Hibs 1-0 Kilmarnock: Deek's ton worth the wait

And how fitting that his old buddy and long-time team-mate Garry O'Connor was among those who rose to their feet, as they have done so many times before, to acclaim a strike worthy of the admission money alone.

O'Connor, back in Edinburgh recovering from injury while Alex McLeish's Birmingham City crashed out of the FA Cup to crisis club Portsmouth, didn't hang around much longer, leaving convinced that, once again, Riordan had provided the match-winner.

He wasn't wrong, Riordan's 12th goal of the season bringing some much-needed relief to boss John Hughes, his players and fans as it ended a run of five matches without a win, a record which had prompted much fretting as to whether Hibs could last the distance in the race for Europe.

The fact Riordan's opportunity came from the contentious award of a free-kick after Killie's James Fowler was adjudged to have pushed over Danny Galbraith even though the ball appeared to be running away from him, didn't matter one jot to Hughes, who said: "Without it you wouldn't have seen that wonderful goal."

It was, however, as Hughes acknowledged, perhaps the sort of break his side needed following a desperate period in which they'd picked up just two points out of a possible 15. He said: "It's part and parcel of football, some go for you, others against.

"It has seemed as if Lady Luck has deserted us a bit over the last couple of weeks, which have been hard for the whole club."

The deaths of former Hibs stars Alan Gordon and Bobby Smith along with that of well-known fan Maude MacFarlane at the age of 93 allied to the disappearance of the East Stand, an area of Easter Road close to the heart of many supporters, had, Hughes insisted, all contributed to making the past few weeks a highly emotional time for one and all.

On the park, big decisions had also appeared to have gone against Hibs although Hughes refused to make capital of them, resolutely adhering to his stance that the breaks go for and against every club.

Even so, Hughes conceded, it appeared as if Hibs' ill-fortune was set to continue as Alan Gow, with a hamstring problem, and then Sol Bamba, injured in an early clash with Cameron Bell which saw the Kilmarnock goalkeeper stretchered off, departing before half an hour was over.

Hughes said: "Those two coming off did disrupt. I thought Alan had been looking lively, as he had been in training all week, while Sol is a big player for us, he's a big physical presence in there although I have to say young Paul Hanlon was outstanding when he replaced him."

The feeling of "here we go again" was only compounded when Abdessalam Benjelloun, who had replaced Gow, saw his penalty saved after referee Stevie O'Reilly, rightly in the judgment of Killie boss Jimmy Calderwood, had adjudged defender Manuel Pascali of an illegal challenge on the Moroccan.

Benji, who scored the winner from the spot on Killie's last visit to Easter Road, however, offered a couple of excuses which were as weak as his effort from the spot, blaming the poor state of the pitch and then, lamely, claiming he was out of breath having run 30 yards or so to ensure none of his team-mates got their hands on the ball.

He said: "I don't want to criticise the pitch too much but it's horrendous and you can't play on it. Only Motherwell's is worse in Scotland. Anyone can miss a penalty but the pitch didn't help."

Benji was, of course, echoing the words of Riordan in the build-up to this game although Hughes thereafter insisted he wouldn't allow the less-than-pristine surface to be used as an excuse and it certainly didn't seem to hamper either the Moroccan's team-mate Anthony Stokes or St Johnstone's Liam Craig both netting from 12 yards a week earlier.

Despite Stokes doing so, Benji insisted there was no question of him retaining the spot-kick duties. He said: "Anthony took the penalty because I wasn't on the pitch. If I'm on I take them and I'll take the next one despite this miss."

Even so, Benji admitted to being as relieved as anyone to see Riordan crash home that free-kick, bringing up a century of goals when you add in his five during his ill-fated spell with Celtic and four during a short loan period with Cowdenbeath.

He said: "It was important to get the three points and I think we deserved them. If it had finished 0-0 I would have been more disappointed."

While Kilmarnock provided dogged resistance they rarely looked like troubling Hibs, the only moment of real concern coming early in the match when Chris Maguire turned Bamba too easily only to blast the ball into the side netting having left himself with only Graham Stack to beat.

In fact, the Hibs goalkeeper had only one save to make, just five minutes from the end, easily gathering a tame Maguire header, a statistic which underlines why Killie have managed just three away goals in 14 league matches this season.

And the Ayrshire outfit had substitute goalkeeper Robinson to thank for holding out so long, the debutant throwing himself full-length to push away a Riordan shot destined for the top corner and then getting his fingers to a precisely-placed Stokes' shot, referee O'Reilly and his assistant Gordon Middleton the only people in the ground not to have seen it as they refused to award Hibs a corner.

Hibs' persistence, though, paid dividends with that late free-kick, one which hauled them on to 47 points, the total they amassed in finishing sixth last season with ten matches still to be played. This victory all but sealed their place in the top half again but, as Hughes has stated, the target this season is much higher.

Despite the seeds of doubt which had been sown over the last month, Hughes said: "To be honest, I don't see too much wrong. What the boys have given me this season has been fantastic.

"I am delighted with where we are, still in there fighting for that third spot that will bring European football. Only the game at St Johnstone was a right bad one but it is nice to get back to winning ways and the way we scored the goal was fitting to win any match and I was delighted with it.

"We had that early disruption with the injuries and then the penalty so you have to give the boys all the credit for digging out the win."