A freezing wind and constant drizzle made the match a tough watch between two teams with aspirations of finishing in the European positions of the cinch Premiership. And with just under a quarter-of-an-hour to play, it looked like the spoils would be shared. Then Elie Youan stepped forward.

The on-loan St Gallen forward is in a rich vein of form and if any player on the pitch was going to change the course of proceedings, it was him. Youan is a powerful runner, tricky and confident. He scored last weekend against Aberdeen and also away at Ross County in midweek but his contribution was more important here. Ewan Henderson did well to find the 23-year-old with a sweeping pass from out wide. Youan took the ball in, cut inside Marcus Fraser and toe-bashed the ball beyond Trevor Carson via the post. With 13 minutes or so remaining, that was it. St Mirren had done little to show that they could score on a rare off-day at home for them. Hibs comfortably held on for a 1-0 victory.

Hibs have now moved above the Buddies into fifth place, a point clear of them. They are now unbeaten in three matches and there are green shoots of a strong second half of the season. The club’s recruitment has been much-maligned this season but the January arrivals have already made a difference. The combative Australian Jimmy Jeggo has given the midfield far more bite, but the star of the show here was defender CJ Egan-Riley, a 20-year-old loan signing from Burnley. A former Manchester City academy player, he was deployed at right-back and absolutely strolled through the match. The travelling fans sang his name throughout and, in just his second appearance for Hibs, looks a right good player.

Hibs players celebrate Elie Youan's goal in a crucial 1-0 win over St Mirren.

Without their main striker Kevin Nisbet, whose hamstring complaint is not serious, the fear was that Hibs would be blunt in attack. In truth, they were, although that was more down to the engineering of chances rather than the finishing of them. St Mirren defended compactly and made it hard to be broken down. While the injury news on Nisbet is bright, Hibs suffered two fresh ones, with Harry McKirdy seen on crutches following an awkward fall and midfielder Joe Newell forced off midway through the second period. Newell played well and was one of the tidier players on the pitch. McKirdy was replaced by another new signing, Middlesbrough loanee Matthew Hoppe, who worked hard enough on his debut.

This defeat will hurt for St Mirren given how much of a fortress the SMiSA Stadium is for them. On an 11-match unbeaten run at home in the league, and fresh from winning 3-1 at Aberdeen, they came into this game backed by a healthy home crowd with high hopes. They lacked imagination – partly down to the conditions – and failed to properly test Hibs keeper David Marshall. It was an afternoon to forget for the Buddies.

Not so, however, for Lewis Stevenson. The last word belongs to the redoubtable left-back, who at the age of 35 has now surpassed Arthur Duncan as Hibs’ record league appearance holder. It was a typically understated yet important performance for the one-club man, who is in a good run of form right now. He’s helped make Hibs harder to beat, and in a league of fine margins, that quality is going to be so important at the business end of the season.

How Elie Youan's magic gave Hibs crucial win at St Mirren - but a new signing really catches the eye