St Johnstone 1-1 Hibs: Fighting spirit proves a point

It would appear all Hibs can do now is cross their fingers and hope. While a top-six finish seemed totally impossible only a few weeks ago, a run of five successive victories raised hope that against all odds it could, after all, be achieved.

Today, however, such an outcome looks as far away as it did at the beginning of last month, Colin Calderwood's side now having to rely completely on the fortunes of others, although, in all honesty, that was always going to be the case.

This draw possibly suited St Johnstone better than it did Hibs given Saints enjoy a game in hand over the Edinburgh outfit, but, in the greater scheme of things, the real winners were Dundee United, given the fact they have four matches outstanding to force their way into the top half of the table.

Mathematically, of course, it is still not beyond Hibs, but with only four matches remaining before the split - a run which includes trips to Celtic and Aberdeen and the no small matter of an Edinburgh derby, a fixture in which arch-rivals Hearts have held the upper-hand for the past year - such an ambition is rapidly fading.

Calderwood and his players have, though, accomplished their first objective, almost entirely banishing any thought of relegation with a point from McDiarmid Park, a venue which hasn't been the kindest to Hibs bearing in mind last season's 5-1 hammering and the 2-0 defeat which signalled the end for John Hughes five months ago.

The gap which separates Hibs from bottom spot - one which had been narrowing alarmingly - is now a yawning 17 points.

Should it remain this way going into the final five matches of the season, then Hibs will be safe no matter what happens, although Calderwood and his players certainly retain loftier ambitions. If a top-six place is not to be theirs, then they will at least seek to finish above the rest. Doing so won't bring any prizes, that much is obvious, other than the bonus money payable depending on which position clubs ultimately occupy.

While the lower echelons are most certainly not where anyone envisaged Hibs finding themselves when the season kicked off, a little of the club's pride, which took such a battering over November, December and January, will have been restored.

Perhaps more importantly, however, it will allow manager, players and fans alike to look forward to next season with renewed optimism, Calderwood's patience and determinaton not to allow himself to be rattled by events or the criticism, sometimes quite vicious, aimed in his directon, now bearing fruit in the shape of a team that, while a long way from the finished article, has proved itself full of grit and determination, not to mention more than a little skill.

Not so long ago, losing the first goal in a game all too often proved fatal for Hibs, rarely did they overcome such a setback to earn themselves something from a match, the stirring fightback from two goals down against Dundee United at the end of 2010 being the exception rather than the rule when you recall the seven goalless fixtures which followed, six of them ending in defeat.

So, if the large travelling support departed Perth perhaps disappointed not to have seen their side make it six wins in a row, they'd have been heartened by the way in which Calderwood's players, having been outplayed throughout the first half before going behind to a Richie Towell own goal almost immediately on the resumption, salvaged a point and maintained their unbeaten run.

Calderwood admitted: "We got ourselves in a pickle with the goal against. We never really got out of our half in the first half, they were dominant but I thought we did better in the second half."

The fact Hibs did so was down to the introduction of Calderwood's latest recruit, former Bolton Wanderers forward Ricardo Vaz Te, the Easter Road manager having recognised that his initial pairing up-front of Derek Riordan and Akpo Sodje wasn't working with Saints centre-halves Steven Anderson and Graham Gartland bossing affairs while Jamie Adams and the outstanding Murray Davidson took a grip in the middle of the park.

Calderwood said: "We could not get anything for Derek to link on to. We wanted another physical presence to try to win a header, Akpo didn't win anything in the first half, which left Derek out of the game too much."

However, before Calderwood could see Plan B in action, Hibs were behind, Towell inexplicably swinging his right boot at a simple cross from Saints Peter MacDonald when there wasn't a hint of danger nor an opposition player within yards of him.

The on-loan Celtic kid could only look on in horror as he diverted the ball beyond Mark Brown, the goalkeeper having marked his first start since mid-January with a stunning close-range save from Collin Samuel during the opening 45 minutes, and into the net for what was Saints' first goal in five games.

"He knows himself he should have gone with his left foot," observed Calderwood. "He's tried to go with his preferred foot but it wasn't the right one, but these things happen."

It's an experience the 19-year-old will undoubtedly learn from, while Calderwood believes his entire side will have benefited from having been up against it for long spells on a pitch that was not conducive at all to attractive football, the surface rutted and bobbly, which left player after player frustrated as the ball bounced awkwardly.

Calderwood said: "You get days like that, it will be a good experience for the young ones. You sometimes just have to compete against it until you get a platform in the game and that came eventually."

The points looked to belong to Saints, particularly when goalkeeper Peter Enckelman shanked a clearance straight to Vaz Te, the Portuguese star, who produced a lively 45 minutes, dispatching an immediate first-time shot from 35 yards which had the legs but lacked direction, the Finn admitting afterwards he had the pitch to thank as, according to his team-mates, it had helped divert the ball off target.

Saints' luck deserted them, however, ten minutes from time as Darryl Duffy saw an initial shot blocked before slicing his second across goal where Perth-born David Wotherspoon was waiting to put it in off the underside of the bar, much to his delight but the chagrin of his watching brother, a McDiarmid Park season-ticket holder.

The home side were left furiously claiming the ball had struck a Hibs hand, manager Derek McInnes revealing referee Crawford Allan had admitted to him afterwards he may have called it wrong.

While Enckelman insisted the offence had been "blatant" as far as he was concerned, McInnes said: "My lads are adamant there was a handball. The referee has apologised to me and thinks he may have got it wrong. It was a hard one for my boys to take because I thought we were the better team from start to finish. We won our individual battles all over the pitch and should have scored more than one goal."

McInnes had a valid point, but as far as Calderwood is concerned he'll have been more than a little happy to take something despite having been second best for much of the game.