Hibernian substitute Derek Riordan gave Easter Road supporters a silver lining
to a gloomy week with two second-half goals in the 3-1 win over Aberdeen.
The Edinburgh club have watched captain John O'Neil forced on to the sidelines
under the weight of economic pressure.
But 20-year-old Riordan provided a shaft of light with his record of three
goals in as many games for Hibs.
German midfielder Matthias Jack opened the scoring for the home side in the
42nd minute to give Hibernian a half-time lead.
However, Riordan, who replaced injured Tom McManus in the 20th minute, hit
home in the 61st minute before adding a second 11 minutes later to kill off any
resistance from the Dons.
Fergus Tiernan grabbed a late consolation for Aberdeen but it was too little,
too late.
Aberdeen had been looking to extend a five-match unbeaten run, but were not
allowed to settle by their hosts throughout the game.
It took until the 12th minute before some good play from Leigh Hinds forced
Nick Colgan into the first save of the match.
Kevin McNaughton broke down the right and whipped in a cross with plenty of
pace for the attacker.
He snuck in ahead of his marker and fired a header goalwards, but Colgan was
equal to his effort and tipped it over the crossbar.
Hibs gradually began to get a grip of the match and McManus skipped past
Russell Anderson on the right touchline and sprinted half the length of the
field to deliver a cross into the box for Ian Murray.
But the Scotland Under-21 international could not get the ball fully under his
control and his volley flew well wide.
However, that was the end of McManus' contribution to the game as he was
substituted by Riordan.
Aberdeen may feel aggrieved not to have been awarded a penalty when Janos
Matyus appeared to impede Hinds in the box.
The Dons attacker looked to have been bundled to the ground and landed on top
of the ball.
But referee Charlie Richmond struggled to get a good view of the incident and
penalised Hinds for handball.
Hibs then lost their second striker of the match when Garry O'Connor was
withdrawn through injury and was replaced by Scott Brown.
Bobby Williamson's side had grown in confidence as time wore on and took a
deserved lead with three minutes of the half remaining.
Riordan hit a wicked free-kick to the back post for Matyus, who saw his header
smack off the bar and rebound into a ruck of players on the six-yard line.
Jack was able to rise above the Dons defence and get a touch on the ball and
direct it into the bottom corner to give Hibs a half-time lead.
The young subs then combined well for the second goal - as Aberdeen's defence
was woefully exposed by their pace and accuracy.
Brown picked the ball up on the right and cleverly waited for Murray to make a
decoy run, drawing the defence to the right of the penalty area, before hitting
a perfect cross through the penalty area for Riordan.
He beat the offside trap and took full advantage of some dreadful Dons'
defending to tap the ball into the net from three yards.
The two substitutes were terrorising Aberdeen and they combined again to
compound the misery for Steve Paterson's side and kill the game as a contest.
Riordan broke down the left and played the ball into his young strike partner,
who cleverly fended off a challenge from Eric Deloumeaux.
Brown then stepped over the ball and tried to shoot, but it deflected off a
defender and bounced into the path of Riordan, who had followed the ball in, and
he gratefully knocked it into the empty net.
The Dons got a late consolation when Fergus Tiernan latched onto a Sheerin
pass and, holding off the challenge of a defender, lifted the ball over Colgan
and into the net.
Teams:
Hibernian: Colgan, Smith, Fenwick, Zambernardi (Townsley 71),
Doumbe, Jack, Brebner, Murray, Matyus, O'Connor (Brown 30),
McManus (Riordan 20).
Subs Not Used: Andersson, Reid.
Booked: Murray, Doumbe.
Goals: Jack 42, Riordan 61, 72.
Aberdeen: Kjaer, McNaughton (Payne 75), Anderson, Deloumeaux,
McGuire, Tosh, Tiernan, Sheerin, Clark, Michie (Mackie 67),
Hinds.
Subs Not Used: Preece, D'Jaffo, Darren Young.
Booked: McGuire.
Goals: Tiernan 88.
Att: 7,904
Ref: C Richmond (Scotland).
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