Hibs moved into fourth position in the table thanks to a well-deserved 2-0 victory over Ross County at Easter Road on Saturday.
Head Coach Shaun Maloney made one change from starting XI that beat Arbroath last weekend in the Scottish Cup as Josh Campbell replaced Demetri Mitchell in midfield.
Academy youngsters Jacob Blaney and Oscar MacIntyre were joined on the substitutes bench by Elias Melkersen. Hibs started brightly and Chris Cadden’s low delivery just evaded Kevin Nisbet.
Staggies’ Jordan White picked up an early yellow card for simulation inside the Hibs box. The remainder of the first half passed without any memorable incidents with Cadden Hibs’ most productive player who continued to put dangerous crosses into the County box.
Hibs started the second half on the front foot and Euan Henderson brought out a good save from
former Hibs’ keeper Ross Laidlaw.
From the corner kick, taken by Lewis Stevenson, Campbell laid it into the path of Jake Doyle-Hayes who fired the ball through a sea of players into the net. Hibs could have doubled their advantage but Laidlaw blocked Henderson’s effort with his legs.
From the resultant corner kick Laidlaw produced a fine save to deny Ryan Porteous’s header.
The second goal did arrive in style when Doyle-Hayes controlled a clearance on his chest before firing a stunning volley from 20 yards into the top corner of the net. Doig almost added a third in the dying minutes only to be denied again by Laidlaw.
After the final whistle Maloney told BBC Scotland: “There were parts I was happy with, and some bits I wasn’t. There were not many opportunities for us.
“I’m delighted for Jake [Doyle-Hayes] he works very hard, he’s worked hard on his scoring the last few weeks, so I couldn’t be more pleased he got the goals.”
ALL Photos Ian Jacobs
Hibernian: Macey, Doig, Porteous, Nisbet (Scott 75’), Stevenson, Jasper (Mueller 70’), Doyle-Hayes,
Cadden, Campbell (McGregor 89’), Bushiri, Henderson (Wright 75’). Substitutes not used: Dabrowski,
Doidge, Melkersen, Blaney, MacIntyre.
Ross County: Laidlaw, Randall, Vokins, Baldwin, Paton, Callachan, Samuel (Hungbo 63’), Iacovitti,
Charles-Cook, Tilson (Samuel 83’), White. Substitutes not used: Maynard-Brewer, Sims, Ramsay,
Drysdale, Paton, Wright, MacKinnon.
Referee: Steven McLean.
Attendance: 14,149.
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.
