A defensive error just before half time cost Hibs a share of the points against Aberdeen at a wind-swept Pittodrie last night.
Neil Lennon made four changes to his starting XI that lost to St Johnstone last Saturday with Ryan Porteous, Darren McGregor, Vykintas Slivka and Flo Kamberi replacing Steven Whittaker, Daryl Horgan, Emerson Hyndman and Marvin Bartley.
Bartley was named as a substitute however his ankle injury flared up during the warm up and he was replaced on the bench by Sean Mackie.
Australian midfielder Mark Milligan captained the side and elected to go with the high swirling wind at his back in the first half.
Neither team was able to play the type of football they are renowned for due to the conditions but it was the visitors who created the first chance when Milligan had an early goal-bound header cleared by Shay Logan.
Porteous then picked up a yellow card for a foul on the tricky Gary Mackay-Steven down the right wing.
Aberdeen took the lead five minutes before the break following a mix-up in the Hibs’ defence.
There appeared to be no danger when the ball was played back to Porteous but the Scotland Under 21 defender’s first time pass to Lewis Stevenson was intercepted by Mackay-Steven who deceived the youngster by a little drop of the shoulder before firing a superb low strike into the corner of the net past Adam Bogdan’s outstretched hand.
After the break Hibs pressed forward in search of an equaliser and Milligan went close with a header from Stevie Mallan’s corner.
The Socceroo then intercepted a pass in the Dons half before playing a through ball to Kamberi, who rounded Joe Lewis but fired over the bar under pressure from an Aberdeen defender.
At the other end, a long ball deceived the Hibs’ defence and Stevie May rounded Bogdan but McGregor managed to clear the danger.
Slivka’s cross from the right was deflected narrowly past the post then Kamberi missed a great chance when he mistimed a cross from Martin Boyle and the hosts held on to secure a valuable three points.
After the game Lennon told BBC Scotland. “There is a little dip in form. It is something we’re not used to, but you have to accept it is not going to be on an upward trajectory all the time.
“I don’t know if we are lacking a bit of confidence or decision-making is not right. That’s three games when we haven’t scored and we have missed good chances in all of those games.”
“I thought we were by far the better team in the second half and we deserved more out of the game. We’ve missed three of four good opportunities.
“I don’t think Aberdeen did enough to deserve to win the game and certainly we didn’t deserve to lose the game.
“To be fair to the players, five of our last six games have been away from home and three of those have been Hearts, Aberdeen and Celtic.
“I think we can do better, but the only disappointing performance was St Johnstone last week. It’s not as if we’re not creating chances, but there’s not a lot wrong.”
Aberdeen: Lewis, Logan, Devlin, McKenna, Lowe, Shinnie, Ferguson, Mackay-Steven (Ball, 90′), McGinn, May (Cosgrove, 86′), Wilson (Anderson, 71’). Subs: Cerny, Considine, Gleeson, Wright.
Hibernian: Bogdan, Ambrose, McGregor, Porteous, Boyle, Slivka (Horgan, 78’), Mallan, Milligan, Stevenson (Mackie, 89′), Kamberi, Maclaren (Allan, 78’). Subs: Marciano, Whittaker, Mavrias, Gullan.
Attendance: 15,629
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.
