Heckingbottom H jeered after Hibees collapse
Boos rang out at Easter Road where Paul Heckingbottom’s side extended their winless league run to nine games.
Seemingly cruising to victory at 2-0 up and threequarters of the game played, Hibs crumpled in the face of a spirited fightback from their visitors.
And that piled more pressure on the manager ahead of a week in which they play Livingston in the league on Wednesday and then Celtic in the League Cup semi-final three days later.
This was a classic example of a team starting well and then falling away.
Melker Hallberg, a Swede with experience of having played in Norway, Denmark and Italy as well as his home country, got them going with a fine bit of skill.
Over 20 yards and on the angle, he curled a wicked freekick onto the junction of crossbar and post.
There was other bit of quality from the home side, too, with Joe Newell supplying a great ball in from the left to pick out Jason Naismith lurking at the back post.
Initially the full-back looked certain to score but late pressure from Michael Gardyne paid off as he shot over the bar.
Josh Vela also came close to finishing off a slick move involving Florian Kamberi and Naismith, Keith Watson bailing out the visitors with a great saving block.
With Ross Laidlaw pulling off a terrific save at his near post to deny Kamberi’s effort from close range, it was pretty much one-way traffic.
Hibs’ goals arrived on their return after the interval with Daryl Horgan, newly subbed in place of Hallberg, getting the breakthrough.
The Irishman put his pace to good use when racing onto a pass from Naismith and shooting low across Laidlaw into the far post.
One then quickly became two with Scott Allan carrying the ball across the face of the County box until he had the time, space and angle to net with a low drive.
It proved a catalyst for a fine fightback from the Highlanders. Again, it came from a substitute.
Brian Graham had his back to goal, 20 yards out, when he collected a pass from Sean Kelly but spun easily and fairly hammered the ball into the Hibs net.
Inspired County then pressed on, playing with great energy.
Graham spurned a terrific opportunity to get his second when heading Kelly’s cross wide when left unmarked six yards out before Joe Chalmers made it 2-2 with a terrific left foot strike from distance.
It earned them a point but left onlookers wondering why they had waited to go 2-0 down before finding such drive and purpose.
“At 2-0 we were very clear that the next goal was going to be the important one,” said County co-manager Steve Ferguson.
“If Hibs got it, game over. But if we could get it then it might put them under pressure and make them feel edgy.
“In the circumstances, it feels more like three points than a draw and the players deserve a lot of credit.
“Everybody else has a perception of last weekend’s score (the 6-0 loss to Celtic). Nobody expected us to win but for us the disappointment was how passive we were.
“Celtic even beat us on fouls and that should never happen!”
For Hibs, better is required, much better.
Play like this at Hampden Park on Saturday night against a Celtic side that hasn’t lost a domestic cup tie in three years and they could suffer a lot of pain.