Hibs suffer late collapse as defensive failings exposed - ratings from Dundee draw

On one of those madcap sunny afternoons when football itself seems drunk on its own sense of chaos, David Gray’s Hibs team could not hold on to the air of giddy euphoria that a dramatic comeback victory at Easter Road would – and should – have generated among a long-suffering fan base. Having a first league win of the season ripped from their grasp with just two minutes of regulation time remaining, courtesy of a close-range finish from an extremely familiar face, was more than just a downer for the Hibs fans daring to dream of a morale-boosting three points.

Dundee will feel that they deserved a point, at least. But any team getting within moments losing a hard-fought lead within the final moments must be considered careless, at best. And that’s without factoring in the extremely ‘Hibs-y’ nature of Simon Murray’s late, late equaliser.

A Scott Tiffoney goal after just eight minutes, the Dundee player capitalising on yet more chaos in the Hibs defence to fire home from close range, gave the visitors a flying head start. Only a VAR check for offside then prevented Gray’s men from falling two behind inside the opening 20 minutes for the third straight game, Lyle Cameron’s strike correctly chalked off just as some in the home support were beginning to think about nipping away for an emergency therapy session at the nearest pub.

But Martin Boyle’s delicious free-kick just before half-time, the Socceroos winger curling his right-footed effort over the wall and into the top corner, was both a thing of beauty. And a source of inspiration to home fans in dire need of a lift. It just didn’t last.

To suggest that Hibs are enduring defensive difficulties at the moment is something of an understatement, to say the least. No matter what they do going forward, and there wasn’t very much of that to enjoy in the opening exchanges, their inability to make straightforward clearances will always undermine them.

So it proved for the opener, with any one of about five players due a bite out of the big blame sandwich to be devoured when Gray gets around to his post-match analysis of this fixture. Jordan Obita, in particular, would love another crack and swiping Simon Murray’s cross clear of the danger zone – but he was far from the only offender in a tragi-comic passage of play.

Many Hibs fans feared the were living through another painful déjà vu when Cameron beat Josef Bursik with 18 minutes on the clock. More than a few definitely stood up with a glance towards the exit before referee Colin Steven raised his arm for an offside confirmed by a VAR check.

Despite that reprieve, a full half hour hadn’t elapsed before the first loud boos could be heard from the stands. Everything now, from Bursik taking too long at goal kicks to a whole series of misplaced passes within sight of Dundee’s final third, was cause for impromptu protest.

Boyle’s goal changed the mood. And it was fair reward for Hibs banging away in and around the Dundee box with plenty of enthusiasm, if not always a great deal of style.

The home team’s second certainly had something for everyone about it, though, as Bowie – only on the park a matter of minutes – barrelled his way past two defenders before smashing a low left-footed strike beyond John McCracken. The former Scotland Under-21 forward is going to be one heck of a handful when fully fit.

Game over? Not quite. Not when Warren O’Hora was caught out by Murray’s blindside run, the former Hibs striker – who chose a move to Dundee over a return to Easter Road for family reasons when he left Ross County earlier in the summer – making the most of that error to poke the ball between the legs of Josef Bursik.

There was still time for substitute Josh Campbell to crash a shot off the crossbar. Time, too, for the Hibs defence to look about as reassuring as an inebriated man chasing a balloon by the edge of a cliff. Hardly encouraging, is it?