Hibs 0 Saints 1 League Table
Here
Team ::
Main,McQuillan,Davidson,Dasovic,Kernaghan,Weir,Scott,O'Neill,Kane,
Georgio,Preston (right)
Subs :: McCluskey,Wright,Grant
Another good win for Saints in dreadful conditions at Easter Rd, with a considerable away support getting drenched in one of their 'new' stands. Memo to Lex Gold, when you put a roof on a stand try to make sure it doesn't leak. Saints made one change from Mondays team with Tommy Wright dropping to the bench and Del replacing him. Stuart McCluskey replaced Fyndnet on the subs bench as El Luggino opted for the favoured 4-5-1 formation.
In the end it worked but Saints had to battle all the way for the points. Kicking up the slope for the first half, Saints dominated the game and controlled the midfield with Dasovic and O'Neill looking especially good on the right although Davidson and Il Biscotti struggled on the left on the heavy surface. Phizzy Scott looked a lot better than on Monday but still needs to work at his game whilst Kane looked totally lost.
Saints had the better chances in the first half with the best chance being an attempted lob from Georgio which rebounded off the crossbar. Both Phizzy and Del had good shots blocked by an on-form Chris Reid in the junkies goal whilst Kernghan came close with a header from one of Il Biscottis corners - although any supposed extra work done on set pieces after Mondays debacle seems to have had little effect.
Hibs had a couple of chances in the first half with Walker coming closest with a gloancing header which rebounded off the bar. Main didn't have too much to do but did make a couple of world-class saves. In defence Saints looked by far the better team with Kernaghan and Weir both having good games.
Things changed in the second half and Hibs enjoyed a lot more time on the ball and began to come into the game more. Saints were struggling with only the one front man and time and time again a Saints attack broke down due to a lack of support from the midfield with Del and Kane looking to be increasingly ineffective.
Hibs were denied a penalty claim after 75 mins when Walker was bundled off the ball by Kernaghan. Referee Ian Elsmslie (who had a reasonable game until then apart from a soft yellow card for Dasovic) turned down the claim much to the annoyance of the Leith tinks and the relief of the Saints fans.
With 10 minutes to go Davidson was injured in a clash with 'Smell' Boco and was replaced by Legend with Il Biscotti moving to the left back slot. 6 minutes to go and a Preston inswinger from the right was met by the Head of the Legend and after what seemed to be an age, the ball was in the Hibs goal. After that things resumed the traditional backs-to-the-wall scrambled defence and Saints had Jesus Main to thank for several excellent saves before the final whistle secured the 3 points.
MoM for me was probably Dasovic who had one of his best games of the season. As for the tactics, we still need to push more players up front - too often we're relying on the break of the ball to get an attack going. So here's hoping for a 4-4-2 or 4-3-3 for the cup-tie next week.
Remember to vote on todays ref Ian Elsmlie (Portlethen) - send marks out of 10 to refvote@grange.demon.co.uk