HARDENED HIBS games out as uncomfortably as that, as we had opportunities to kill the game off in the second half.’ For all the possession Hibs enjoyed, Carson was rarely tested after the break. At the other end, Marciano was not overworked. Robinson ha
Lennon loves Leith side’s tenacity as the quality of McGinn sparkles through
THIS game was by no means a beautiful display from Hibernian. It was an afternoon in which they had to roll their sleeves up, get stuck in and show they are effective when they have to play ugly. Their cause was also helped by yet another standout performance from John McGinn.
The tenacious manner of the victory was why Neil Lennon was every bit as happy yesterday as he was after the midweek derby win against Hearts. That is six huge points for them and they are now in joint fourth position, alongside Motherwell.
The Steelmen could not add to a fine week of their own, in which they reached the final of the Betfred Cup after defeating Rangers and then won a tough match on Wednesday at Dundee. They started poorly and the Easter Road men took advantage of their early domination with a goal in the 27th minute from Martin Boyle.
It came courtesy of a mistake by Cedric Kipre when he failed to clear a high ball from Simon Murray. Boyle pounced, took a touch round the advancing Trevor Carson and then slotted the ball home. It was cruel on the Lanarkshire defender but well finished by the Hibs winger.
The closest Motherwell came to scoring came in the 42nd minute, when Allan Campbell curled a shot from the edge of the box; it was only a foot wide of Ofir Marciano’s right-hand post.
Motherwell manager Stephen Robinson found the first half performance to be unsatisfactory and he made two changes when Carl McHugh and Elliott Frear were replaced by Craig Tanner and Gael Bigirimana. Just eight minutes after the interval he made his final switch when Andy Rose made way for debutant Deimantas Petravicius.
There was an improvement in their play. Indeed, Petravicius was denied an equaliser in the 65th minute when his shot was cleared off the line by Steven Whittaker.
But what stood out for most of the second period was the tasty nature of the play. Both sides never held back and several crunching tackles went in as well as sneaky and niggly fouls. There was much for referee Bobby Madden to keep his eyes on. Yet, there was only one booking.
McGinn, in particular, had to protect himself a few times as Motherwell clearly tried to limit his influence on the game. That, of course, is never easy. He drove his team and created chances in the final third for his team-mates.
Lennon wants to see his players given a little bit more protection from match officials and said: ‘I don’t want to berate referees but there was a lot going on out there that he could have stamped down on. I don’t know what the foul count was but my players need better protection at times. John McGinn was getting fouled all over the place. There were 21 fouls against us on Tuesday night.
‘But I don’t want to take away from this result. It was a brilliant win for us. I’m very pleased as it’s another big three points for us. John McGinn and Dylan McGeouch are playing superbly. They are on a real rich vein of form.
‘We’re still a little lightweight in front of goal and we are snatching at things. We shouldn’t have to see Maybe it was the culmination of a very tough week for us.
‘Hibs did to us what we did to other teams, we lost the physical battle and they came out with every second ball. People talk about what a good football team Hibs are, but they also grafted out there. They won every tackle and header. We know we can play much better and we will bounce back from this.’