Hibernian 1 - 0 Kilmarnock: Riordan to the rescue

Published on Saturday 6 March 2010 20:07

IT'S getting to that stage of the season when every team is looking out for a hero. Kilmarnock unearthed their latest version in stand-in goalkeeper Lee Robinson.

The former Rangers youngster saved a second-half penalty and added another couple of impressive stops to his list of contributions as the Rugby Park side almost secured a valuable point in their ongoing quest to stay clear of relegation.

For Hibs, it had looked as though it may be another day devoid of heroic intervention. But there is no accounting for Derek Riordan. The enigmatic striker stepped up to curl a delightful 76th-minute free-kick up and over the wall and into the top corner of the net and secure them a win that has seemed a long time in coming in recent weeks.

Two points from 15 in their previous five league games had prompted a degree of anxiety in the Easter Road stands as well as in the players. It had also seen them relinquish their hold on third place in the league. But having regained that standing, they will now have to hope that rivals Hearts can do them a favour at Tannadice this afternoon and allow them to hang on to it.

"I'm delighted with the position we are in," said Hibs manager John Hughes. "We are still in there fighting for third spot, which would give us European football. Lady Luck has deserted us a little bit over the last couple of weeks and it's been a hard couple of weeks for the whole club. But all credit to the boys. It's nice to get back to winning ways."

They had the opportunity to take the lead earlier in the match when Abdessalam Benjelloun hit the turf in the penalty area under the attentions of both Manuel Pascali and Fraser Wright. But the Moroccan failed to deliver a repeat of his penalty success against the same side the last time they visited Leith back in October. The attacker blamed the state of the pitch as well as the fact he was in need of a breather following the run which had earned the award, but his 59th-minute effort was too insipid and too close to the keeper.

"The keeper made a fine save to keep us in it and we thought we had weathered the storm, but they went ahead with a goal fit to win any game," admitted Kilmarnock manager Jimmy Calderwood.

It wasn't the first fine save produced by the 23-year-old who had to replace Cammy Bell after he was clattered in a coming together with Hibs' Sol Bamba. The keeper was carried off with a head knock, and the big defender followed 20 minutes after he failed to shrug off a shoulder injury. In between, Hibs also had to switch Alan Gow for Benji, due to a hamstring pull.

Bamba had failed to clear the danger in the 22nd minute, allowing Chris Maguire in, but he slammed his shot into the side netting. An inability to find the target was a feature of the Kilmarnock play. They had a decent amount of possession, but they were always vulnerable on the counter-attack and only forced Graham Stack to get involved on a couple of occasions late in the game.

The Ayrshire club have only scored three times on their travels in the league this term and their cause was not aided by the absence of Kevin Kyle, who watched from the stand following his midweek sojourn to Turkey for a trial with Russian side Spartak Nalchik.

His manager, who was angry that he found out about the trip from a journalist rather than the player himself, said the targetman had picked up a groin injury, but admitted that he would not have featured anyway.

At the other end, the Kilmarnock defenders were doing their best to protect the young Robinson on his SPL debut, but they needn't have bothered. He was capable of looking after himself. Hibs tested him with a long-range effort from Riordan midway through the first half, and Stokes was denied with another great diving save in the 33rd minute, although the officials caused consternation by awarding the goal-kick. Robinson was equal to another Stokes effort in the 44th minute, and his 50th-minute strike trundled wide, although Robinson again seemed to have it covered.

It took a surge from Hibs substitute Danny Galbraith in the 76th minute to provoke an unlawful challenge from James Fowler, and while Kilmarnock fiercely contested the legitimacy of the award, a free-kick was given, and, from 25 yards out, Riordan produced one of his trademark deadball finishes. "That's the second week in a row that a free-kick has led to goal," said Calderwood. "Last week Craig Brown agreed he didn't think it was a goal and we don't think this one was either. It was a wonderful strike, but the lads are saying it wasn't a free-kick."

"That's part and parcel of football," countered Hughes, "and in the last couple of weeks, plenty has gone against us." Which is exactly the way Kilmarnock would have preferred it.

As the final minutes ebbed away, Stack did have to make a save when Chris Maguire directed a header on target but it was a poor effort and easily gathered.