Lee Johnson hailed his last-ditch heroes and reckons it shows that Hibs aren’t a team or club in crisis.
The new manager got off to winning ways in the Premiership thanks to sub Josh Campbell’s last-minute winner at Perth - much to the delight of the 3,000 plus Hibees support. The pressure had been on Hibs after they failed to get through their Premier Sports Cup group and their exit was sealed after an administrative blunder saw them kicked out for fielding the suspended Rocky Bushiri.
A proud Johnson said: “We’ve got to go through a lot. We’re a brand new team, a brand new manager, new coaching staff. We’ve got to build resilience up. It was nice at the end, it was like a little mosh pit at the end. Everybody was buzzing, the fans were buzzing. They stuck with us which was good. We’ve never been in as bad a place as has been portrayed. We’ve had a strong belief in what we’re doing we’re just frustrated we couldn’t fast track it a little bit quicker because of unforeseen circumstances.
“It was a good game, it was a tough game. You’d expect that on the opening weekend of the season. We had complete control in the first half without maybe executing the final pass. But I think in the end, we wore them down, created space and made them a little bit leggy with our athleticism.”
The spotlight was on both teams after their miserable cup campaign but in terms of the first half there was very little, in an attacking-sense, to light this game up. Elias Melkersen was dangerous on the right hand side and his early run and cross was half-cleared before Nohan Kenneh fired over.
Both sides were well-organised and hard to break down and both managers would have been pleased from a defensive perspective, although they would have been looking for more at the opposite end. Saints only early effort and I use that term loosely came when Drey Wright robbed Kenneh but Theo Bair’s shot from distance was well wide.
The best opening of the half fell to Hibs. Marijan Cabraja’s cross found Ewan Henderson but on the angle and in a good position he volleyed wide. Davidson made changes at the start of the second period.
It was his side who had the first effort on target when Graham Carey let fly from 30 yards, forcing new Hibs skipper David Marshall to palm away. The match sparked into life when Davidson made a needless late lunge on Ryan Porteous just inside his own half. It sparked a melee before referee Euan Anderson restored calm, sought advice from his assistant and sent the Saints captain packing.
Hibs went looking to use their numerical advantage. A ricochet came off Joe Newell and then allowed him to head beyond Remi Matthews but fellow debutant Alex Mitchell got back to clear before Christian Doidge could net.
The home side were furious when Cabraja caught Ryan McGowan late and was only shown a yellow card.
His boss Johnston believed that Anderson made the right call and St Johnstone maybe had a point to be aggrieved because Davidson shouldn’t have walked either. He explained: “To be honest, I thought (Davidson’s) it was a yellow and a half. I thought it was a bit late. Being a midfielder myself, you get caught on your heels a little bit, stretching. I thought it was high enough to be a bit of a dangerous tackle.
“If it happened against me, I’d be devastated, as a player and obviously as a manager. (Cabraja) was a lower one. It was lungey and slidey but it wasn’t an over the top challenge.
“If you look back at the slow-mo, his studs touch the ground 12 inches before he slides through. That’s what I mean, he could have given it. But I thought they were two yellows. Marijan’s was a yellow, the other one was too.”
It looked like Saints had done enough before Hibs struck in stoppage time. Henderson’s deep corner was flicked on and came off two or three players before it dropped to Campbell who headed it into the net.
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