Hibs ended a turbulent week with a well-deserved victory over St Mirren at the Simple Digital Arena, thanks to a spirited second half performance in windy conditions.
Eddie May and Grant Murray took charge in place of the suspended Neil Lennon and Garry Parker and brought back skipper David Gray with Steven Whittaker moving to left back.
After a lacklustre start, Ryan Gauld produced the first piece of skill to set up Daryl Horgan with a sublime through ball, but the Irishman’s control let him down and the danger was cleared.
It was the hosts who took the lead however when Brad Lyons’ low cross was bundled home by Simeon Jackson from close range.
Lyons was fortunate to stay on the pitch following a dreadful challenge on Gray as was Paul McGinn for a dangerous tackle on Horgan who required lengthy treatment.
Horgan only lasted our minutes of the second half before being replaced by Oli Shaw.
Saints almost went two goals clear following a mix up in the Hibs defence and Ofir Marciano made amends by tackling Kyle McAllister whose tame effort was tidied up by Marvin Bartley.
Moments later Hibs equalised when Stevie Mallan releasing Shaw who slid the ball past Vaclav Hladky. Hibs continued to press forward and added a second when Shaw’s powerful header was parried into the path of former Buddie Darren McGregor who fired the ball high into the net to the delight of the large travelling support behind the goals.
St Mirren were far from finished however and Marciano produced a sensational save to deny Stephen McGinn before McGregor cleared the rebound under pressure from Jackson.
Moments later Marciano produced another excellent save from McAllister to keep Hibs in front.
With four minutes remaining, Shaw set up Mallan who side-footed the ball low into the corner of the net to secure the three points.
St Mirren: Hladky, P. McGinn, S. McGinn, Dreyer, Jackson, Lyons, Baird, Popescu, Tansey, McAllister, Erhahon. Substitutes not used: Holmes, Flynn, Ferdinand, Jamieson, Breadner, Glover
Hibs: Marciano, Gray, Whittaker, Hanlon, Bartley, Horgan (Shaw 50’), Slivka, Gauld (Omeonga 75’), Mallan (Mackie 91’), Kamberi, McGregor. Substitutes not used: Dabrowski, Nelom, Murray, Allan. Referee: Steven MacLean. Attendance: 5650.
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.
