Hitman Hardie keeps his cool
LIVVY SENSATION MAKES HIS POINT YET AGAIN TO THE DELIGHT OF HOLT
IT WAS a tale of two strikers at Easter Road as Livingston marksman Ryan Hardie, a young man with ice in his veins, illustrated his potency as Florian Kamberi finally exhausted the patience of Neil Lennon.
Hardie, 21, dispatched a coollytaken strike beyond Adam Bogdan to take his recent tally to four goals in his last three outings. Kamberi, sent on as a half-time substitute to spark the hosts into life, instead fluffed a golden opportunity to restore parity when his tame penalty was easily saved by Liam Kelly.
Ryan Porteous did step forward to further enhance his reputation with a late leveller.
However, that did little to appease a furious Lennon, who would later admit that Kamberi’s recent travails have given him serious food for thought ahead of the January transfer window.
By contrast, Livvy boss Gary Holt’s only concern after claiming just a sixth away point this season would be if Hardie’s form piques the interest of his parent club Rangers to such an extend that they consider recalling the player next month.
‘I think Rangers will be delighted that he is scoring goals,’ said Holt when the notion was broached. ‘You can’t forget he has been out for eight months and although we are reaping the rewards of having him, we are also giving him a platform to play.
‘He’s a massive asset to us. To have a natural goalscorer is important.
‘You saw it with his goal. He told me he was going to round the keeper but when he came out, that made it easy for him. I was thinking it was a great finish — he thinks it’s easy!
‘That is testament to someone who is a natural number nine and thrives on scoring goals. Defensively, and what he does off the ball, could be better but if you put the ball in front of the goal, he’ll find the net.’
Livingston had Kelly to thank for keeping the scoreline blank in the opening exchanges as Martin Boyle latched onto a superb Emerson Hyndman pass and hared clear on goal. Kelly produced a sensational, low fingertip save.
The visitors were not without attacking endeavour of their own. A dash down the right flank by Hardie culminated in the youngster finding Dolly Menga with the cut-back. However, the latter could only skew his shot over the bar.
Efforts from Scott Pittman and Nicky Cadden underlined Livvy’s threat prior to the interval.
But, rather than it prompting a response from Hibs, their opponents claimed the lead that their increasingly potent forays forward had threatened. Hardie latched onto a lofted Declan Gallagher pass and dinked a superb finish beyond Bogdan.
Hibs, out-of-sorts in the final third, were gifted a great opportunity to restore parity when Boyle was scythed down in the box by Alan Lithgow, prompting referee Greg Aitken to point to the spot.
However, Kamberi fluffed his lines as Kelly plunged to his right-hand side to save the striker’s tame effort.
‘When Liam saves the penalty, I’m still not thinking it’s our day — there was still too long left,’ smiled Holt. ‘I was looking at the clock thinking: “It’s going backwards!”. They had a foothold and were pushing us back.’
Porteous finally rescued a point as the Hibs defender — playing through the pain barrier after a knock in the first half — converted a fine cross from Daryl Horgan.
‘We knew we would be under pressure and that Hibs would have possession,’ added Holt after a creditable draw. ‘But we didn’t panic or lose our shape.’
HIBERNIAN (3-5-2): Bogdan; Ambrose, McGregor, Porteous; Boyle, Hyndman (Horgan 67), Slivka, Milligan, Mackie; Allan (Maclaren 81), Shaw (Kamberi 45). Subs (not used): Dabrowski, Gray, Whittaker, Stevenson. Booked: Porteous. LIVINGSTON (3-5-2): Kelly; Gallagher, Halkett, Lithgow; Lawless, Pittman, Jacobs, Byrne, Robinson (Cadden 21); Menga (Miller 59), Hardie (Lawson 75). Subs (not used): Stewart, McMillan, Sibbald, Hamilton. Booked: Lawless, Menga, Hardie. Referee: Greg Aitken. Attendance: 17,036.