Hibs moved five points clear of Rangers in the race for second place in the Scottish Championship tonight with a dramatic 2-1 win over Livingston at Easter Road.
Head Coach Alan Stubbs made four changes to the starting XI that beat Berwick Rangers on Sunday, with Keith Watson, Martin Boyle, Liam Craig and Franck Dja Djedje replacing David Gray, Scott Allan, Dylan McGeouch and Dominique Malonga.
The Easter Road side went into the game knowing that second place is now in their own hands following Rangers draw last night with Queen of the South which leaves them two points behind with a game in hand.
Stubbs elected to play a 5-3-2 formation with a back three of Watson, Liam Fontaine and Paul Hanlon with on-loan Martin Boyle employed as a right back.
Hibs started brightly and Jason Cummings could have scored two in the opening five minutes after being set up by Djedje, but his first effort was blocked and his second went narrowly wide.
The teenager must have thought that it wasn’t going to be his night when Craig put him through on goal but he pulled his shot wide of the target.
On 30 minutes however his luck turned when Craig sent a fantastic through ball into his path and the teenager calmly rounded the Livingston keeper before sliding the ball into the net.
Livingston started the second half strongly and dominated possession for the first ten minutes without looking like scoring.
On the hour mark, a long ball from Watson found Cummings in the penalty box but he was impeded before he could shoot but the referee waved away his appeals to the fury of the supporters.
Although Hibs looked to be in control they were always vulnerable to a Livingston break away and in the 68th minute Paul Hanlon produced a superb last ditch tackle to prevent Ibra Sekajja from levelling the score.
Three minutes later, substitute McGeouch set up Boyle but his low cross just missed Djedje at the back post.
With time running out, Livingston equalised against the run of play. A long throw into the box caused the Hibs defence some confusion and Sekajja poked the ball home.
Straight from the kick off, Hibs attacked and the ball was passed to Lewis Stevenson on the left wing. Stevenson looked up and sent in inch perfect cross into the danger area and Djedje outjumped his marker and headed the ball into the corner of the net sparking jubilation amongst the home fans.
Hibs: Oxley, Watson, Hanlon, Fontaine, Stevenson, Boyle, Roberson, Fyvie, Craig, Djedje, Cummings. Subs: Perntreou, Forster, Stanton, Handling, Allan, McGeouch, Malonga
Livingston: Jamieson, Sives, Talbot, Cole, Fordyce, Jacobs, Jacobs, Gallagher, McKenna, Sekajja, Pittman. Subs Walker, O’Brien, Hippolyte, Praprotnik, Beaumont, Glen, Mullen.
Referee Stephen Finnie
Attendance 7857
John graduated from Telford College in 2010 with an HNC in Practical Journalism and since then he worked for the North Edinburgh News, The Southern Reporter, the Irish News Review and The Edinburgh Reporter. In addition he has been published in the Edinburgh Evening News and the Hibernian FC Programme.
