HUNGER GAME
For anyone seeking to bask in the reflected glow of others’ joy, Easter Road was the place to be on Saturday as Hibernian were finally awarded the Championship trophy they have spent the past three season’s fighting for and St Mirren heaved a sigh of relief that the result lifted them clear of the relegation play-offs.
In fact, the Paisley side, who had been rock bottom as they headed into March, saw scorelines elsewhere elevate them to a seventh place finish that would have seemed all but impossible should anyone have had the audacity to even consider such a scenario ahead of the massive squad overhaul in January.
On the pitch, brothers John and Stephen Mcginn embraced and celebrated their respective achievements, with the St Mirren midfielder, who had scored against Falkirk four weeks ago to hand the Leith side the title, taking some time out of St Mirren’s partying to observe the trophy presentation and watch his younger sibling pick up his winner’s medal and embark on his welldeserved lap of honour.
“He congratulated me and I congratulated him for winning the league,” said the influential Saints man. “I sat out at the end to enjoy the scenes and it’s been a great day for us both. It’s a day we can look back on when we’re older.”
It was a day when both teams did what was demanded of them. For different reasons neither wanted to lose. Neither did. And both earned just reward for the effort put into achieving their goals.
Grant Holt had opened the scoring in the 49th minute after Hibs’ Mcginn had played a ball into the box and the home striker reacted most emphatically, fending off Gary Mckenzie to nudge the ball into Billy O’brien’s net. Rory Loy netted the vital equaliser in the 60th minute benefitting from a slight tactical tweak by manager Jack Ross which saw Stevie Mallan pushing up in support and playing the pass to the on-loan striker for him to slot away. Loy was one of ten players enlisted in the winter transfer window by Ross, who had inherited a team going nowhere but down and needed to do something drastic.
Wheeling and dealing to cut ties with unwanted players and free up enough of the budget to bring in guys he knew would aid the cause, he made widespread changes, which have paid off as the side fought its way to safety.
“I’m not going to lie. When I came in and looked at the table and saw the teams above us – I thought, ‘just get ninth and we can deal with the play-offs when they come’,” admitted Stephen Mcginn, who was one of those mid-season additions, “so to get seventh is above anything we could have dreamed of. It’s been the best three or four months of my career by far.
“That feeling going over to see the fans at the end is hard to describe. I had goosebumps. The following we’ve had since January has been amazing and the fans have played their part as much as we have,” he said, adding that he hoped the majority of the squad could now be kept together, believing that would be good enough to see them challenge at the other end of the table next term.
“They’re enjoying the football we’re
“Itwasgreatformetobe part of this winning team celebrate with these you guys who are hungry for success. You could see it their eyes”
EFE AMBROSE