HIBERNIAN served up a 90-minute illustration of exactly why they are 26 points adrift of champions Hearts after contriving to utterly dominate against Raith Rovers yet leave Stark's Park with nothing to show for their efforts.
While the Championship winners have perfected the happy knack of winning when they are below par - adding to the many occasions when they have triumphed in style - Hibs have a nasty habit of playing exceedingly well and failing to claim victory.
Their performance in Fife was case and point, as the visitors struck the woodwork on two occasions and passed up a swathe of presentable opportunities.
They fell behind completely against the run of play with Rovers' first attack of the match as Mark Stewart dispatching a super volley past the under-worked Mark Oxley.
Fraser Fyvie's second goal for Hibs levelled matters minutes later, however teenage forward Lewis Vaughan enhanced his growing reputation by scrambling home his fifth goal in seven games to secure a shock triumph.
The result sees Hibs remain in second spot on goal difference but, with Rangers boasting a game in hand, the Gers are in the box-seat to finish as runners-up to Hearts.
Hibs have now lost matches against Hearts, Falkirk, Alloa, Queen of the South and Rovers which, allied with sloppy draws against the likes of Dumbarton, could ultimately prove costly. "It felt like a smash-and-grab. It's a difficult one to explain, to be honest," said the visibly dumbfounded visiting head coach, Alan Stubbs. "When you are talking to the players afterwards and you can see the effort they put in and the chances we've created, then you can't criticise them.
"We moved the ball round on a really difficult surface and there is no way I am going to slate them, because their effort was great. They did everything right in the game but the most important thing is the result. "I'm looking back and thinking: 'How have we lost that?' But that's football. When you are on top during games then you have to capitalise on that and put your chances away and we just didn't."
It took the visitors just 80 seconds to post a notice of intent, with Dylan McGeouch stinging the palms of David McGurn from 16 yards after a neat move involving Dominique Malonga and Scott Robertson. Hibs came even closer minutes later after a marauding run disown the right-flank by David Gray. The former Manchester United kid latched onto a Malonga pass and surged into the box, but his low shot kissed the post and bounced to safety.
The Fifers were in debt to the woodwork again mid-way through the half when Malonga's glancing header from a Gray delivery struck the bar before deflecting out of play off Jason Thomson. Grant Murray's men produced an almighty smash and grab to claim the lead in the second half as Stewart met a tantalising delivery from ex-Hearts full-back Jason Thomson, superbly directing a volley past Mark Oxley.
However, the capital club wasted no time in restoring parity tanks to Fyvie. The former Aberdeen kid was quickest to react after a Scott Allan shot was deflected into the box, converting an instinctive low left-footed drive from eight yards. McGurn was called into action again when a delightful Allan pass sent Gray haring through on goal, but his low effort was parried away by the experienced stopper. Substitute Christian Nade, a perennial scourge of Hibs, made a key contribution to the winning goal, bursting into the box before delivering a fine cut-back for Ryan Conroy. The winger saw his low shot saved by Oxley, but Vaughan was on hand to scramble home from close range.
"You need a bit of luck," acknowledged winning manager Murray. "But I think the effort and commitment was superb and we could have picked them off again at the end."
RAITH ROVERS (4-4-1-1): McGurn; Thomson, P Watson, Barr, McKeown; Anderson (McKay 63), Callachan, Fox, Conroy; Vaughan; Stewart (Nade 80). Subs not used: Cuthbert, Elliot, Robertson, Matthews.
HIBERNIAN (4-5-1): Oxley; Gray, Fontaine, K Watson, Stevenson; Stanton (Cummings 66), Fyvie (Boyle 84), Robertson, McGeouch, Allan; Malonga (El Alagui 77). Subs not used: Cerny, Forster, Craig, Dja Djedje. REFEREE: Alan Muir
ATTENDANCE: 3183
MAN OF THE MATCH: David Gray
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article