Blackpool 1 - 2 Hibernian: Blackpool rocked as trip to the seaside proves a tonic for Hibs

Published on Sunday 8 August 2010 13:34

IF Hibs needed a pick-me-up after the disappointments of their Continental foray, they found it at the seaside closer to home.

With their Europa League exit still hurting, redemption came in the form of a victory over a team heading for the English Premier League.

The 6-2 aggregate hammering from Slovenians NK Maribor showed the Easter Road side had hard work galore in front of them to be ready for the SPL kick-off against Motherwell on Sunday, and they completed stage one of the build up by grafting well for this win.

The early stages were worrying for manager John Hughes as the home side took the lead through Jason Euell and saw play-off hero Charlie Adam, the former Rangers player who dashed off to meet up with the Scotland squad for this week's friendly with Sweden, strike the bar with a trademark free-kick.

However, Hibs recovered well and equalised with a rare header from Derek Riordan, a reported possible target for the Seasiders, and then snatched a morale-boosting victory with Liam Miller's late free-kick.

Hughes was content but still philosophical over his team's early departure from Europe and pleased with their response against Ian Holloway's unimpressive side.

"Against, don't forget, a Premier League team, we played some really good football, especially after the first 20 minutes," he said. "

We played some good stuff in the second half, although there's still plenty to add to it, and I'm honest enough to say I felt we rode our luck for the first 15 or 20 minutes. But once we settled it was a good performance and I'm hoping a win will give them a lift and a little bit of confidence that will do us great going into the first game of the season."

With keeper Graham Stack and Colin Nish both ruled out with calf injuries, and Ian Murray suspended for the opening two matches of the season, Hughes' line-up looked close to that which could start against Motherwell next weekend.

Next on the agenda, then, would be some encouragement in the way of the performance and the result and Hughes, and the sizeable travelling support who finished the match singing about sunshine a couple of hundred miles away, got just that.

For Blackpool, this match was the culmination of a low-key build-up for life amongst the big guns and they appear ill-prepared to take on the likes of Chelsea, Arsenal, Manchester United and Liverpool. However, they still looked likely to prove too strong for Hibs in the opening stages, and took an eighth-minute lead. Former Middlesbrough and Southampton striker Euell burst forward on an arcing run which saw him play an incisive 1-2 with David Vaughan before firing past Graeme Smith.

Nevertheless, the Easter Road men got the rewards for upping their game when they grabbed the equaliser after 32 minutes.

Liam Miller got the break of the ball 35 yards out and fed Michael Hart on the wing and the full-back's cross was perfect for Riordan to head past Gilks from 10 yards out.

Riordan then almost snatched a second goal but Gilks dived low to his left to save the striker's curling free-kick from 25 yards out.

The flow was of the match was disrupted by substitutions on both sides and Mark Brown, introduced for Smith at half-time, had to save from Alex Tayo after the Blackpool substitute had pinched the ball off Sol Bamba

That proved crucial as Hibs grabbed their morale-boosting winner with 11 minutes remaining.

Replacement Danny Galbraith won a free-kick right on the edge of the box and with free kick regular Riordan off the field, Miller curled the set-piece past the wall and into the roof of the net.

Blackpool: Gilks; Eardley (Eastham 84), Baptise, Evatt (Dodd 84), Crainey (Coid 68); Adam (Husband 68), Vaughan (Edwards 68); Demontagnac, Euell, Ormerod (Tayo 68); Taylor-Fletcher (Barhuizen 84). Subs not used: Rachubka, Halstead.

Hibernian: Smith (Brown 46); Hart (Thicot 58), Hogg (Murray 61), Bamba, Hanlon (Stevenson 70); de Graaf (Rankin 64), McBride, Miller, Riordan; Wotherspoon; Stokes (Galbraith 73), Riordan (Currie 76).

Referee: P Dowd