Nish saves face for Hibs

Published on Saturday 29 November 2008 10:01

Hibs 1 - 1 Falkirk Super sub Colin Nish stepped off the bench to rescue a point which Hibs barely deserved following a lacklustre performance against Falkirk.

Having hit the heights against Motherwell, the Easter Road outfit plumbed the depths at the Falkirk Stadium as the Bairns outplayed them for much of the match, finally making the breakthrough as skipper Darren Barr nodded home Burton O'Brien's cross.

His goal looked enough to win if for the Bairns but Nish was handily placed to nod home after captain Rob Jones ahd outjumped Falkirk goalkeeper Scott Flinders to meet Alan O'Brien's corner with just seven minutes remaining.

It may have been Russell Latapy Day at the Falkirk Stadium, but there was no room for sentiment as far as John Hughes was concerned, the Bairns manager leaving his former Easter Road team-mate sitting on the bench where he was joined by ex-Hibs kids Dermot McCaffrey and Sean Lynch.

The good news for Hibs was that injury worries Sol Bamba, Dean Shiels and Fabian Yantorno had all recovered from their respective knocks, allowing boss Mixu Paatelainen to name the same side which had taken Motherwell apart last week.

Burton O'Brien carved out the first chance of the game, cutting in from the left and dispatching a shot which rippled the sidenetting before Derek Riordan took a Rob Jones knockdown from Chris Hogg's free-kick on the drop , his effort stopped at the second attempt by Falkirk goalkeeper Flinders.

However, that was a rare threat from the Edinburgh club as the Bairns dominated the opening 45 minutes, pinning Hibs down inside their own half for long spells but, despite having the vast majority of possession, Hughes' side were unable to over-trouble Yves Ma-Kalambay in the visiting goal.

The big Belgian, though, looked less than convincing as he got down to push an O'Brien free-kick round the post but did much better a minute later as he clutched Michael Higdon's header at full-stretch.

A Patrick Cregg foul on Derek Riordan 25 yards out allowed Steven Fletcher the opportunity to test Flinders, the goalkeeper getting the merest of touches to divert the ball wide of the target.

Hibs were as poor as they had been superb at Fir Park last week, Paatelainen would no doubt have been relieved to see his side head up the tunnel at half-time on level terms following a lacklustre performance in which the Easter Road side hadn't helped their cause with poor distribution which simply allowed Falkirk to come at them time and again.

Falkirk had been superb in those opening 45 minutes, constantly in the faces of their opponents, not giving themm a chance to put their foot on the ball and they continued in similar vein, hemming Hibs deep into their own territory on the restart without managing to overstretch Ma-Kalambay.

As the Bairns continued to hold the upper-hand without breaking the deadlock they were twice almost made to pay, Flinders failing to cut out Derek Riordan's corner only for Sol Bamba to head over before Steven Fletcher somehow managed to nod David van Zanten's cross wide from just two yards out.

Falkirk, however, survived those scares and deservedly took the lead in the 68th minute, Burton O'Brien's cross from the left leaving Ma-Kalambay in no-man's land as Barr stole in at the back post to head home.

Such had been Hibs play it was hard to see them getting back into the match but they did just that in the 83rd minute as substitute Alan O'Brien fired in a corner from the left leaving skipper Rob Jones to outjump Flinders, the ball falling for Nish, who had replaced the ineffectual Riordan, to nod home from a couple of yards out.

Nish almost claimed a second three minutes later, stealing in to meet Alan O'Brien's cross only to stab the ball wide.

Falkirk: Flinders, McNamara, Barr, Bullen, Holden, Riera (Arfield 86), McBride, Cregg, B O'Brien, Higdon, Lovell. Subs not used: Olejnik, Barrett, Latapy, M Stewart, McCaffrey, Lynch.

Hibs: Ma-Kalambay, van Zanten, Hogg, Jones, Murray, Shiels, Bamba, Chisholm (A O'Brien 65), Rankin, Fletcher, Riordan (Nish 75). Subs not used: McNeil, Yantorno, Keenan, Thicot, Stevenson.

Referee: Alan Muir.