STEELMEN VETO HIBS’ DREAM AT THE DEATH
Away fans rage at boss after profligacy ends top-six hopes
Motherwell 1 Blaney 90 Hibernian 1 Maolida 65 (pen)
THE task for both sides at a blustery Fir Park was simple: win and top-six football remained in reach.
With seconds to play, Hibernian appeared to have done just that. As it transpired, they blew it.
A Myziane Maolida penalty midway through the second half looked to be enough to move the visitors above Dundee in the league table and in the driving seat for a top-six spot. But Shane Blaney’s stoppage-time stunner was enough to burst the Hibs bubble.
Had they held on, the Edinburgh outfit could have sat back with their feet up and watched Dundee take on Rangers on Wednesday — weather permitting, of course — knowing that anything other than a victory for the hosts would seal Nick Montgomery’s side’s place in the top half of the table.
They needn’t bother tuning in now.
When Montgomery replaced Lee Johnson in the Easter Road dugout back in September, his sights were set on being in the hunt for
European football come April. The Englishman felt the wrath of the travelling faithful at full-time, and admits both he, and his side, have ultimately fallen short of expectations this season.
‘It’s not good enough,’ he reflected. ‘You have to earn the right to get into the top six, so of course, as a club, we’ve failed to hit one of the targets. I’ve tried everything I can to get there.
‘I understand the fans’ frustration. We grabbed the opportunity for 93 minutes and then let ourselves down.
‘We had enough chances to completely kill the game. We can say it’s unlucky, an injustice, but what we have to do is take responsibility. It’s cost us a place in the top six.’
The opening stages played out exactly as one may have expected given the potential prize on offer. It was fast, frantic and, frankly, low on quality.
It was the hosts who created the first chance of note after 20 minutes. Blair Spittal’s cutback found Jack Vale with acres of space on the edge of the box, but his powerful strike was charged down by Will Fish.
Hibernian threatened next. Bournemouth loanee Emiliano Marcondes played in Elie Youan, yet the Frenchman failed to steady himself, blasting the ball high and wide of Liam Kelly’s goal.
Kelly was eventually called into action on 26 minutes, tipping over a rasping drive from former Motherwell man Chris Cadden.
That was as good as it got for either side in a drab opening 45.
Motherwell came out the traps flying after the interval, yet it was the visitors who came close to taking the lead. Nathan MoriahWelsh did brilliantly to get to the byline before firing across the face of goal, where Marcondes looked primed to stroke home. His connection, though, was poor and Kelly managed to divert the ball away from danger.
Youan was next to try his luck, his left-foot effort forcing Kelly into another stop low at the near post.
It seemed to be a matter of time before Hibernian’s pressure told — and, on 64 minutes, they
were presented with a perfect opportunity to take the lead.
Stephen O’Donnell caught Fish inside the area and referee Willie Collum had no hesitation in pointing to the spot. Maolida stepped up and made no mistake from 12 yards, sending Kelly the wrong way to net his eighth league goal of the season, sparking bedlam in the away end behind the goal.
Youan should have put the result beyond doubt with 15 minutes remaining, but blazed over the bar with only Kelly to beat.
Cadden also had the opportunity to settle away nerves as the minutes ticked by, but his shot was comfortably kept out by the increasingly busy Kelly.
Hibernian’s profligacy came back to bite them as their top-six dreams were dashed in dramatic fashion with 93 minutes on the clock. A long throw-in found its way to the feet of Blaney on the corner of the box and the defender unleashed an unstoppable left-foot volley high into the roof of the net.
The visiting players — to a man — fell to the floor in despair.
Motherwell had the chance to cap an unlikely comeback through Oli Shaw, but he bundled wide from close range. It would have mattered not, however, as Dundee’s point at Pittodrie meant top-six football was put firmly out of the Lanarkshire side’s grasp.
Though disappointed with yesterday’s outcome, Fir Park manager Stuart Kettlewell hailed his side for dragging themselves into contention for a top-six berth given their early-season struggles.
‘We left it late in terms of the season to get into the top six, and from my point of view I can’t do anything but credit the players,’ said Kettlewell.
‘We went through such a challenging period, where most people would have written us off and probably thought we’d be more towards the bottom of the league table.
‘Since the turn of the year, we’ve shown brilliant personality and picked up a lot of points.
‘For me, it’s about looking to the next five games and finishing as high as we can.’
MOTHERWELL (4-4-2): Kelly; O’Donnell (Halliday 70), McGinn, Casey, Blaney; Gent, Miller (Ferrie 90), Zdravkovski (Nicholson 70), Spittal (Shaw 90); Vale (Ebiye 70), Bair. Subs (not used): Oxborough, Mugabi, Moses, Butcher. Booked: Vale, Spittal.
HIBERNIAN (4-2-3-1): Marshall; Cadden, Fish, Bushiri, Obita; Newell, Moriah-Welsh (Levitt 67); Marcondes, Boyle (Campbell 80), Youan; Maolida. Subs (not used): Wollacott, Hanlon, Vente, Stevenson, Le Fondre, Tavares, MacIntyre. Booked: Newell, Moriah-Welsh, Bushiri, Boyle.
Referee: Willie Collum. Attendance: 7,083.