THIS was a curate's egg of a performance from Hibernian, parts of which were excellent while others left plenty of room for improvement. Over the course of 90 lively minutes they had Steven Fletcher to thank for a brace of well-taken goals which cond
emned Dundee United to the backmarker position in the SPL.
On the plus side, Mixu Paatelainen's men began this match eagerly and dominated the contest for 20 minutes or so before taking the lead. Ian Murray showed drive to win the ball on the left flank and skill to pinpoint Colin Nish with an inviting cross to the back post. Unselfishly, the big striker cushioned a header for Fletcher to score his first competitive goal for Hibs since March.
For whatever reason, Hibs took their foot off the accelerator at that point. Perhaps the combination of Joe Keenan and Souleymane Bamba in central midfield wasn't the most creative and the 4-3-1-2 formation used by Paatelainen struggled to create width after Craig Levein changed the shape of his team and made it difficult for Murray and David Van Zanten to get forward from the full-back positions.
Francisco Sandaza led United's attacks with energy and the visitors were unfortunate not to restore parity when the former Valencia player found Scott Robertson in the box. Robertson's flick, as Levein rued later, would have eluded every other goalkeeper in the SPL, but the towering presence of Yves Ma-Kalambay thwarted the danger.
The Belgian goalkeeper's solid display was one of the reasons Hibs collected all three points, though he could do little to stop Lee Wilkie's powerful shot from outside the box in the closing seconds of the first-half. "I'd hit the first shot well enough and it rebounded straight back to me," recalled the United centre-half. "I had another go and nine times out of ten it would probably have gone anywhere except the bottom corner."
Although United were the more fluent side as the second half unfolded – they should have gone in front from a counter-attack which saw Craig Conway pinpoint Jon Daly – Hibs took the lead with a thrilling counter-punch of their own. By this time, Paatelainen had dispensed with Keenan and sent on Derek Riordan to add a fresh dimension in attack.
The striker, making his debut after returning from Celtic, was far from match-fit but his introduction acted as a tonic for the team as well as the crowd. He was involved in the second goal, finding Dean Shiels who fed Nish on the right. Again the striker showed good awareness by rolling the ball into the path of Fletcher who hit the ball early and gave Lukasz Zaluska no chance.
Any thoughts that Hibs would return to the driving seat were erased when Bamba, another making his debut, picked up a second yellow card for a rash challenge on the touchline and was dismissed in the 68th minute.
With three strikers and two attacking midfielders among his remaining ten men, Paatelainen had to earn his corn by re-drafting the side, switching Murray from left-back to right midfield and introducing John Rankin and Ross Chisholm. It turned out to be enough to hold the fort, though United created any amount of near things during the closing 20 minutes . "The boys showed great spirit defending that lead," observed the Hibs' manager.
Without a win in the SPL this season and only three victories in their last 22 games, United have lost the art of punishing opponents. On the face of things they have too many decent players to linger near the bottom of the pile for long. Wilkie, for one, believes there's no need to press the panic button, yet.
"We also dominated the game against Kilmarnock the week before and it does become frustrating," said Wilkie. "If this was to continue, it would be worrying. But we are playing reasonably well."
Tipped by many as the side best equipped to challenge the Old Firm this season, Wilkie urged his colleagues not to lose the faith. "If we keep playing like that every week then we'll win more than we lose," he added.
Riordan is relishing attacking ethosGIVEN a hero's welcome by the home crowd when he made an appearance as a second-half substitute against Dundee United, Derek Riordan believes he can reap the reward of the brisk style of play favoured by manager Mixu Paatelainen once he's gained full fitness.
At the start of his second period at Easter Road, Riordan played a cameo role in Hibernian's winning goal, finding Dean Shiels, who passed to Colin Nish to set up Steven Fletcher's second in a 2-1 victory.
"The gaffer wants to play attacking football and that's what every striker likes to hear," said the forward. "He wants the ball played forward as quickly as possible and you saw how well that worked at the second goal we scored. He knows, as a striker himself, how frustrating it can feel when the ball doesn't get played to you quickly enough.
"Fletcher is on fire at the minute and now the goals are coming everything is going well for him. He's come on a lot and you can see his confidence is high. He was still a young player when I was here before and the main partnership was myself and Garry (O'Connor]."
Riordan, who scored 64 goals in his previous 117 appearances for the club, relished the sense of homecoming after a dispiriting couple of seasons at Celtic Park.
"I wasn't nervous (about coming back], the reception ( from the supporters] gave me confidence going into the game," he added. "
It was 50-50 as to whether I'd even get on the bench. I trained on Saturday for the first time (in weeks] because of the tightness coming from my back.
"I don't see why we can't challenge for that third spot in the league. Dundee United are a good side and we defeated them with ten men.
"I would say I'm a better player now than when I left two years ago, particularly defensively. I'm more experienced and when you have ups and downs you gain more mental strength."
The full article contains 1055 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
