It would be fair to say that Lewis Stevenson is not a prolific scorer.
You've probably got more chance of seeing Halley's Comet hurtling through the turnstiles of Easter Road than you have of witnessing a Stevenson goal.
In the grand traditions of rare occurrences, though, the good folk of Leith glimpsed such a phenomenon on Sunday as Stevenson found the net for just the third time in more than 200 appearances for the Edinburgh club. It was worth the wait; a superbly executed strike from the angle of the box that set a spectacular seal on a 3-0 victory over Kilmarnock.
"The gaffer said after the game that I've had more shots today than I have had in my whole career," said the 25-year-old with a smile.
The feelgood factor among the Hibernian players, generated by the arrival of the larger-than-life Terry Butcher, is clear for all to see and a renewed sense of optimism is building in the ranks. Stevenson is certainly enjoying the Butcher regime so far.
"We're being encouraged to be more positive," he said. "After all the shots I had in the game, I think maybe in the past I probably would have turned that last one down and maybe would have passed it. But I thought it was worth a go, and I managed to squeeze it in.
"I think I've been trying to play more positively. Before I was always a bit worried about giving the ball away, but we've been encouraged to be more positive, get the balls in the box and have more shots."
Stevenson and his team-mates now have old foes Hearts in their sights, with the latest Edinburgh derby taking place on Thursday.
Marooned at the foot of the table the beleaguered Tynecastle club appear ripe for the taking. Derby days can be funny affairs, of course. They may be on the bones of their backside financially, with a squad as thin as a Rich Tea biscuit, but Hearts have managed hard-earned 1-0 victories in two league and cup encounters this season.
"We're still gutted about the last time," added Stevenson. "We're going in with a good run of form but we know it's going to be tough."
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