Hibs come from behind to secure valuable three points
Hibs came from behind to secure three valuable points against
a well-organised Hamilton Academical side at Easter Road tonight.
Head Coach Jack Ross made three changes to the starting XI
that drew with Dundee United in te Scottish Cup on Sunday.
Skipper David Gray and Adam Jackson replaced the injured duo
Jason Naismith and Ryan Porteous whilst Vykintas Slivka took over from Steve
Whittaker in midfield.
Hamilton started brightly and within 30 seconds Andrew Dales
fired a cross along the Hibs six-yard box which caused the home defence problems
then George Oakley headed over from a corner.
The Hibs players were second to every ball and every
misplaced pass was greeted with groans from the frustrated fans.
It was only a matter of time before Accies took a deserved lead
when Alex Gogic rose at the back post to nod home former Hibs’ player Scott
Martin’s corner.
Hamilton continued to press forward at every opportunity and
Blair Alston came close to a second with a powerful left-foot strike.
The half-time whistle sparked a chorus of boos from the home
supporters and Slivka and Melker Hallberg were replaced by new signing Stephane
Omeonga and Joe Newell.
Seven minutes later Daryl Horgan replaced Scott Allan who
had been closely marked from the start.
From then on it was one-way traffic with Hibs attacking at
every opportunity. Horgan set up Florian Kamberi but his close-range strike was
blocked by Owain Fon-Williams.
The equaliser arrived in the 64th minute after Kamberi
played the ball inside McMann and Markus Fjortoft for Martin Boyle whose effort
rebounded of the inside of a post and Chritian Doidge was on hand to tap the
ball into the net from a yard out.
Kamberi then set up Horgan but Fon-Williams produced a
superb save to deny the Irishman.
Omeonga, after a nervy start quickly discovered the form
that made him such a favourite with the fans during his loan spell last year.
With four minutes remaining Newell found Boyle in space and
the Australian international fired a superb cross into the Accies box which
Paul Hanlon nodded the ball into the net sparking delight from the relieved
fans.
After the final whistle Ross told BBC Scotland: “I
suppose if you look at that sensibly then you might say a draw would be a fair
result. As poor as we were first half, I thought we were good in the second
half.
“It was a far different performance and on balance of
the chances created over the course of the game I’d say we deserved to win
it.”
Hibs: Marciano, Gray, Jackson, Hanlon, Stevenson, Slivka, Hallberg,
Boyle, Allan, Kamberi, Doidge. Subs: Horgan, Newell, James, McGregor Bogdan,
Omeonga, Gullan
Hamilton: Fon-Williams, McMann, Fjortoft, Easton, Colla, Gogic,
Martin, Dales, Alston, Miller, Oakley. Subs: Hunt, Davies, Winter, Want,
Gourlay, Smith, Ogkmpoe
Referee: Andrew Dallas
Attendance 14,674