We've played far better this season and lost so there's probably a bit of payback getting all three points today. On the basis of the first half Hibs are really going to struggle to stave off Dunfermline, although they were the better side in the second half, unable to make their possession count. Sound familiar?
The star today was Jeroen Tesselaar, who returned from suspension and laid on McLean's winner. Marc McAusland also had a good game before a rather harsh red card while Paul McGowan was surprisingly poor. As has so often been the case this season we had Craig Samson to thank, the keeper producing a terrific second hand save from Eoin Doyle when the scores were still level. McAusland wasn't the only one who got an early bath as Lewis Stevenson was sent off in stoppage time, although it was a far from dirty game.
Dougie Imrie was surprisingly the man making way for the returning Tesselaar as the winger had done well last week. Perhaps Danny Lennon felt things needed tightening up at the back - a fair shout considering we conceded four goals to the Pars! Darren McGregor's wait for a start continued as he joined Imrie on the bench. Illness ruled Garry O'Connor out so Leigh Griffiths was partnered with Doyle, former Saints signing target James McPake starting in defence alongside Pa Kujabi.
Jim Goodwin was a signing target for Hibs a few months ago and tried to show them what they were missing in the best possible way in the early stages when he took aim and let rip 30 yards from goal, but his shot was deflected wide before we could see just how close it really was. The corner from Carey was decent but McAusland couldn't divert it towards goal. The big defender was in action at the other end as he tried to edge Griffiths off the ball only to fail, but the striker's close range effort was kept out by Samson at the cost of a corner.
Referees get a lot of stick these days so time for a rare bit of praise. Griffiths should have been booked when he clattered McGowan but Stephen Finnie allowed play to continue until we'd won a corner and then booked the on-loan Wolves forward. A sensible, common sense decision but one of few from the officials this afternoon, although his choice to wait almost looked even better when Carey's corner zoned in on Steven Thompson only for him to head a relatively simple looking chance wide. Sadly, Mr Finnie then decided to get in the way of Thompson and McGowan and after Hibs won possession Goodwin got booked for a silly foul on Osbourne - even sillier when you consider it's enough to get him a ban that won't kick in until after the summer holidays.
There was little sign of last week's goal-fest being repeated, Hasselbaink wasting a decent chance when he shot wide after Hibs had been cut open. McAusland was next to get booked for a foul on Osbourne before a spectacular long-range effort from Griffiths flew narrowly wide. We were enjoying plenty of possession but while a few crosses were flying in we couldn't do anything with them. Hibs were creating slightly better chances and could have been in front when Matt Doherty played a terrific pass for Doyle to chase while Samson came the other way. The striker won the race but it was a waste of time as his chip missed both Samson and the back of the net with what was the half's last decent chance.
Would the second half be any better? Well, we gave Mark Brown a meaningful save inside the first couple of minutes - something we'd failed to do in the previous 45. Thompson was able to knock the ball down for Kenny McLean who tried his luck from distance and almost hit the jackpot, a deflection giving Brown a bit more than he probably expected to have to do to keep the ball out. Hibs immediately attacked and Griffiths created a decent chance for Doyle just outside the six yard box, McAusland getting just enough on it to stop the striker's shot going towards goal. It seemed to bring Hibs to life as we were struggling to contain them with even Thompson having to come back and do a fair bit of defending.
We managed to ride the storm, although would have done better had Hasselbaink and Carey not lost the ability to deliver into the box. But instead of trying to force things we had Samson to thank for keeping the scores level. Lee Mair tried to knock the ball to a team-mate only to give it to Doyle, who squeezed it past the defender to go through on goal before unleashing a shot that Sammy brilliantly kept out – although you wonder if O'Connor would have scored given the same chance.
Another escape came when Doherty had a decent sight of goal but smashed over - the sort of chance you don't want to fall to a defender. In a bid to stem the tide we made two changes and while Dougie Imrie replacing the disappointing Carey made sense, putting Steven Thomson on for Hasselbaink did not. Yes, we needed to strengthen the midfield but Hasselbaink had been doing fairly well and there were other candidates who could have gone off.
We started to look a bit more lively, Imrie finding McLean with a cross but he was always struggling to get it on target. A few minutes later Imrie picked out Tesselaar with a pass and the Dutch defender did superbly well to avoid Doherty's challenge and square across to McLean who swept it home from the edge of the box. It was a great passing move and a fine finish, Tesselaar once again hurting the Hibees and just before his agent arrives for contract talks! Their players were also feeling sore and claimed for a couple of penalties - one for Imrie's tackle on Griffiths and another for a supposed handball against Goodwin. The first one was a decent shout but the second one came off Goodwin's knee. Fortunately for Hibs Mr Finnie was about to give them a huge helping hand.
That came after a raft of substitutions, Darren McGregor coming on for Goodwin and Hibs replacing Francomb and Doyle with Roy O'Donovan and Ivan Sproule. The problem of Goodwin getting a second booking may have been removed but no sooner had Sproule arrived than McAusland was off for a tug on Griffiths. Probably a booking as it was similar to what Dorin Goian got two bookings for when we played Rangers, but the silliness of the rule was highlighted when Mr Finnie decided only to book Kujabi for a far worse tackle on McGowan seconds after McAusland's departure. Something tells me McGregor will be starting next week....
Unsurprisingly Hibs smelled blood and enjoyed plenty of possession but Griffiths kept seeing his shots blocked. Kujabi was being given plenty of problems by McGowan so he was hooked with five minutes to go, David Wotherspoon replacing him as the Saints fans sang "You're going down with the Rangers" at the away support. A decent cross found Griffiths in the final minute of normal time but he had his back to goal and couldn't wrap around enough the ball enough to get it anywhere near its intended target. In stoppage time the numbers were levelled up when McGowan got the better of Stevenson who decided to lunge in to try to get the ball back and was shown his second yellow, which gave Saints a huge hand as they saw the game out to take the win.
Hibs are in deep trouble and if they continue to play like this you could see Dunfermline overhauling them, the sides meeting a week tomorrow. For once the battle to avoid finishing 12th isn't our problem – instead we've now half a chance of snatching seventh.
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