HAT-TRICK HERO
Nisbet up and running in style at Hibs after stunning treble
SO much for the pressure of the transfer fee. After firing a hat-trick to send Hibs top of the league, Kevin Nisbet’s toughest challenge of the day was getting possession of the match ball to take home as a souvenir.
The £250,000 signing from Dunfermline turned a potentially hazardous fixture into a stroll with a hat-trick which carried Jack Ross’s team to the top of the Premiership on matchday two.
There may remain a question mark over the morality of the club’s decision to fork out a six-figure fee in the midst of a pandemic as others at Easter Road faced up to wage cuts and redundancies but the striker’s goal sense justified Ross’s decision to sign him. ‘It’s the best possible start,’ said Nisbet. ‘We’ve scored six goals in two games and got six points. Brilliant.
‘I back myself, I’m confident in my ability and what I can bring to the team. It’s good to get off the mark. It’s just about hitting 10 and then going from there and scoring as many goals as I can.’
Ross has always favoured an expansive approach and his was a particularly enterprising team selection, even if Scott Allan was sacrificed in midfield in favour of Daryl Horgan and Christian Doidge came in for Drey Wright. The changes paid off handsomely in the end.
Livingston created the first chance of the game when Lyndon Dykes stretched his legs and then cut back for Scott Robinson to fire wide but it was Hibs who grew into the game stronger.
Doidge headed wide and Horgan sliced an effort off target before the goal arrived.
Horgan laid the groundwork advancing to the byline before placing a considered ball across goal. No matter how many he goes on to score in his career, Nisbet will never have an easier opportunity than this one.
In a closed-door environment, the goal would normally have been met with the odd yelp of recognition. Worryingly, given the scrutiny on the game, there was a noisy reaction from a group of Hibs fans who had defied club and government advice to congregate outside the stadium.
The racket being made by that small band was rivalled only by the rantings of Livingston’s assistant manager David Martindale who roared rebuke after rebuke at his players. The Sky censors will be working overtime if he continues in the same profane vein during next weekend’s televised visit of Rangers.
The same Hibs combination manufactured their second goal. This time Nisbet had a bit more to do as he leant into Horgan’s cross but he generated just about enough power to squeeze the ball over the line, despite Robby McCrorie’s despairing effort to tip the ball onto the inside of the post.
‘Daryl did brilliant for the first and put it on a plate for me. I think I can feed off that this season,’ said Nisbet afterwards. ‘The game plan was to get a lot of crosses in and Daryl did that. Thankfully, I got on the end of them to put them away.’
It was back to tap-in time for No 3. Joe Newell’s near-post corner resulted in a heap of bodies hitting the ground with Ryan Porteous quickest to his feet to turn the ball back toward goal. His centre-back partner Paul Hanlon fashioned a shot and Doidge made sure from a yard out.
Perhaps the most surprising aspect of Hibs’ first-half showing was that Martin Boyle was so quiet.
The wideman’s two-goal flourish had secured the points against Kilmarnock last week but the best he could do here was skew a shot wide early in the second half.
Livingston boss Gary Holt made two changes at the interval, with Alan Forrest and Matej Poplatnik coming on and instructed to add a bit more in attack.
The first sign that this might be an uncomfortable half for Hibs came via a heavy, late tackle by Marvin Bartley on his former team-mate Hanlon. Hurt in the incident himself, Bartley’s time receiving treatment perhaps worked in his favour as referee Euan Anderson opted for a yellow card.
Poplatnik did his bit to try to haul the West Lothian side back into the game with a near-post run to meet Dykes’ cross.
Anderson adjudged Porteous to have fouled the forward and awarded the penalty, which Dykes tucked away nicely.
With Boyle and Horgan finding more space to attack on the counter, Hibs ought to have extended their lead but Horgan saw a shot saved and Boyle failed to pick out Doidge after being given a free sprint toward the box.
The three-goal advantage was restored — and the penalty count levelled — when Anderson penalised Bartley for bundling through the back of substitute Melker Hallberg.
Nisbet claimed his hat-trick with a drilled, low finish.
‘I’ve been really pleased with how Kevin has settled in,’ said Ross. ‘He has made a big impression with everybody from the first time he trained with us.
‘People were impressed with how good a player he was.
‘He played a big part in the first goal last week but because he didn’t score, some people judged him on that. So to score and then go on to get a hat-trick is brilliant for him.’
Substituted shortly after the penalty, Nisbet sprang back into action to claim his souvenir bounty.
‘I actually ran out to see where the ball was,’ he smiled. ‘I got most of the boys to sign it for me.’
LIVINGSTON (3-5-2): McCrorie; Fitzwater (Kouider-Aisa 81), Guthrie, Brown; Devlin (Poplatnik 46), Bartley, Pittman, Sibbald (Forrest 46), Ambrose; Robinson (Tiffoney 74), Dykes. Subs (not used): Stryjek, Crawford, Souda, McMillan, Taylor-Sinclair.
Booked: Bartley. HIBERNIAN (4-4-2): Marciano; McGinn, Porteous, Hanlon, Doig; Boyle, Gogic, Newell, Horgan (Hallberg 77); Doidge, Nisbet (Gullan 90).
Subs (not used): Dabrowski, Gray, McGregor, Murray, Stevenson, Allan, Stirling.
Booked: Porteous.
Referee: Euan Anderson.