St Mirren made it three wins and three clean sheets in a row as they beat a beleaguered Hibs by a single goal in Paisley.
Midfielder Keanu Baccus gave Stephen Robinson’s men all three points but it really should have been a lot more comfortable in terms of the end result.
For Hibs boss, Lee Johnson, the fact he was late for his post match interviews tells you what the Englishman thought of his side’s performance.
Robinson unsurprisingly named the same starting lineup as the one which beat Dundee United 3-0 at Tannadice last weekend, with Curtis Main at the double and Alex Greive rounding off the convincing win by adding a third in stoppage time.
Marijan Cabraja and Christian Doidge came in for Hibs from their 2-2 draw against nine man Rangers where a injury time strike meant they earned a point, thanks to a Josh Campbell strike.
Saints couldn’t really settle down for the first minutes without the visitors creating anything clear cut in terms of goal scoring chances.
And then came the breakthrough but it was for the home side.
There was a bit of luck to it as Strain won the ball on the halfway line after a 50-50.
The wing back then drove forward and picked out Baccus who had the simplest of finishes for his first goal in the black and white stripes.
That woke the hosts up and Gallagher just nodded back O’Hara’s free kick but it amounted to very little in the end.
Campbell then crossed for Chris Cadden but he could not control his headed effort on 22 minutes.
Eight minutes later, Doidge then went close for the Easter Road club but his header from a Porteous cross went narrowly wide of the far post.
Recently retired Scotland international goalkeeper David Marshall was then called upon for Hibs to ensure it wasn’t 2-0 to the hosts at the half time interval.
Mark O’Hara, who once again wore the skipper’s armband in the absence of Joe Shaughnessy, saw his header at the back stick was well pushed away by Marshall.
Hibs had an absolute sitter in the early stages of the second half of the proceedings.
Cadden’s cross from the right found its way to Youan at the back post, where he had time to bring it down before stabbing it just wide of the far post.
Joe Newell was next to try his luck for the Leith club and the midfielder called Trevor Carson into action for the first and only time.
The keeper turned the low and hard effort around the post in a really good save.
Cadden then had two efforts one flashed straight wide and the second was just ahead of striker Doidge, who stuck out a leg.
Campbell hit an effort well wide of goal before Croatian left back Cabraja’s shot from 25 yards from goal ballooned over the bar.
Main, fresh from his two goals last weekend, probably felt he should have added another one to put the game beyond doubt, but after beating Porteous to the ball he just couldn’t hook it past Marshall.
Sub Eamonn Brophy then had a great chance after linking with Main but his effort, which looked destined to finish up in the back of the net, rolled along the goal line and was gathered by Marshall.
Baccus could really have hit a hat trick in this game as the Australian midfielder, who along with fellow Aussie Strain, harbours genuine hopes of going to the Qatar World Cup in December.
Alongside his sixth minute goal, he had two one on ones with Marshall as Hibs desperately hunted for a late leveller.
The first of which he lost control of and it went harmlessly over the bar and the second he inexplicably rolled wide of the left hand post.
The returning Alex Gogic came on as a sub for his second Saints debut replacing Ethan Erhahon and helped to see out the win.
In the end one goal it had to be and thankfully from a St Mirren point of view one goal proved to be enough.
Now Paisley gaffer Robinson takes his confidence brimming squad to McDiarmid Park to face Calum Davidson’s St Johnstone next Saturday afternoon, hoping for a fourth consecutive top flight victory.
And if he’s looking for even more good omens, then he doesn’t to look very far at all as the Buddies won 1-0 on their last trip to Perth, thanks to a Greg Kiltie strike towards the end of the last campaign.
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