AT the very least the Hibernian season-ticket holders appear to be getting their money’s worth. Add this - a comprehensive win over high-flying Aberdeen - to the late, late Hearts and Rangers shows and Easter Road entertainment abounds.
Whisper it quietly, but that’s also the Hibees up to fourth, leapfrogging their battered and bruised guests. Aberdeen had arrived in the capital in fine spirits but left it licking their wounds courtesy of a Martin Boyle penalty and Josh Campbell brace. By the end, Luis Lopes’ fourth-minute opener felt like a very long time ago for the Dons fans who had braved it until the end.
The result also raises some questions. Are Hibs actually having a good season? Are Aberdeen (who dropped a point below Hibs) not? Is anyone other than Celtic? We’ll find out soon enough.
There was an air of fire and brimstone to the game’s opening half, which began at an almost relentless pace; perhaps overly so. In the early exchanges - coming in the aftermath of an audibly booed minute’s applause for The Queen - the ball was being booted about like a balloon at a kids’ birthday party, too often ending up behind its intended target and in the Easter Road stands.
Not that the Hibs players were being allowed to steady themselves. On the rare occasion Joe Newell - currently a shadow of his former self - took a second to assess his option, his touch was greeted by a chorus of groans. Those grew louder still four minutes in.
Credit has to go to Ross McCrorie. Too raw for the Rangers midfield, he appears to have found a happy home in Jim Goodwin’s. When Johnny Hayes’ quick thinking saw a throw-in land at his feet, McCrorie showed peace of mind to prod it into Hayden Coulson’s path. He did the rest, motoring beyond his marker and floating a cross onto Luis Lopes’ head. Time seemed to stand still while the ball drifted into David Marshall’s goal.
The notion Hibs might play at anything less than two million miles an hour went out the window. When it doesn’t work, it’s misplaced passes, balls behind runners, and lost possession (there was plenty of that). When it does, it can suffocate teams, and threatened to do so as they looked for parity.
Still, the closest they looked to have come to that was a Ryan Porteous goal (correctly) ruled out for offside and a tame Newell free kick that didn’t so much fly into Kelle Roos’ arms as crawl. Were it not for Porteous’ peace of mind, it could so nearly have been two to Aberdeen at the break, but the Scotland international reacted quickly to flick Duk’s effort over the bar.
It was a good thing, too. Aberdeen, who themselves hadn’t been particularly impressive since that early salvo, were seconds away from a half-time lead when disaster ensued. Liam Scales - booked but minutes before - fouled Porteous in the box, was duly given his marching orders, and had just finally been coerced down the tunnel when Martin Boyle slotted beyond Roos.
Goodwin responded to the dismissal by shuffling the pack; moving McCrorie to defence, taking off his scorer in place of Dante Polvara, and setting up ostensibly as a 4-4-1 for the second-half.
The game fell into a predictable pattern, and Hibs had all the ball. Boyle tried again and again to puncture the red defensive wall. Roos brilliantly denied Josh Campbell, Chris Cadden and Newell (the last of which was a flying, double save). Aberdeen couldn’t get up the park; their once vociferous fans nervously watched on.
A near half-hour of relentless Hibernian pressure eventually told. This time Campbell made no mistake, ghosting in-between Anthony Stewart and Jack MacKenzie, before arrowing the ball into Roos’ bottom corner. He could have no complaints given the one-way nature of the traffic, but the Biblical manner in which the red sea parted would have infuriated Goodwin.
A third for Hibs and second for Campbell - who reacted quickest to McCrorie’s misplaced header - merely served to add salt to the manager’s wounds. Bojan Mivoski’s glaring miss did the same.
