Hibee History: First-half display crushes Dons

Hibs 4-2 Aberdeen19 September 1964

HIBS produced a scintillating first-half display to race into a four-goal lead, but were unable to maintain their superiority after the break as Aberdeen stemmed the flow and restored some respectability to the scoreline.

Jubilant Hibees bounded out of Easter Road on a high, but the gloss was taken slightly off the scoreline by the fact the Dons were allowed back into the game.

It certainly provided food for thought for manager Jock Stein. Nonetheless, it would be churlish to dwell on the negatives on a day when the Edinburgh outfit had blown the Dons away in the first half, with a hat-trick from Jim Scott, pictured, and a goal from Willie Henderson seemingly putting Stein's men on easy street.

Scott his first in the opening minute before adding two more around the half-hour mark to complete his treble. Henderson's strike soon after appeared to have put the match beyond the visitors.

But Hibs appeared to take their foot off the gas after the break and Aberdeen took advantage, with a double from Andy Kerr giving them hope of an unlikely comeback. Hibs, however, rallied in time to stem the Aberdeen fightback and were able to emerge with maximum points.

On a day when hat-trick hero Scott stole the show, he was ably assisted by his attacking colleagues such as Neil Martin and Peter Cormack.

If players in the modern era think they get a hard time off the press, they should spare a thought for those who played in the 60s.

Despite an impressive win, several Hibs players were described as being under-par in various match reports from that game, while the last paragraph in The Scotsman report read: "Mr Jock Stein will be conducting his own private inquiry into that alarming second-half collapse."