St Mirren 1-1 Hibs: Weather spoils beautiful game

Published on Monday 23 November 2009 08:39

THERE are days when the beautiful game turns downright ugly. This was one of them. A gale blowing overhead, torrential rain falling incessantly on the turf at St Mirren Park making underfoot conditions treacherous and rendering any hope of classy football redundant.

Nevertheless, the their credit, the players of Hibs and St Mirren served up an entertaining contest – particularly in the opening 45 minutes – on an afternoon when it was simply a case of rolling up the sleeves, gritting the teeth and getting on with it rather than seeking to knock the ball around in style.

Even so, amid the murky gloom, one moment of brilliance from Derek Rioran shone a beacon of dazzling light on proceedings, the Scotland striker taking a pass from Liam Miller, stepping inside to leave Saints defender Jack Ross for dead and then dispatching a trademark shot from almost 30 yards which left Buddies goalkeeper Paul Gallacher grasping thin air.

It was, Riordan declared, payback time having heard Gallacher had been poking fun at his goalscoring efforts as the pair had trained for Scotland's friendly against Wales in Cardiff the previous weekend.

But St Mirren boss Gus MacPherson could only groan in frustration as he, like possibly everyone else within the ground, knew exactly what was coming as did his Easter Road counterpart John Hughes who said: "Derek is capable of doing that.

"It's not just that he caught it sweet, he gets all kinds of movement on the ball."

So often such a strike from Riordan has proved to be all the difference. Unfortunately for the Edinburgh club on this occasion it didn't prove to be enough to give Hibs their first win in Paisley since Mixu Paatelainen and Paul Hartley claimed the goals at the old Love Street almost 11 years ago, at a time when both clubs were fighting it out in the First Division.

Just as Willie Collum was about to signal the end of the two minutes he had added to the first half proceedings, Saints were awarded a free-kick, the referee's assistant Graham Chambers raising his flag to indicate that, at least in his opinion, Hibs defender Ian Murray was guilty of impeding Saints striker Michael Higdon.

The upshot was the sight of Chris Innes rising high above everyone at the back post to bullet a header beyond the helpless Graham Stack. There was time only for the game to kick off again before the players were heading up the tunnel for the sanctuary of the dressingrooms.

It was a decision which annoyed Hughes who said: "It was a cheap foul, not much in it. Big Higdon was backing in, Nid (Murray] was standing up strongly but the linesman gets his flag up quickly and it cost us."

Having said that, though, Hughes conceded his side should have dealt with the situation far better than they did. He said: "When the ball comes into your box you have to go and head it, that's the bottom line. For them to get a free header on the stroke of half-time was very disappointing."

As MacPherson argued, however, it was no more than Saints deserved, the home side having made full use of having that gale-force wind behind them as Higdon and Billy Mehmet, perhaps not the most sophisticated of frontmen, put themselves about to good effect, buffeting a reshaped Hibs defence as much they were by the strong wind.

Hibs goalkeeper Stack had already thrust out an instinctive boot to block a close-range shot from Steven Thomson and then pushed away a net-bound effort from Stephen McGinn before Riordan's intervention, while Hughes' side also survived two loud claims for a penalty.

But Riordan's sixth goal of the season left Saints momentarily stunned, a period during which Hibs could well have put the game beyond them, the Easter Road striker scuffing a shot straight at Gallacher before the Buddies No.1 did well to beat away a powerful shot from Abdessalam Benjelloun.

Hughes said: "I felt St Mirren were the better side in the first half and we scored against the run of play. In those conditions it was a case of getting the ball as far as you could, backing it up and playing off mistakes. I felt we were good at that in the first half and, at the end of the day, a draw was probably a fair result."

In comparison to that incident-packed first period the second half was a disappointing affair, Hibs rarely able to harness the wind as Saints had done with Colin Nish, like Anthony Stokes whom he had replaced, being caught offside too often in his eagerness to get that winning goal.

Again, though, Hibs missed the ability of Merouane Zemmama to open up an opposition defence, the little Moroccan playmaker missing out as Hughes decided not to risk him as he recovers from the groin problem sustained against Aberdeen which prevented him playing in the derby.

Given the treacherous conditions no-one would question Hughes' decision, the manager having revealed the day before that Zemmama's participation was "touch and go" and that he had the remainder of the season to consider rather than simply a single match.

A third successive away draw, then, for Hibs but one which stretches their unbeaten run to eight matches, providing a measure of the consistency which Hughes, like every manager, is seeking and comfort enough for the Hibs boss who has consistently tipped St Mirren as this season's dark horses, a side more than capable of taking a top six place. He said: "I think there will be many a team which comes through to Paisley and finds it difficult. I would have liked three points, but a draw was fair."

MacPherson, naturally, disagreed, describing it as two points lost by his side, arguing his players had created enough good chances to win the game"

It was a valid point but Hibs under Hughes, as witnessed by events at Ibrox and Tynecastle in recent weeks, have become a much harder team to beat as their record of conceding just nine goals in 12 league matches would suggest.

The Hibs boss said: "To be honest, I feel that earlier in the season this was a game we would have lost. But I can see a spirit coming amongst them, there was a desire to make sure we are doing the fundamentals right and working hard.

"Possibly the example was set by Liam Miller, I thought he was outstanding, a great example that everyone else tries to follow."