Hibs memories: Greens show grit

Shanks was preparing a dossier on Hibs for the clubs' Fairs Cup meeting and he said afterwards: "I thought it was a very brutal game. There was terrible feeling in it, but the match was very interesting. We saw all we wanted to see."

The result gave Hibs their first home league victory over Rangers for six seasons. It was an extremely tough game with bookings for Jim Blair, John Graham and Willie Henderson and a fifth ordering-off for Willie Johnston.

Hibs exposed the limitations of a Rangers side which did not look remotely like championship material. The most striking point about Hibs' 3-2 win was their staying power on a glue-pot surface. They ran Rangers into the ground and came from behind on two occasions to snatch the winner with six minutes left.

Anyone who doubted whether Hibs are a well-trained side knows the answer after this fighting performance. It was never a contest of skill because of the needle, but Hibs had several more accomplished players.

They had an immense leader in Pat Stanton, an outstanding sweeper in John Blackley, and a real warhorse in young Willie McEwan, who typified the spirit in the side with a non-stop performance.

But the fact is that Hibs can put out an even stronger team, which raises hopes for their Fairs ties with Liverpool. Blair, doubled his goal tally to four with two smartly-taken equalisers. He was signed to score goals, and now he is starting to pay off.

Jet-paced Arthur Duncan caused a lot of trouble in the Rangers back division and supplied a wonderful cross to the far post for Blair's second goal. Hibs' defence conceded two bad goals and the Ibrox wingers were given a great deal of room at times. Apparently, the ball was deflected when Johnson's cross eluded Roy Baines' hands for the opening goal in 34 minutes. It slithered through the mud to Derek Johnstone, who had a tap-in. Blair equalised six minutes later after a Jimmy O'Rourke shot was blocked. Henderson was booked for a foul on Stanton, and a rough contest became rougher. Just on half-time there was a flare-up between Sandy Jardine and Arthur Duncan. While players milled around, referee Gordon turned his back and signalled half-time. A delayed action decision prompted him to speak to the two players at the start of the second half - for all of ten minutes.

This was too hot to handle for Mr Gordon, as it turned out in a cracking second half.

Bang on the hour, a defensive blunder left Stein through to sidefoot Rangers into the lead again. But, as swirling fog cut down visibility, Hibs produced another Blair goal before the big blow-up.

Even in the mist it was clear that Johnston punched Blair on the face in 75 minutes as a free kick was about to be taken.

The tearful Johnston ran off and there was a real hullabaloo around the referee. Blair was booked for his part in the incident.

So Hibs had a spare man. A shocking offside decision against winger Duncan did not deter them and Graham clinched the match after a rousing attack initiated on the left. Only 18,870 spectators watched the clash and that was a poor crowd for the fixture.