ROCKY CAN’T FLOR HIBS
Marciano’s howler has Lenny’s men on the ropes but Swiss ace hits back with a treble of blows
ROCKY MARCIANO threatened to deal a KO blow to Hibs’ hopes of finishing best of the rest before Accies were floored by a flurry from Florian Kamberi.
The Swiss striker grabbed a hat-trick as the Hibees moved onto the shoulder of Rangers on a night in which Dougie Imrie left Hamilton on the relegation ropes.
Second’s out? Runners-up spot in the Premiership certainly could have been for the Easter Road side when Israeli keeper Ofir gifted Accies frontman Marios Ogkmpoe the opener after just nine minutes in Leith.
The Hibs No.1 is only just back in the starting line-up after a recent red card at McDiarmid Park but the quality of his handling must have left Neil Lennon reaching for the smelling salts as he served the last of his three-match ban from the directors box.
Thankfully for Lennon his mood was revived by his Swiss frontman who bagged a hat-trick as Hibs eventually won through after Accies winger Imrie dropped his gloves when his side needed him most.
He did well to keep Martin Boyle in check but walked after an hour when he tripped the pacy winger, although he could have counted himself unlucky to have been cautioned for a foul on the same player in the first half.
Kamberi had equalised after
Accies’ opener but came into his own as he nodded his side in front just 90 seconds after Imrie disappeared down the tunnel.
He added his third five minutes from time as Hibs recorded five league wins in a row at home for the first time since 2001. Accies remain mired in relegation danger after their fourth game without a win, and Ross County’s thumping win over Partick Thistle in Dingwall, kept them in a basement sweat.
They took the lead in nine minutes with a gifted goal from Marciano who only earned a return because stand-in Cammy Bell strained his calf in training.
The Israeli made a calamity of a low cross from the right by Antonio Rojano, spilling the ball under no pressure at the feet of Ogkmpoe, who couldn’t believe his luck as he tapped home.
It provoked an immediate
response from the home side and Kamberi cracked a volley off the base of the post from six yards after being picked out at the back post by Lewis Stevenson’s inswinging free-kick.
The full-back nearly levelled himself moments later when he delivered a wicked cross from the left that Accies keeper Gary Woods pushed onto his own bar, narrowly avoiding the ignominy of an own goal.
It came as no surprise when Hibs did equalise in 17 minutes, nor that the goal came from the skilful feet of Kamberi. He exchanged a series of quickfire passes at the edge of the box, eventually finding space off a clever lay-off from Dylan McGeouch to crack in a powerful low shot from 20 yards.
Hibs tried their luck with a couple of shots from distance that hardly troubled Woods and while Accies looked nippy on the counter they lacked quality in their delivery in the final third to seriously test the ropey Marciano.
Paul Hanlon strode forward on the stroke of half-time to connect with a Stevenson corner from the right but headed wide.
Hibs went close to snatching the lead early in the second half when Stevenson picked out Jamie Maclaren but he nodded straight at Woods.
Minutes later, Hanlon rose to connect with an Scott Allan corner and his header was met by a spectacular overhead kick from Kamberi but his acrobatic effort flew inches past the post. However, the game turned on two minutes of controversy on the hour when ref Steven McLean sent off Imrie for a trip on Boyle as he cut inside on the right. The ref was guilty of a glaring inconsistency when he failed to reach for a yellow seconds later for a much more cynical trip by Lewis Ferguson on Steven Whittaker.
Boyle found space to float over a cross and Kamberi drifted off his marker to guide a clever header inside the right-hand post.
Stevenson then played in Kamberi who paused and drew keeper Woods before calmly clipping the ball over his diving frame and into the net for his first hat-trick since joining the club.