Hibs thanking their lucky stars ahead of derby
WHAT Shaun Maloney would have given for a last-minute deflected goal while his team were failing to score in eight of their first ten league games of the year.
How Jack Ross must have pined for a refereeing controversy to swing in his favour during the streak of seven defeats in nine that rendered a third-placed finish irrelevant to the Hibernian board.
Lee Johnson may have been struck by an Easter Road curse in the early weeks of his reign, with all manner of setbacks hampering preparations.
However, as a wearily familiar tale of failing to convert dominance into goals unfolded in Perth, Josh Campbell’s headed winner — which appeared to go in off the arm of St Johnstone’s Cammy MacPherson — signalled a shift in fortune.
And the ‘mosh pit’ scenes of joy, as Johnson described them, in front of a 3,000-strong travelling support suggests some siege spirit has been discovered by the new regime.
The looming Edinburgh derby on day two of the Premiership season doesn’t sit well with Hibs chairman Ron Gordon, whose gripe centres on the business sense of scheduling the surefire sell-out on a date when the stadium would be at capacity anyway for their home opener.
A few of the players might have felt uneasy about it, too, had a stalemate in Perth been added to the catalogue of summer misfortune.
Johnson complained the ‘footballing gods’ were conspiring against Hibs following a litany of woes including a trainingground power cut pouring cold showers on the raw wounds of an early Premier Sports Cup exit, the Rocky Bushiri suspension debacle, work-permit problems and Aiden McGeady’s injury.
But goal hero Campbell, a 77thminute substitute for Chris Cadden, echoed his manager’s insistence that no one has been feeling sorry for themselves and they are now relishing the visit of Hearts.
‘We’re all buzzing for the next game and we’ll be hard at it this week now,’ said the 22-year-old. ‘We’re always confident going into every game but the win definitely helps going into next weekend.
‘I think we’re stronger this season. We’ve added more experience, with David Marshall and Aiden McGeady about the place, and they’ll help the young boys.
‘It’s good to have that experience going into derby games this season. They’ve both played in bigger games for their country and for their clubs, so it’ll be no different for them and we can take stuff off them.
‘The other new boys are settling in really well, too. It helps that Rocky speaks French and Elie Youan is French. Jair Tavares’ English is really good and Nohan Kenneh is just brilliant. It’s a good bunch.’
Out for up to three months with a knee injury, McGeady will miss the visit of Hearts. At least the veteran winger’s creativity wasn’t required to unhinge a Saints defence that retreated deep following a red card for Murray Davidson on 58 minutes. The midfielder was late and a little high on Ryan Porteous, and when Marijan Cabraja of Hibs escaped with a yellow for a similar lunge on Ryan McGowan, it compounded the home side’s sense of injustice.
Campbell (below) said of his matchwinning cameo: ‘It’s hard when you come on against a team like that, which is sitting in with ten men and you’re pushing for it. But it’s a great feeling to get a last-minute winner. ‘It’s been a disappointing week going out of the cup, so it was good to give the fans something, especially when they turned out in such numbers.
‘It’s maybe partly down to us having some luck. Sometimes last year it felt like no luck was going our way. We stuck together and that showed on the pitch when we needed to dig deep and find some composure on the ball.’
Former Hibs wide man Drey Wright, back at St Johnstone for a second spell, was one of eight new signings in the home starting side.
But the same old problems persist for Callum Davidson’s team, who remain in dire need of a goal threat and continue to miss David Wotherspoon during his long-term recovery from injury.
‘It’s a slow build when you get a lot of new players,’ said Wright. ‘You need to work on relationships on the pitch. These things take time but there was a lot of good in what we did.’