Hibs bag first Premiership win of season - ratings from St Johnstone victory

Hibs had to grind through the gears to grab their first victory of this Scottish Premiership season. Once David Gray’s got the handbrake off, though, they left sorry St Johnstone trailing with a burst of acceleration – and, with a touch more finesse in the final third, might have won by more than two goals to nil.

A close-range finish from Myko Kuharevich in first-half injury time broke the tedium of a brutal opening 45 minutes at Easter Road. And Martin Boyle, rested from the start after travelling halfway round the world on Socceroos duty during the international break, doubled the home side’s lead with a lightning burst of pace and a beautiful finish inside the closing 20 minutes.

Having struggled to gain any sort of forward momentum over the opening weeks of their league campaign, Hibs now face an enforced interruption – no game next weekend – as a result of their early exit from the Premier Sports Cup. But at least they head into the unwanted pause on the up, having eventually found a way to shake off stubborn, stuffy, stultifying Saints.

With club captain Joe Newell not making the match day squad through injury, a Hibs side led by summer signing Warren O’Hora did at least attempt to set a cracking pace. For the first 90 seconds.

After Nicky Cadden’s early shot wide, however, the home side’s tempo, quality, accuracy and ambition seemed to fall off a cliff. In a game where possession was being exchanged at a rate more in keeping with a table tennis match, both teams looked at their most dangerous when operating with turnover ball.

Hyeokkyu Kwon had Saints goalkeeper Ross Sinclair rooted to the spot with a curling left-footed shot just before the hour mark after one such passage of play. But the effort was never hitting the target.

Kuharevich breaking the deadlock was a welcome development after 45 minutes of, for the most part, pure and undiluted tedium. Even if the goal itself wasn’t a thing of beauty.

Nicky Cadden’s set-piece delivery was floated into the back post, Marvin Ekpiteta did exactly what he was hired to do by getting his head on the ball to send it back across goal – and Kuharevich sort of bundled it over the line under pressure. After the obligatory VAR check for offside, referee Nick Walsh awarded big Myko his second Hibs goal.

The introduction of Junior Hoilett for Elie Youan at half-time gave Hibs a little extra oomph in the final third, although Nicky Cadden actually looked the brightest in green-and-white early in the half. Kwon really should have hit the target when a Hoilett free-kick found Ekpiteta making a nuisance of himself at the back post again, but the South Korean midfielder rifled his effort over the bar.

Hoilett then set up young Rudi Molotnikov for a tight angle shot that forced a big save from Sinclair just before the hour mark. Momentum was building for the hosts.

Gray being able to throw Boyle and homegrown talent Josh Campbell into the mix for the final half hour ensured there would be no drop-off in tempo from the home side, who looked in control as they pursued a killer second goal. Kuharevich had a couple of decent sights on target, with the running of Campbell opening up gaps for the lone striker.

Boyle, meanwhile, made an even bigger impact, pursuing a lovely ball inside the fullback from Chris Cadden and dinking the ball over the onrushing Sinclair with 72 minutes on the clock. The wide man was inches away from getting a second for himself, too, with a low shot inside the closing 10 minutes.

Benjamin Kimpioka being shown a straight red for a wild lunge at Obita in the closing seconds soured the contest, just a little. But not enough to remove the sweet smell of victory from the Easter Road air.