Huge chance missed for hosts amid turgid performance and Mentality issues…
1 2
HIBS spurned a golden opportunity to take pole position in the hunt for top six as St Johnstone snatched all three points at Easter Road.
Despite results elsewhere going in their favour, Nick Montgomery’s side succumbed to second-half goals from Adama Sidibeh and Tony Gallacher, either side of Chris Cadden’s equaliser, to find themselves being booed off by a furious home crowd. Hibs were off the pace throughout, toiling to trouble a packed Saints rearguard, and looking vulnerable on the counter-attack.
Dundee losing to Motherwell means Hibs can still finish in the top half, but it remains out of their hands with the Dens Park side still ahead by a point, and holding a game in hand.
The win took Saints five points clear of second-bottom Ross County in the battle to avoid the relegation play-off spot.
Huge opportunity missed
A late Motherwell comeback at Dens Park – taking all three points despite being t wo goals down with 10 minutes to play – means Hibs’ hopes of finishing in the top six are somehow not yet extinguished.
It’s as you were before kick-off –
Dundee still hold a point advantage over Hibs, and they have two remaining fixtures before the Premiership splits in half.
All Montgomery’s side can do now is beat Motherwell at Fir Park next Saturday and hope Dundee do not take anything from consecutive matches against Rangers and Aberdeen.
Their meeting with the Ibrox side comes this Wednesday evening – weather permitting – and a shock result there could put paid to Hibs’ season, essentially.
Crowd control
The first 45 minutes were oddly flat considering how imperative a victory was for Hibs. Creative inspiration was at a minimum and evolved into misplaced passes and errors.
Saints were very effective in stopping Hibs playing; crowding central areas and looking to cut out slack passes, and springing to press when the ball went out wide. They pressed especially aggressively every time the ball went to Chris Cadden, and it halted Hibs making any sort of progress down that flank.
Their task was made simpler by how slowly Montgomery’s side moved the ball, shifting it side to side without much intensity at all – the cardinal sin when up against such a low block.
There was a greater urgency in the second period, but it was fuelled by the sense of desperation caused by
Sidibeh breaking in behind an absent Hibs defence and slotting past David Marshall.
The equaliser was well-worked, with Nathan Moriah-Welsh providing the spark with a driving run through midfield, and the loose ball from Myziane’s resulting effort fell to Cadden for a cool follow-up finish.
It wasn’t enough, though, and the longer Hibs toiled, the more you felt Saints might snatch one up the other end, as they duly went and did as Gallacher punished more lax defending to nod in from a corner.
Mentality questions?
For a while now, Hibs have had a real problem getting themselves up for big games that don’t necessarily involve rivals Hearts.
Montgomery said that the players didn’t need told how big a game this was. Going by the evidence on the park, perhaps he did.
A solid foundation
Manager Craig Levein was delighted to see his team dig out the result he felt they merited after an encouraging display in their 2- 1 loss at home to Dundee.
“We had a huge feeling of frustration after last week’s performance that we didn’t manage to get at least a point, maybe all three points, but we more than made up for that today with a similar performance,” said the Saints boss.
“This one was big because of the points, but last week was the foundation for today.”