Hibs debrief: Scott Allan sparkles but defensive issues rear their head again

An ultimately frustrating afternoon for Hibs as the hosts come from behind but ultimately drop two points at home to St Mirren in the cinch Premiership.

Martin Boyle is flagged for offside, cancelling out Ryan Porteous' header. Picture: SNS

Player of the match

There is no doubt about this, even if he only played 45 of the 90 minutes. Scott Allan’s introduction at the break breathed new life into Hibs as he constantly picked up pockets of space in the final third, drifting in from the left, giving his side the creative spark they missed in the first half. His deflected shot, which came off the post, in the 90th minute would have been tough on St Mirren, but the player himself certainly deserved it.

Defining moment

Hard to look past the equalising goal. Hibs had already been given a sufficient warning in the minutes leading up with Eamonn Brophy hitting the bar and Curtis Main screaming for a penalty, but Joe Shaughnessy was still left alone to head home from close range. Jack Ross’ men have been alarmingly weak from cross balls this season.

Benefit of hindsight

This is twofold and both involve Allan. Firstly, the midfielder has been something of a peripheral figure this campaign, so his place on the bench perhaps wasn’t a surprise, but it’s difficult not to think leaving the game that Hibs would have won if Allan had been on from the start with that performance. Secondly, were Hibs actually fortunate not to trade the fans favourite, along with Drey Wright and cash, for Jamie McGrath on deadline day?

Ref watch

There were three loud penalty claims and, at first glance, Kevin Clancy seemed to get them all correct. The Hibs penalty looked a stonewaller, Kyle Magennis appeared to slip for a first-half claim, while Curtis Main seemed to be looking for a foul when he went down under the attentions of Paul Hanlon.

Moment you may have missed

Ryan Porteous’ disallowed goal would have looked very odd to most fans in the ground, though Martin Boyle did make a late move to try and knock the ball over the goal-line. It was difficult to tell whether his action was enough to put off the goalkeeper, but it gave the assistant referee a decision to make.

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