Hibs settle for draw as Donaldson sees red

Published on Saturday 15 September 2007 17:24

Falkirk 1

Mouthino (47)

Hibs 1

Donaldson (pen, 4)

Clayton Donaldson was saint and sinner as Hibs were forced to settle for a point against Falkirk despite the former York City striker scoring his first goal in a green and white shirt after only four minutes.

Donaldson was booked for over-celebrating his goal and was stunned to be shown the red card seven minutes from the interval as he tangled with Falkirk’s Stephen Thomson.

The Bairns took full advantage of having an extra man, Pedro Mouthino equalising two minutes into the second-half before they, too, were left short of numbers as Darren Barr saw red for a second bookable offence.

And Falkirk found themselves down to nine men as Patrick Cregg, having been booked along with Thierry Gathuessi for an ugly touchline exchange, earned himself a second yellow card for a foul on the Hibs player two minutes from time.

Hibs boss John Collins sprang a surprise, giving new signing Mickael Antoine-Curier his first start, the French star forming a new-look strikeforce with Donaldson.

And it was Donaldson who got Hibs off to yet another dream start, his charging run into the Falkirk penalty area halted by Barr’s lunging tackle, leaving referee Willie Collum with no alternative but to point to the spot.

Donaldson himself stepped up to confidently hammer the ball past Bairns goalkeeper Tim Krul but his celebrations earned him a yellow card which proved to be costly when he was shown a second in the 38th minute.

Donaldson appeared to have taken the ball as he slid in on Falkirk’s Stephen Thomson on the touchline. Thomson, to his credit, immediately jumped to his feet but referee Collum saw the incident differently, having no hesitation in ordering off the Hibs player who departed protesting his innocence.

Until that point Hibs had enjoyed the bulk of possession against a side battling to end a run of four successive defeats although Russell Latapy’s pass left Graham Barrett with a free run in on Yves Ma-Kalambay. But he hesitated momentarily, allowing the Hibs goalkeeper to use his gigantic frame to block his shot.

The Falkirk goal enjoyed two close escapes, Thierry Gathuessi bursting forward to fire a left foot effort just wide before his fellow full-back David Murphy worked a short corner with Filipe Morais only to see his net-bound shot deflected off target.

From the resultant corner Morais almost caught out Krul with an inswinging cross which the Falkirk goalkeeper did well to push over his bar.

Donaldson’s dismissal, however, put a different complexion on the match with Hibs left to play the final 50 odd minutes with only ten men.

And Falkirk made their numerical superiority pay just two minutes after the interval, Gerard Aafjes playing the ball in for Pedro Mouthino whose near post shot was blocked by Hibs skipper Rob Jones. But the ball fell kindly for the Bairns striker who made the most of his second chance to equalise.

But Falkirk themselves reduced to ten men in the 54th minute as Darren Barr, who had been booked for a first-half foul on Antoine-Curier, stupidly threw the ball away in disgust after a throw-in decision went against him. The result, a second booking and an early bath.

There was further controversy as Gathuessi and Patrick Clegg clashed on the halfway line, the Hibs star rising to push his opponent to the ground, referee Collum on this occasion settling for a yellow card for each. Gathuessi in particular could consider himself lucky.

Thomson went close for the home side with a rasping drive from 25 yards before Steven Fletcher brought out the best in Krul as he rose to meet fellow substitute Alan O’Brien’s cross and then send a snap shot just wide.

Neither side was prepared to settle for a point, however, and play raged from end-to-end as they sought that all decisive second goal, Hibs having gone to three at the back in order to leave O’Brien supporting Fletcher up-front.

Latapy went closest, however, with a jinking run and a powerful left-foot shot which Ma-Kalambay collected at the second attempt.

Cregg saw red for a lunge on Gathuessi before Mouthino lofted a knock-down from Michael Higdon over the bar.

Falkirk: Krul, Ross (Aafjes 22), Barr, Milne, Holden, Riera (Scobbie 61), Thomson, Cregg, Mouthino, Latapy, Barrett (Higdon 70). Subs not used: Olejnik, Finnigan, Craig, Arfield.

Hibs: Ma-Kalambay, Gathuessi, Hogg, Jones, Murphy, Morais (O’Brien 46), Kerr, Beuzelin (Joneleit 61), Stevenson, Antoine-Curier (Fletcher 46), Donaldson. Subs not used: McNeil, Benjelloun, O’Brien, Fletcher, Zemmama,Shiels.

Referee: William Collum.

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