Hibs’ Head Coach Neil Lennon said that he was ‘very proud’ of his players following last night’s emphatic victory over second placed Dundee United in front of a packed Easter Road stadium.
Almost 19,000 attended the game making it the largest football crowd outside Glasgow this season and the only unsold tickets were in the south stand.
It was also an emotional night for the families of Hibs’ fans Shaun McKinley and Shaun Woodburn who both sadly passed away over the festive period. Separate minutes’ applause in the 30th and 34th minute were held in their memory.
Hibs took an early lead through Jason Cummings and the youngster added a second midway through the first half.
Substitute John McGinn made it 3-0 near the end and the team left the field to a well deserved standing ovation accompanied by the Proclaimers’ ‘I’m on my Way (from misery to happiness today)’ blaring out from the Easter Road sound system.
The result leaves Hibs four points clear of United in the race for automatic promotion.
After the game a delighted Lennon said: “I couldn’t have asked any more. It was just an outstanding team performance, the best I have witnessed since I have been here against a very good side.
“They have been very consistent for the last three months and have an excellent manager and management team.
“It has made me very proud, it surprised me because I wasn’t expecting us to play as strongly or as well as that.
“So for us to play as well as that, dominate as well as that, create the chances and score the goals speaks volumes for the levels of performance.
He added: “All it means is we are four points clear. I think it will give us a boost and psychologically it will give the fans a lift as well.
“But it’s a very good marker, a very good standard to set.
“Whether we can reach that again? I think the occasion, the atmosphere, the fact it was under the lights brought out the best of them. You don’t always get that at times in the Championship.”
McGinn replaced Kris Commons to the delight of the sell out Hibs’ crowd who gave him a warm welcome back with a couple of renditions of the ‘Super John McGinn’ song.
Any concerns about his fitness after being sidelined for seven weeks following ankle surgery were immediately dispelled as he surged forward at every opportunity before rounding off the night with a fantastic goal from an acute angle.
Lennon added: “I didn’t see it coming, we brought him on to shore things up a little bit.
“He’s only trained 20 minutes Wednesday and Thursday in a month after surgery, but my medical team have done a great job and so has he, to be fair.
“He is a fantastic professional, brilliant to have around the place and a brilliant player and to score was the icing on the cake.”
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.
