Fixtures & Results
by Stuart Gillespie at St Mirren Park
Danny Lennon is off and running. After near misses against Dundee United and Ross County, he now has his first win as St Mirren manager after this afternoon's victory against Hibs.
Craig Dargo's second half goal from Garry Brady's free-kick proved to be the difference between the sides and while Saints rarely threatened to extend their lead, Hibs had few chances to equalise thanks to some good defending. This was not like the Dundee United game a fortnight ago when an equaliser looked inevitable - the Buddies were not clinging on at the end and can revel two weeks until the next game with their side sitting in fifth place.
The first half probably had some Sky Sports subscribers questioning whether it was worth it, with Derek Riordan proving to be the main threat for Hibs. After the break they started brightly before Gareth Wardlaw started getting battered by the visiting defenders, meaning Dargo's first goal since October was a sort of justice the officials could not dish out.
We then waited for the Hibs onslaught but it never really came. Good play from the defensive unit snuffed out what chances the likes of Derek Riordan, Anthony Stokes and Colin Nish had, with Paul Gallacher having very little to do. A first win since April was the reward and well deserved it was too after a good, battling performance.
Lennon made two changes to the side that lost to Ross County during the week, with Garry Brady replacing Sean Lynch and the fit again Wardlaw replacing Michael Higdon, who wasn't even on the bench. His absence, along with no Graeme Ramage, meant Saints once again had no subs in reserve. Marc McAusland kept his place, meaning it was the his first league start for the Club, and he was deployed on the right of midfield in a 3-5-2 formation. Hibs had plenty of attacking options and fielded three of them - Nish, Riordan and Celtic target Stokes - from the start. The outstanding Liam Miller also started, while Ian Murray and John Rankin had to make do with the bench. Plenty of former Saints players either don't have Sky or have nothing better to do with their Sunday afternoons as Billy Abercromby, Ian Maxwell and Ludovic Roy were among those in attendance.
Aside from a few headers from Hibs' World Cup star Sol Bamba, there was little to get excited about in the first quarter of an hour until Edwin de Graaf drilled a shot just off target from a poor Riordan corner. Jure Travner was looking comfortable in his more advanced position and produced a couple of decent crosses, although nothing came from them. A slack pass from Steven Thicot was then pounced on by Brady and allowed McAusland's cross to find Dargo, but he elected to pass rather than shoot from the edge of the box. The move came to nothing and as Hibs broke, Hanlon was adjudged to have been fouled by Darren McGregor. Riordan's curling free-kick was good but not right, as Roy Walker used to say, and went inches past Paul Gallacher's right hand post.
Brady picked up the game's first booking after 25 minutes for a stupid clip on Bamba after the big defender had comfortably beaten him for pace. A short pass to McAusland allowed McGregor to make a cross that would probably have been perfect for Wardlaw, but sadly it was Dargo he was trying to pick out and it went just over his head. Another foul near the box gave Riordan another set-piece and this time his swerving effort was on target, but a full stretch Gallacher tipped it behind. A neat exchange of passes between Wardlaw and Dargo nearly sent the former through on goal but the efforts of Chris Hogg just prevented the former postie from going one-on-one with Mark Brown.
A late challenge on Paul Hanlon by McAusland five minutes before the break earned him a deserved booking and Gallacher did well to punch away Riordan's free-kick. At the other end, a free-kick from Brady was missed by both Dargo and Lee Mair before Wardlaw sent a looping header over the bar from a cross by the same midfielder. It was pretty much Saints' only attempt on goal in the first 45 minutes with Brown not having a save to make, which may explain why Danny Lennon didn't look too amused on Sky's dressing room camera at half-time.
Half-Time: St Mirren 0-0 Hibernian
Hibs started the second half the brighter of the two sides and Stokes was easily able to get the better of Mair before crossing for Nish, only for McGregor to put in a good tackle and prevent the big striker getting a shot. Thicot was then pulled up for a poor tackle on Wardlaw, but mysteriously escaped a booking. The striker was getting battered all over the place with Hogg the next to clatter into him, but amazingly no foul was given. Perhaps frustrated at what was happening, he then responded in kind on Bamba - and was promptly booked. Lennon was understandably upset with what seemed unequal treatment and received a chat from referee Stevie O'Reilly for expressing his displeasure so vocally.
As the hour mark approached we had the second chapter when Bamba fouled Wardlaw in almost exactly the same manner and was only spoken to. However, Saints had a far better way of ensuring justice was done. Brady floated the free-kick into the danger area, McGregor flicked it on and Dargo got himself in front of Thicot to fire past Brown to put Saints in front. It was perhaps against the run of play, but given the run of decisions that had preceded there were few fans complaining.
As play resumed de Graaf was booked for a foul on Brady before Hanlon was replaced by Danny Galbraith. Nish had a couple of half chances that were blocked by some good defending before Dargo was withdrawn to be replaced by ex-Hibee Sean Lynch as McGowan moved up front. John Hughes then made his final changes, replacing Thicot with John Rankin and Riordan with Ian Murray - the latter a decision that did not go down well with the travelling support. Almost immediately, another Brady free-kick nearly produced the second as McGregor headed wide. Stokes then had a few chances, the first blocked by Potter and the second going wide.
A good throw-in from Travner and some trickery from McGowan allowed the on-loan Celtic-forward to have a go from 30 yards, but it was straight at Brown and he dealt with it easily. As stoppage time began, McAusland - who had put in a good shift in an unfamiliar position - was replaced by another former Hibs man, David van Zanten. The appearance of a four on the electronic board to indicate the amount of additional time to be played was not so warmly received by the home support. Saints managed to run down a large chunk of it in the corner nearest the West Bank, the roars from the home fans getting louder every time a Hibs player put the ball out. Hibs eventually managed to work the ball out, but couldn't do anything with it as Saints notched up their first win of the season and their first over Hibs since January 2008.
Full-Time: St Mirren 1-0 HibernianSt Mirren: Gallacher, McAusland (van Zanten 90), Mair, Potter, Travner, McGregor, Murray, Brady, Dargo (Lynch 70), Wardlaw, McGowan.
Subs Not Used: Robb, Love, McLennan, McKernon, Samson (GK).
Hibernian: Brown, Hogg, Thicot (Rankin 71), Bamba, Hanlon (Galbraith 61), Wotherspoon, Miller, De Graaf, Riordan (Murray 71), Stokes, Nish.
Subs Not Used: Stephens, Stevenson, Currie, Smith (GK).
Referee: Stevie O'Reilly.
Assistant Referee: Stuart Macaulay
Assistant Referee: Brian Templeton
4th Official: Eddie Smith
Star Saint: Paul McGowan put in another good performance while Gareth Wardlaw put in a good shift up front in between getting battered by the opposition, but the award goes to former Cowdenbeath team-mate Darren McGregor, who was superb at the back and produced the flick-on for the goal. A lot was made of the number of lower league players coming into the Club this summer but so far they have not looked one bit out of place.
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