WHILE the Old Firm fight it out at the top of the SPL, the three-way battle for third is proving just as engrossing and could also remain unresolved until the last few games of the season.
Motherwell have been the form team outwith the big two for much of the campaign, and Dundee United have been there or thereabouts too, but this hard-fought victory for Hibernian, achieved thanks to a piece of real quality from Colin Nish, may repre
sent the turning of the tide in favour of the Edinburgh club. Although Hibs had Ian Murray sent off ten minutes from time, they deserved the three points.
"Obviously Motherwell are above us, so it's a great scalp," the Hibs manager Mixu Paatelainen said afterwards. "Our defence did really well, and I thought we deserved the victory thoroughly. It was a great goal. Nishy kept his composure so well."
Motherwell manager Mark McGhee was not too downhearted on a night which saw his team drop to fourth thanks to United's point at Celtic. "It was a very close game between] two well-matched sides," he said. "The goal was poor – poor defending from us."
Motherwell still have a game in hand on Hibs, and two on United, but their run-in to the split is by far the most difficult. Besides playing both of those rivals they play Celtic twice and also meet Rangers. Hibs also have to play Rangers, but their other matches are against Kilmarnock and St Mirren.
There was an unfamiliar look to the Hibs defence, and that perhaps partially explained the hesitancy with which the home team began the game. With Thierry Gathuessi injured and Abderraouf Zarabi on the bench, Martin Canning and Ian Murray took over at right and left-back respectively. Up front Nish, like Canning, returned to the team after being cup-tied against Rangers, while in midfield Filipe Morais and Merouane Zemmama were the other additions.
McGhee brought Steve McGarry in to replace Keith Lasley, and also gave a debut to Bob Malcolm, who slotted in at right-back.
His team began far more brightly, and had apparently been issued with shoot-on- sight instructions. Twice in the opening few minutes Ross McCormack let fly at goal, and then Stephen Hughes produced an effort which Yves Makalambay managed to gather properly only at the second attempt.
Towards the midway point of the half, however, Hibs began to make inroads through the middle, and Zemmama had three chances in as many minutes to open the scoring. His first attempt was a shot which Graeme Smith parried out. Steven Fletcher followed up, but the goalkeeper again saved.
Zemmama next came close with a free-kick which he curled in from the far left only for Smith to turn it round the post. Having trained his sights on goal, the Moroccan then embarked on a solo run. He left three Motherwell players trailing in his wake and then shot from 20 yards, but again Smith was equal to the challenge.
The game needed a goal, and it came six minutes into the second half. It might be described as a solo effort by Nish, but the big striker owed a lot to his colleagues for the space they created for him. Collecting a pass from Zemmama, Nish raced down the left and into the box. He feinted to pass left and instead cut inside two defenders, then skipped past a third. For a second he thought about shooting, but, seeing Smith come out of his goal, first steered the ball clear of the keeper and only then shot into the unguarded net.
Motherwell did not let their heads go down, though, and moments later Malcolm had the ball in the net after Makalambay had only blocked a free-kick. The flag was already up for offside, so the effort did not count.
With ten minutes to play Murray was dismissed for a second yellow card. His first had come after he impeded Ross McCormack; his second was for a sliding challenge on Hughes. The referee indicated that he had also committed other fouls before the first booking, but even so it was a harsh decision on an evening when the left-back was far from the only player indulging in meaty tackles. Among them was Motherwell's Malcolm, whose misdemeanours included a minor push on a ball boy. Paul Hanlon came on to shore up the defence, and Hibs held on.
Hibernian: Makalambay, Canning, Hogg, Jones, I Murray, Morais (Hanlon 81), Zemmama (Benjelloun 77), Kerr (Chisholm 43), Rankin, Nish, Fletcher. Subs not used: McNeil, McCann, O'Brien, Donaldson. Sent Off: Murray (80). Booked: Murray, Nish.
Motherwell: G Smith, Malcolm (D Smith 82), Reynolds, Craigan, Hammell, Hughes, Fitzpatrick, McGarry (Lappin 58), Porter, McCormack, Clarkson. Subs not used: Daniels, McLean, Lasley, C Murray, Murphy. Booked: Hammell.
The full article contains 822 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
