Hibs Move To Seventh With 3-1 Win Over Kilmarnock
Pat Fenlon’s make-shift team moved to seventh place in the SPL and ensured that they will be above city rivals Hearts at the end of the season with a fine 3-1 won over Kilmarnock at Rugby Park.
A first half goal from Scott Robertson and two late goals from Chesterfield bound Eoin Doyle secured the three points in the rearranged game, and the performances of the fringe players will have given Fenlon something to think about ahead of the Scottish Cup Final against Celtic on 26th May.
Fenlon made seven changes to the side that took the three points from Sunday’s Edinburgh Derby.
Goalkeeper Sean Murdoch was handed his first start for the club and teenage defender Jordon Forster retained his place in the centre of the back four whilst top goal scorer Leigh Griffiths dropped out completely.
Before kick-off there was a minute’s applause for Kilmarnock supporter James Haswell who collapsed during the original fixture and later died in hospital.
Hibs started brightly and took the lead in the 10th minutes when David Wotherspoon’s free kick was flicked on by Forster to Scott Robertson who knocked the ball into the net before he collided with Kilmarnock keeper Cameron Bell.
Hibs thought that they had doubled their lead when Robertson latched onto an Alan Maybury cross and hammered the ball into the far corner of the net only to have his effort chalked off for handball.
Just before the break, Eoin Doyle was unlucky with a header from a David Wotherspoon cross which went narrowly past the post.
Kilmarnock started the second half in determined fashion and Murdoch did well to save an Ashcroft header before Jeroen Tesselaar went close from the edge of the box.
A few minutes later Kilmarnock equalised with an Ashcroft header despite the attempts of Wotherspoon on the line.
Kilmarnock almost grabbed the lead when Borja Perez struck the post and Paul Heffernan hooked the rebound over the crossbar, but Hibs fought back and had the ball in the net but Doyle’s header was flagged offside.
The former Sligo Rovers striker had another opportunity on 74 minutes when Alex Harris picked him out just inside the penalty area but his header went just past the post.
With time running out, Hibs grabbed the lead as Harris sent a fantastic low cross into the danger area which Doyle knocked into the net.
In time added on, Ryan McGivern won a header in the box from a corner and the ball found Doyle who hammered in a half volley from 12 yards to secure the points.
Kilmarnock: Bell, Tesselaar, Barbour (Fowler 33′), Ashcroft, O’Hara, Clingan, Ibrahim (Perez 55′), Slater (Sheridan 70′), Heffernan, McKenzie, Johnstone. Substitutes not used: Jaakkola, Hay, Gross, Boyd.
Hibs: Murdoch, Hanlon, Maybury, Forster, Deegan (McGivern 73′), Wotherspoon (Harris 63′), Stevenson, Robertson, Thomson (Horribine 63′), Doyle, Handling. Substitutes not used: Grant, Donaldson, Done, Caldwell.
Referee: Craig Charleston.
Attendance: 3,198.
