Hibs 1-1 St Johnstone: Miller hands Saints a point

Disappointed John Hughes and his players may be but, rather than moan, they are content to adopt the maxim that what goes around comes around, that they've been the benefactors of some questionable rulings in the same way they believe they've been the victims over the past couple of weeks.

What might have happened at Fir Park had influential midfielder Liam Miller not been sent off after just half an hour, referee Euan Norris later admitting he'd been over-harsh on the Republic of Ireland star by downgrading his red card to yellow?

And, again, could St Johnstone have escaped Easter Road with even a single point had goalkeeper Graeme Smith been sent off by whistler Alan Muir after bringing down Hibs striker Colin Nish inside the penalty area with only two minutes on the clock?

Today, of course, the outcome of both matches had the officials acted differently can only be the subject of conjecture, but the fact remains that Hibs have now taken just two points from a possible 15 over the course of the past month and it has been their own shortcomings to blame rather than dubious calls by the men in the middle.

As goalkeeper Graham Stack acknowledged, the talk swirling round Hibs has suddenly gone from the possibility of Champions League football and splitting Rangers and Celtic to Hughes's players holding off Dundee United for third and now in some circles, with Motherwell, thanks to an unbeaten run of nine league games, and Hearts, with three successive wins, surging up the table, to whether they can even hold on to a place in the top six.

Given they remain 15 points ahead of seventh-placed Aberdeen with just six matches remaining before the split would appear to be a redundant topic of conversation, but the race for third place and the tag of "best of the rest" has suddenly become a four-way fight rather than, as appeared a few weeks ago, a near certainty for Hibs.

Stack, however, was today left to reflect on just how different it might have been had Norris and Muir acted differently to the scenarios with which they were confronted. He said: "Last week we had ten men for an hour and if St Johnstone had been left with ten for the best part of 90 minutes they would have struggled, believe me.

"If it had been me I'd have felt I was off, 100 per cent. As a goalkeeper if you make contact with a player and not the ball inside the box the chances are it is a goal-scoring opportunity. But we've had our touch of luck: Penalties for us, late goals, decisions going our way and over the course of the season it does even itself out. Having said that, I think we are now perhaps due a bit of luck."

Smith's challenge on Nish did result in a penalty, allowing Anthony Stokes to step up and claim his 17th goal of the season as Hibs sought revenge for that 5-1 hammering by Saints in Perth only ten days earlier, the second of three successive defeats in the space of just six days which did so much to provoke the pangs of anxiety which have now descended on large proportions of the Easter Road support.

It was the perfect start on a day crammed with emotion and nostalgia, the match preceded with a minute's applause in tribute to former Hibs stars Alan Gordon and Bobby Smith who had died within a few days of each other while this game would be the last played before the old East Stand, a part of the ground favoured by so many fans.

Thereafter, however, things didn't quite go to plan, Saints using their superior height and physical presence to force Hughes' players on to the back foot although Stack remained, in the main, untroubled.

As the match progressed and the Perth outfit became more and more desperate, Hibs found themselves able to hit on the counter-attack only for Derek Riordan (twice) and Nish to pass up great opportunities to claim that all-important second goal which undoubtedly would have secured a vital win and, with it, retention of third place.

As it was, Yogi's players paid the penalty, literally, as Muir, below, adjudged Liam Miller to have used an arm as Murray Davidson tried to help on a Dave Mackay cross, the decision infuriating the little midfielder who found himself booked for dissent, one of eight players shown the yellow by a card-happy referee.

However, once the dust had settled and Miller had a chance to see the incident again, he was forced to accept the ref had, on this occasion, got it right although Hughes insisted the decision was "harsh" with the ball appearing to strike his player rather than any intent having been shown to deliberately block the ball.

Miller said: "I was adamant at the time it wasn't a penalty but I've seen it again and, if I am honest, the referee has got it right. The ball came at me quickly. It wasn't deliberate but my hands were up higher than I thought and that's what the referee told me.

"I can see why he gave it but I was disappointed because it happened so quickly."

And like Stack, Miller was more unhappy at again losing precious points in the dying minutes of a match, Saints' Liam Craig having converted the spot-kick. He said: "We had enough chances to kill the game off and did not take them. At 1-0 up the game isn't over. It's pretty annoying things have slipped to the extent we've taken just two points out of 15 but we'll get back into training, work hard and look forward to next week. There are still a lot of games to be played. Third place is still up for grabs and we feel we can do it."

Stack, too, believes Hughes's players are more than capable of silencing their newfound critics. He said: "We'll see how United cope being up there in third.

"We'll be reading about them. I'm sure you boys (the Press] will have plenty to write about how great they are doing, what a fantastic season they are having and how badly we have been doing in recent weeks.

"In all fairness, we have given you plenty of ammunition because we have been poor. We've been better in the past few weeks but we've lost a goal in the last ten minutes in the past two matches which have cost us four points and third place. We need to instil that belief and desire that we can hang on and win games.

"Going on a run of results gets that belief and confidence. I remember being at Leeds when, on paper, our team was magnificent, but we ended up being relegated. When you get in that rut it's hard to get out of it so the quicker we do it the better."