that normally he's an intelligent, football playing centre half and a real asset. However looks to me as currently he's not fully fit, he is half a yard slower than last season, and has gone from being an excellent user of the ball to some wayward passing. Hopefully he will get back to full fitness soon.

[Shrekko]

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Any drop in the actual crowd present against Hamilton should be offset by the new manager's debut being a very winnable fixture.

Probably ... but it’s unbelievably sad that there’s this acceptance that fans will desert in droves because of the last few months.

Even sadder that a sizeable amount of people who have purchased season tickets have already thrown the towel in and can’t be bothered attending.

Everyone has the choice but we sometimes like to kid ourselves on about what a great support we are ... we’re as fickle as you can possible be. We’ve gone from a hardcore 8000 to getting about 16000... and folk are already predicting it going back to 8000. So that’s crowds doubling then halving all in the space of a few years?? Mental if that happens.

[hibsbollah]

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Having been suffering with flu like symptoms all week, Easter Road was not the place I wanted to be today, nevertheless, I dragged myself along (had already bought our tickets)
Have to agree with pretty much everything you said J.C. and if I didn't know better, would think you were sitting listening to me at game.
Before the game, my mate said 'Horgan's back' Great I said but I'm not a big fan of his, too hot and cold (bit like I have been feeling all week) today he was hot.
I also mentioned exactly the same about the ref, not a nasty tackle in the game.
Kamberi is possibly where I slightly disagree. The laddie tries but is trying too hard to get himself on the scoresheet. Particularly in the 2nd half, I felt a few times he could have laid the ball off to player in a better scoring position but chose to go himself. He also needs to learn to relax his legs when receiving a pass as his first touch is hopeless, and STOP TRYING THAT STUPID WEE FLICK, it's never worked yet.
Comfortable victory against a team that tried to play fitba rather than kick us off the park. I can see why they are doing so well in their division.
Delighted to be in the draw for the next round and hopefully things will start to settle down when the new boss arrives.

100% the bit in bold. What is he seeing in training to make him think trying this is a good way to retain possession