JACK TURNS ALLAN KEY
New boss believes Scott can unlock Hibs fortunes
Jack Ross knew the foundations were there when he said he would build his Hibs team around Scott Allan.
Yesterday he provided the bricks and mortar.
The new Easter Road boss made an instant impact in his first ever game managing in the top flight, taking Hibs into the top six and stretching their unbeaten league run to seven games.
Recovering from the early shock of a Liam Polworth opener for Motherwell, two goals in four first-half minutes from Christian Doidge and Flo Kamberi, had Easter Road in raptures for the first time since day one back in August.
Sub Daryl Horgan eventually pierced the stress bubble of the second half with Hibs’ clincher four minutes from time.
But Allan was the game’s beating heart, pulling the strings for a front two too hard to handle for Well’s backline.
Ross beamed: “It does help to get off to a good start and it helps to get that buy-in from the players.
“There is a misconception about Scott at times. He is a brilliant boy and has a real thirst for football and wants to do well.
“The quality he gives us is hard to come by so youou need to try to harness it.
“I think he’ll enjoy thehe environment we create.”
Ross stuck with the same XI who thumped St Johnstone two weeks ago and he confessed: “It was probably one of my easier ones to pick as thee result and performance had been so goodd against St Johnstone.
“I’m still trying to gett a feel for the players but we got little bits off information across and they took that on very well. It was hard work for them to play the way we wanted and be as brave as we wanted in forward areas.
“The pleasing thing was they did a lot of things we asked them to do.
“I was relieved to see the third go in, though! I was impressed by Motherwell, I can understand why they’re where they are in the table.”
The performance from Hibs was night and day from the 3- 0 shellacking they took at Fir Park.
But the narrowness of their midfield diamond did leave them vulnerable to Well’s width and pace in the early exchanges.
To be fair, Hibs came out of the traps quickly enough.
Allan tested Mark Gillespie with a crisp 25- yarder then Perth hat-trick hero, Doidge, headed a Joe Newell free- kick over just a minute later. Their fragility at the other end wasn’t long in showing itself, though, as they crumbled to the first real Well insurgence.
Jermaine Hylton exploded through two on the left of the box, Jake Carroll’s shot from his cutback was def lected on to a post and, while the defence watched the loose ball, Polworth pounced.
However Hibs’ propensity to cough up goals is matched by their ability to rack them up.
They weren’t long in getting back on the front foot and two goals in four minutes – both oozing class and creativity – had the whole ground buoyant.
The first saw Allan feed Kamberi to split the defence to play Newell in behind and his shot was bundled home at the back post by Doidge.
Allan was again the orchestrator for No2. A feed to Jason Naismith on the right saw the full-back cross low to Kamberi, who brilliantly created the yard he needed to smash it high past Gillespie. Motherwell were far more impressive and urgent after the break but still shot shy.
And Polworth looked as baffled as everyone else when ref John Beaton failed to award a spot- kick when Ryan Porteus clumsily bundled him over.
Hibs had lost the initiative in but Ross’ brave introduction of Martin Boyle and Horgan in the last quarter was rewarded when the Irishman slashed into space on the left before firing past Gillespie.