500 GAMES WAS NEVER MY GOAL
Tannoy gives landmark laugh for Hibees hero Paul
The Easter Road stadium announcer declaring a goal for Paul Hanlon was a nice moment on his 500th appearance for Hibs.
It was just a shame that he hadn’t scored it!
Hanlon laughed off the gaffe after he had been confused with Paul McGinn for the Leith side’s late leveller against Aberdeen in the battle of the Premiership’s two biggest underachievers.
But while he didn’t hit the goal, the veteran defender was thrilled to have hit such an impressive mi lestone for the club despite a downbeat campaign.
Easter Road skipper Hanlon said: “I think someone was taking sympathy on me for my 500th game.
“I didn’t actually hear it at the time as I was jogging back to the halfway line for the restart but the boys mentioned at the end that my name had been announced.
“I don’t know if that means I can claim it!
“I knew the milestone game was approaching but I’ve had a few niggling knocks and missed a few games this season so thought I might not make it. To reach it at Hibs is something I’m really proud of.
“It was a dream for me to play once for this club – to do it 500 times is great.
“Hopefully I’ve still got a few more in me.”
Hanlon wanted the win to mark his big occasion but accepted the draw after Hibs recovered from going behind to David Bates’ goal early in the second half.
He said: “You don’t really want to look back on these games if it ends in a defeat but I felt a draw was the least we deserved from the game. We had a few chances to win it as well and it was disappointing not to get the three points.
“It would have been great personally to get three points in the 500th game.”
The clash between these two was perhaps destined to finish up in a stalemate.
Both clubs have endured miserable seasons with managers coming and going due to disappointing results.
The first half was more of a support group meeting than a football match but at least things picked up after the interval.
The opening 45 was all about two stunning blocks.
At one end Dons defender Declan Gallagher bravely got in the way after Ryan Porteous tried to wel ly an indirect free- kick through a crowd after keeper Joe Lewis collected a back pass in the six yard box.
At the other end Hanlon hurled himself in front of a fierce Lewis Ferguson blast to keep the scores level.
The 55th-minute opener sparked the clash to life.
A free kick – awarded to Dons by Bobby Madden after some confusion – was defended but landed back with Jonny Hayes.
Bates was handi ly sti l l hanging around the penalty area to smash home Gallagher’s knockdown and fire Aberdeen into the lead.
The defender could have had another but sent his diving header over the top from another Hayes cross.
Hibs made changes and clawed their way back into it.
Lewis threw out a giant paw to deny a certain leveller from Joe Newell.
But the equaliser did arrive with seven minutes to go when McGinn slammed in after James Scott nodded back Sylvester Jasper’s deep cross.
Josh Doig almost won it in added-on time – but these two sides couldn’t be separated.
It’s all about the future for both and with Hibs’ American owner Ron Gordon in the stands, the new manager search will be stepped up, with the likes of Kilmarnock gaffer Derek McInnes in the frame along with several candidates from further afield.
Hanlon is already looking beyond the 500 Club and said: “There’s only a week of the season to go so the most important thing is they take the time to get the right person in.
“If that means it’s weeks into the close season, so be it. I’m sure they’re working hard on it and we’ll be ready to impress the new manager in pre-season.”