THE length of the Championship separates Hibernian and St Mirren and that gulf was evident as Neil Lennon’s side won their first home game for two months to consolidate their lead at the top of the table. The Paisley side had carved out a surprise victory here in the Irn-Bru Cup earlier in the month but back on league business they were no match for a Hibs side who could afford to miss a second-half penalty and still coast to victory.
Lennon had hoped for “more of a gloss on the scoreline” but overall could not help but feel satisfied with both the result and the performance. He now wants the Easter Road crowd to show their appreciation a bit more, too.
“I don’t want to alienate myself with the supporters but you go a goal up and it’s very quiet for periods of the game,” he said. “We would just like a bit more atmosphere to gee the players on a bit. The players are doing their bit so some sections of the support could do their bit too. It’s a small issue but we’d just like a bit more noise in our stadium.”
Martin Boyle was preferred to Jason Cummings in attack following the injury to James Keatings and responded with a fine individual display that included a goal and won him the man of the match award. Cummings was also not one of the three substitutes Lennon deployed during the match, the manager sending a not-too-subtle message to his star centre forward.
“I toyed with the idea of starting Jason with his record and the fact he’s a bona fide centre forward,” added the Northern Irishman. “But I think Martin deserved to start on the back of last week. He’s been patient and taken his opportunity brilliantly. It’s about me using my squad but also giving Jason a jag as he was a little bit off-colour for three or four games. He knows that and he’s responding well. But if the team is winning and scoring goals then he’s going to have to really come up to the mark and push his way through.”
Jack Ross has not had the easiest start to his St Mirren managerial tenure, facing Dundee United and then Hibs in his first two matches, but the alarming fact for the Paisley club is that they are still winless after 10 league games and in danger of being cut adrift. They showed potential in flashes here but need to start picking up points soon.
“I don’t have any complaints over the outcome,” he said. “I thought we had some good opportunities early on and if you take one of those then the complexion of the game might change. But we need to start winning matches”
St Mirren’s three-man defence looked vulnerable every time Hibs attacked and twice in the first half they paid for such porousness. The opening goal after eight minutes stemmed from a piercing Andrew Shinnie ball that bisected the backline and allowed Boyle to scamper in before cutely dinking the ball beyond Jamie Langfield.
The second goal after 34 minutes was more about brute power than finesse but again arose after the visiting side could not get the ball away from the danger area. Grant Holt tried to play in Boyle but when the ball came back to him he simply adjusted his feet before lashing in a shot that found the corner of the net. Given Langfield had just moments earlier made a smart stop to deny Boyle in another one-on-one situation, Hibs could easily have been out of sight by half-time.
St Mirren had chances in the first half – Lewis Morgan dragged an effort wide, and Ryan Hardie’s header was cleared off the line – but a second-half comeback never looked on the cards. Holt should have consolidated the victory for Hibs when he won a penalty with 16 minutes to go but Langfield kept out the striker’s effort.
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