With the pressure on Paul Heckingbottom after eight league matches on the bounce without a victory, it felt like a must-win game for Hibs against Ross County. The match had a sprightly start when, in the fourth minute, Swedish midfielder Melker Hallberg hit the crossbar with a free kick after Flo Kamberi was fouled just outside the box. Then, in the 22nd minute, the Swiss forward forced a decent save from County goalkeeper Ross Laidlaw, the league leader in saves.
Unfortunately, however, a couple of nice moves from Hibs could not save the first half from being pedestrian at best. A slow game was understandable for Ross County who were recovering from a 6-0 thrashing away to Celtic last weekend, but the Hibs fans were beginning to make their frustrations heard.
After a tepid first half, the game roared into life thanks to Daryl Horgan’s fine goal. Heckingbottom’s half time substitute made an immediate impact, collecting from Lewis Naismith’s lovely ball over the top before taking it in his stride and finishing with aplomb, allowing the Easter Road faithful to erupt. It was the first bit of real quality we had seen.
Less than ten minutes after the opener, things got even better for Hibs when Scott Allan picked up a loose ball and cut in from the left before hitting the back of the net with a precise effort. The former Celtic man, arguably Hibs’ best player on the day, coolly rifled a shot past Laidlaw into the opposite corner to get the home support off their feet. However, County’s defense will be disappointed in the space they offered the Glaswegian, backing off until it was too late.
It seemed like this match was very much done and dusted when County’s Ewan Henderson made way for Brian Graham. With two strikers on the pitch, County seemed resigned to play route-one, hit and hope football. Then, in the 74th minute, the substitute curled a sublime effort into the top corner, cutting in from the left and firing beyond Hibs goalkeeper Chris Maxwell, breathing life into the away side. The home team were obviously flustered by the goal when, not even a minute later, Graham found himself with a glorious heading opportunity to equalise inside the box. However, he could not direct a free header on target as Heckingbottom, we can only assume, emitted a sigh of relief.
The entire atmosphere was now starting to change as the fans’ apprehension became palpable, counting the minutes until the full-time whistle. Their hope was punctured, though, as Joe Chalmers met the ball with a sweet left-footed strike from about 20 yards, his shot nestling into the bottom corner.
While the small number of traveling fans celebrated in the corner, the 15,000-strong home support made their resentment known with jeers and boos, piling the pressure on Heckingbottom. Fans couldn’t leave the ground soon enough. Sadly, this feeling is now becoming the norm for Hibs supporters, making it nine league games in a row without a win, a run stretching back to the opening day of the season. Things can only improve from here. Can’t they?
Image: Chas McQuarrie