Boyle bags brace as Hibs enjoy their triple threat
REASONS for Hibernian optimism are plentiful as the season enters its business end. With their prospects of finishing third in the Premiership for the first time in 16 years already looking strong, yesterday’s trip to Stranraer allowed the Easter Road side to book a home Scottish Cup quarter-final showdown with Motherwell while also reminding a live television audience of the attacking quality they boast.
Christian Doidge, Kevin Nisbet and Martin Boyle all enhanced their double-figure scoring tallies for the season in what was a straightforward vanquishing of the League Two side.
Doidge broke the deadlock with his 11th of the campaign shortly before the interval; Nisbet hit his 16th to double the visitors’ lead; and Boyle – the best player on the pitch – sealed it with a double in the closing 20 minutes as he moved up to 14.
With the front three all in such dangerous form, Hibs manager Jack Ross is perfectly entitled to be excited about what the next month may bring.
“The front three have been like that all season,” he said. “When you look at the number of goals the three of them have contributed, they’re all into double figures which is terrific.
“You could argue that we need goals from other areas of the pitch, but when you have three front players who are producing that, there are not many teams across the country who have that. It’s great for us and they are all in good form at this stage of the season which is good, too.”
Hibs, who are aiming to reach a fourth consecutive national semi-final, took control early on in the game and Nisbet twice spurned good chances from Boyle deliveries.
The visitors cranked up the pressure as the first half wore on and they looked certain to take the lead in the 37th minute when Paul McGinn shot from 10 yards out after Boyle cushioned Josh Doig’s cross into his path.
However, Stranraer goalkeeper Greg Fleming somehow forced the ball up and over the bar.
The opener arrived from the resulting corner, with Doidge showing his striker’s instinct to rasp home a clinical halfvolley on the turn from seven yards out after Paul Hanlon and Ryan Porteous had helped keep Boyle’s delivery in the danger area.
Stranraer brought on ex-Hearts midfielder Jamie Hamill in the 52nd minute and it helped spark the hosts’ best spell of a largely one-sided encounter.
Hamill’s deflected free-kick almost caught out Matt Macey as it looped up and just wide of the goalkeeper’s right-hand post, before the hosts were left rueing their misfortune when Tommy Orr’s goal-bound strike from eight yards out was inadvertently blocked by his own team-mate Darryl Duffy, the 37-year-old striker who had a spell with Hibs a decade ago.
It was to prove a pivotal moment as the visitors doubled their lead in 64 minutes when Nisbet’s powerful freekick from 25 yards out took a significant deflection and wrong-footed Fleming on its way into the net.
The third came in the 71st minute with all the front three involved as Doidge crossed from the left, Nisbet glanced a header off the post and Boyle, arriving from the right, lashed an emphatic half-volley beyond the helpless Fleming from eight yards.
Boyle sealed it with six minutes left when he slammed home a penalty after Porteous was fouled by Scott Robertson.
“We shouldn’t be too despondent because our players – particularly our young players – can learn from the way the Hibs players go about their business and the intensity they play at,” Stranraer manager Stevie Farrell said. “They’re an excellent side.”
There aren’t many teams across the country who have three front players producing that