Last- L minute winner spoils Lennon’s day
hibs 0 st johnstone 1 Shaughnessy (89)
It was supposed to be Neil Lennon’s day.
A chance for the Hibs gaffer to return to safe territory, take the acclaim, and lead his side to yet another victory at Easter Road.
Unfortunately for him, St Johnstone didn’t read the script.
Joe Shaughnessy’s 89th minute header consigned Lennon’s side to their first home defeat in the league since December of last year.
The Perth side were well worth the win too.
Tommy Wright’s team were at their rock-solid, opportunistic best as they claimed a fourth win in a row.
Hibs, by contrast, were sluggish, and too seldom didn’t pose a threat.
That was certainly the view of Lennon’s right hand man, Garry Parker, who performed post-match press duties in Lennon’s absence.
The Hibs gaffer, said Parker, was fine, if a little upset by the full-time result.
His non-appearance after the game, however, in the context of the mad 72 hours that preceded it, suggested he may have been more than just a little aggrieved.
After the Edinburgh derby storm, a visit from St Johnstone ought to have been mellow by comparison for the Hibees.
But the home fans did their bit to raise the temperature early on by hailing their manager from the stands.
“One Neil Lennon,” sang the Hibs punters.
Lenny was pumped up by the show of solidarity, but his players weren’t quite on the same plane.
In fact, St Johnstone looked more impressive early on.
The Perth side came within a crossbar’s breadth of taking the lead in the 13th minute when on-loan Ipswich Town teenager Tristan Nydam – on his first start – cracked the woodwork from 20 yards.
Hibs, meanwhile, enjoyed plenty of possession, but were consistently wasteful.
Emerson Hyndman took matters into his own hands three minutes before the break, firing in an effort from 20 yards that flew just over the bar.
Yet Saints went close too on the stroke of half-time when Laim Craig sent an awkward, floating 30-yarder just a hair too high.
Hibs emerged for the second-half with real intent.
But they still almost paid for their first defensive lapse thanks to Tony Watt’s failure to hit the target with a header from Drey Wright’s perfectly measured cross.
Enter, Danny Swanson. The former Hibs man was applauded onto the park by the Easter Road faithful as he replaced the quiet Matty Kennedy on 64 minutes.
Two minutes later they were booing when Swanson cut inside from the right, darted into the box and hit the deck under a challenge from Marvin Bartley.
It was a clear penalty, but having won it, Swanson saw his spot kick saved by Adam Bogdan, low to his right.
Hibs should have rallied in the aftermath.
Instead, they slowed down. With 10 minutes left, Saints were pressing for a winner.
Ross Callachan showed strength to turn in the box and fire in an effort with Hibs defenders all over him, but Bogdan collected easily.
The home side did have a golden chance before the end when Jamie Maclaren couldn’t direct his looping header from Lewis Stevenson’s cross on target.
But the sting in the tail was delivered by Joe Shaughnessy, who headed David Wotherspoon’s wicked free-kick past the helpless Bogdan with one minute to play.