Hibs came from behind in Perth to overcome 10-man St Johnstone and secure a much deserved three points.
Jack Ross made two changes to the side that lost to Ross County in midweek with Ryan Porteous returning from suspension whilst Jamie Gullan was given the opportunity in attack.
Martin Boyle and Christian Doidge missed out after midweek red cards, whilst Josh Campbell was once again preferred in midfield.
Hibs dominated throughout and Kevin Nisbet (pictured)had a ‘goal’ unfairly ruled out for offside.
Shortly before the break the hosts opened the scoring against the run of play when Liam Gordon headed home from a corner.
Craig Bryson picked up a second yellow card for a bad challenge that would have merited a straight red.
Against depleted opponents, Jack Ross’s men completely dominated the second half, with Paul Hanlon and Josh Doig missing great chances inside the penalty area and Chris Cadden cracking a powerful angled drive against the bar.
Zander Clark made a world class save pushing away a volley from Murphy then was fortunate to stop a Josh Doig effort with his leg.
Hibs thought they had equalised when Nisbet headed the ball past Clark but the referee gave a foul against Ryan Porteous for a push on a defender during the build up.
It looked like being one of those days for Hibs before Jamie Murphy set up Nisbet inside the area and the striker demonstrated why he is so highly rated by calmly side-footing the ball into the corner of the net.
With moments remaining substitute Scott Allan produced a sensational piece of skill to leave his marker for dead before picking out Murphy who scored from close range, sparking mayhem amongst the travelling support.
Porteous should have made it three in the dying seconds but his effort rebounded off the bar.
After the game Ross told BBC Scotland : “We created an enormous amount and I’m delighted the players kept faith in what they were doing to get those late goals.
“The rate at which we were creating opportunities made me think it would come and the two goals were of real high quality.”
St Johnstone: Clark, Dendoncker, Gordon, McCart, Rooney (Brown 75’), Davidson (Solomon-Octabor 87’), Bryson, Booth, Crawford, O’Halloran, Vertainen (MacPherson 46’). Substitutes not used: Parish, Ambrose, Devine, Craig.
Hibernian: Macey, McGinn (Murphy 62’), Porteous, Hanlon, Cadden, Doyle-Hayes (Scott 77‘), Campbell, Newell, Doig, Nisbet, Gullan (Allan 71’). Substitutes not used: Dabrowski, Stevenson, Gogic, Wright.
Referee: Euan Anderson.
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.
