The noise from the home support drowned out Rangers fans as an emotional rendition of ‘Sunshine on Leith’ was belted out with pride from three sides of the stadium as the two teams took to the field.
The players were met by a banner in the East Stand which read: ‘While our chief still shines on Leith’. The trackside board carried a ‘sending love’ message from the Hibernian family to Ron’s family – wife Kit and sons Ian and Colin.
The Hibs players initially carried the energy of the crowd into the game itself, as Matthew Hoppe went close before his cross was turned into the net by Connor Goldson, past his own goalkeeper. The fans raised the roof, hopes raised of a special night. But the lead lasted only four minutes before James Tavernier equalised with a penalty. From there Rangers overwhelmed Lee Johnson’s in-form team to win 4-1.
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Antonio Colak scored twice after the outstanding Fashion Sakala was also on target. It could have been a lot more. “We scored four and could have scored double that,” said Rangers boss Michael Beale.
Hibs, who went into the game unbeaten in seven, stay fourth, five points behind Hearts. “I went into this game truly believing we could get a result,” said Johnson. “It was a really good start and charged with a lot of emotion and a brilliant tribute to Ron. But inevitably in the end their quality shone through on an individual and team level.”
Our gallery shows how the fans paid tribute to Ron Gordon and got behind their team.
5. Green and white
A sea of green and white as the fans pay tribute Photo: Alan Harvey - SNS Group
6. Father's son
Ian Gordon, son of the late chairman Ron, takes it all in Photo: Mark Scates - SNS Group
8. Message from the fans
Fans display a banner as they sing 'Sunshine on Leith' Photo: Paul Devlin - SNS Group