Hibernian FC

[DavidMc]

Hibernian 2-0 Kilmarnock
Scottish Premier League
Saturday 15th March 08
Easter Road, Edinburgh

Hibernian moved into third place in the SPL thanks to goals from Filipe Morais and Steven Fletcher.
A 29th minute punt from Rob Jones was knocked down to Morais by Colin Nish and the winger slotted the ball past Alan Combe from 18 yards.

Fletcher then raced on to a great pass from Merouane Zemmama and drilled in the second goal after 73 minutes.

Dean Shiels came close to adding a third goal but the substitute's late strike whistled narrowly wide.

Hibs have had better days but ran out comfortable winners, with Zemmama at the heart of most of their good work.

Kilmarnock matched the home side in most areas but offered very little threat in attack.

Hibernian's first sight of goal came in the eighth minute when Morais was picked out by Zemmama on the counter-attack but his header across goal fell behind Fletcher.

Kilmarnock were seeing a lot of the ball but could not trouble a well-organised home rearguard.

Hibs had more zip in their play but the goal came from a very straightforward long ball up the park from skipper Jones.

Former Killie man Nish managed to knock it on for Morais who recovered from a poor first touch to race clear and curl the ball beyond Combe from 18 yards.

Kilmarnock started the second half strongly and had the home team pinned back for long spells.

Hibs keeper Yves Makalambay stopped a close-range effort from Danny Invincibile and the striker flashed another header over the crossbar from the resulting corner.

Hibs lost their earlier fluency but were still a threat on the counter-attack, with Combe having to make an excellent save to push away a fierce strike from Zemmama.

Fletcher was then denied by another fine stop from Combe after more good set-up work from Zemmama.

Teenage left-back Paul Hanlon wasted a great chance to score his first Hibs goal when he made a mess of a header from Zemmama's corner.

Fletcher was then sent clear by a clever lofted pass from Zemmama and had the pace to race away from Grant Murray and find the net, despite Combe getting fingertips to the striker's shot.

Kilmarnock were deflated by the second goal and Shiels came close to extending Hibs' lead with a shot which shaved the outside of the post.

[DavidMc]

Rangers v Hibernian
Scottish Premier League
Saturday 22nd March 08
Ibrox Stadium, Glasgow

Rangers welcome back Barry Ferguson after the captain missed Wednesday's Scottish Cup draw with Partick Thistle.
Defender David Weir also returns as does striker Jean-Claude Darcheville, who has recovered from a groin injury.

Hibernian will be without injured midfield duo Brian Kerr and Guillame Beuzelin for the trip to Ibrox.

Ian Murray is free from suspension and Thierry Gathuessi is fit again but faces competition for the right-back slot from Martin Canning.

[DavidMc]

Rangers 2-1 Hibernian

SPL leaders Rangers overcame Hibs at Ibrox thanks to goals from Jean-Claude Darcheville and Nacho Novo.

After a sluggish start, Darcheville smashed an impressive shot high into the far corner of the net from an acute angle on 40 minutes.

Substitute Nacho Novo later capitalised on a Chris Hogg mistake to drill in a sharp finish from 14 yards.

Hibs lacked a cutting edge in attack until Dean Shiels found the net after his initial effort had hit the bar.

Rangers are now six points clear of Celtic, who play Gretna on Sunday.

Home manager Walter Smith made five changes from the Scottish Cup draw against Partick Thistle, with Barry Ferguson, David Weir, Sasa Papac, Lee McCulloch and Darcheville returning.

Hibs made two changes following last week's win over Kilmarnock. Out went Paul Hanlon and Merouane Zemmama to be replaced by the more robust duo of Ian Murray and Abdel Zarabi.

The cagey early stages saw both sides strive to keep possession, with Hibs enjoying more success with some neat interplay and crisp passing.

However, it was some slack play from Rangers which presented the visitors with their first sight of goal.

An errant delivery found its way to Filipe Morias, who lifted a neat pass towards Colin Nish, but the big striker misjudged the bounce of the ball as he bore down on keeper Allan McGregor and a great chance was gone.

Rangers' first meaningful effort on goal came on 18 minutes when Papac thundered a long range shot narrowly wide of the target.

Hibs striker Steven Fletcher dragged a shot wide from 20 yards as as both goalkeepers looked on without getting their gloves dirty.

Smith's side had been out-of-sorts but took the lead five minutes before the interval thanks to the sharpness of Darcheville and sloppy defending from Hibs.

Full-back Martin Canning was caught napping when Papac threaded a simple pass through to his team-mate and the striker cut in from the left flank before slamming a shot beyond Yves Makalambay from a tight angle.

Early in the second half, Darcheville broke clear of the Hibs defence but Makalambay used his large frame to block the Frenchman's shot from 18 yards.

The striker again raced into a dangerous position but was thwarted by the keeper, who was quick to leave his area and kick clear.

Hibs continued to knock the ball around confidently but lacked any punch up front and the home side increased their lead with 11 minutes remaining.

Hogg made a mess of dealing with a long ball from Kirk Broadfoot and Novo was hand to spin on the defender's weak header and shoot low past Makalambay.

Shiels added some trickery for the visitors and McGregor had to make a good save to tip away his shot.

The substitute grabbed a late consolation for Hibs when he latched on to a pass from Nish and followed up his clever chip which hit the crossbar to drill the ball home.



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Rangers: McGregor, Broadfoot, Cuellar, Weir, Papac, Dailly, Thomson, Davis, Ferguson, McCulloch (Whittaker 81), Darcheville (Novo 67). Subs Not Used: Alexander, Boyd, Naismith, Emslie, Furman.

Goals: Darcheville 40, Novo 79.

[DavidMc]

Dundee United 1-1 Hibernian
Scottish Premier League
Sunday 20th April 08
Tannadice Stadium, Dundee

Dundee United and Hibernian settled for a share of the points in an exciting encounter at Tannadice in the SPL.

Dean Shiels opened the scoring for Hibs with a fine solo effort in the 57th minute after rounding Lukasz Zaluska.

Three minutes later, the balance was restored when Noel Hunt converted from the spot after Mark de Vries was felled by Thierry Gathuessi in the Hibs box.

Despite some end-to-end stuff in the dying minutes, neither side could find a winner to push them up the table.

Craig Levein picked the same team that drew with Rangers two weeks ago, with Darren Dods recovering from a foot injury to take his place in the United side.

Hibs were missing injured centre-back Chris Hogg with Guillaume Beuzelin taking his place.

After a pacy start, both sides settled in and Hunt almost opened the scoring in the ninth minute with a looping header from the edge of the penalty area, but Andrew McNeil got a finger to it and tipped over.

Hibs replied quickly at the other end with a flurry of corners, but failed to take advantage of the early pressure.

With 15 minutes played, Martin Canning leapt above United's defence to send in a close-range header, but watched his effort sail over.

Five minutes later, Hibs' Steven Fletcher seemed certain to head for goal after he broke free on the left-hand side, but Sean Dillon was on hand to block.

De Vries posed a constant a threat on the Hibernian goal in the early stages, but despite a slew of solid efforts, he was unable to break the deadlock.

With 30 minutes on the clock, Merouane Zemmama drifted wide on a mazy run but ran out of steam at the edge of the United penalty area.

10 minutes from half-time, United's Willo Flood tested McNeil with a right-footed drive from long-range, but the former Southampton keeper pulled off another fine save to tip the ball over the bar.

As the half-time whistle approached, both sides continued to push for an opener, and Hunt came close with a curling free-kick in the 42nd minute, but it remained goalless at the interval.

Shortly after the break, Hibs found themselves pinned back as United enjoyed a spell of early pressure, but with few gaps at the back in either half, it looked like being a long afternoon.

In the 55th minute, Fletcher sent a high switched ball across to Zemmama on the right, but the Moroccan midfielder ballooned his shot wide.

Two minutes later, the stalemate was broken when Sheils broke free on the counter-attack and outran the Hibs defence to round Zaluska and confidently bury the ball in the back of the net.

Undeterred, United pressed for an equaliser and their efforts were rewarded almost immediately.

Referee Eddie Smith pointed to the spot when De Vries was naively manhandled by Gathuessi inside the Hibs penalty area and Noel Hunt stepped up to convert the kick.

Fletcher tried an ambitious overhead kick in the 64th minute, but McNeil was never in doubt in the Hibs goal and smothered comfortably.

With goals on the scoresheet, the match soon picked up pace and both sides looked keen to secure a winner.

Fletcher could have nabbed it for Hibs in the 74th minute when he broke free and went one-on-one with Zaluska, but was thwarted by a fumbled save with the final ball.

United responded quickly through Daniel Grainger, who came similarly unstuck inside the Hibs penalty area with a shot aimed straight at McNeill.

Dodds was lucky to escape a red card when he deliberately felled Fletcher on the edge of the penalty area with eight minutes left on the clock, and Zemmama's resulting free-kick shaved the United post.

A late spark of action from United in injury-time looked promising,with Grainger sending in a tantilising free-kick that narrowly drifted wide of Zaluska's left-hand post.

The draw now leaves both sides in the same league positions they were before the match, with Motherwell benefiting from the stalemate.

[DavidMc]

Aberdeen v Hibernian
Scottish Premier League
Saturday 26th April 08
Pittodrie Stadium, Aberdeen

Aberdeen will have Darren Mackie and Karim Touzani back for the visit of Hibernian after injury.

Jackie McNamara left the club during the week and Jamie Smith, Richie Byrne and Lee Mair are joined on the sidelines by Sone Aluko.

Hibs will be without Merouane Zemmama for the rest of the season as they continue their European push.

Chris Hogg, Kevin McCann and Brian Kerr are still injured, although skipper Rob Jones returns.



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Aberdeen (from): Langfield, Maybury, Considine, Diamond, Bus, Touzani, Nicholson, Foster, Walker, Severin, Duff, De Visscher, Young, Lovell, Miller, Maguire, Mackie, Jonathan Smith, Soutar.

Hibernian (from): McNeil, Gathuessi, Canning, Jones, Zarabi, Beuzelin, Murray, Rankin, Shiels, Nish, Fletcher, Ma-Kalambay, Benjelloun, Morais, Stevenson, Chisholm, Donaldson, Campbell.

[DavidMc]

Hibernian will be without suspended trio Guillame Beuzelin, Colin Nish and Thierry Gatheussi.

Chris Hogg and Merouane Zemmama are injured but Kevin McCann, Brian Kerr and Alan O'Brien are fit again.

Rangers winger DaMarcus Beasley aims to feature after a lengthy spell on the sidelines with knee ligament damage.

Lee McCulloch (foot) and Charlie Adam (knee) are also close to fitness but the game could come too soon, while Steven Whittaker is suspended.



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Hibernian: (from): McNeil, McCann, Hogg, Jones, Zarabi, Shiels, Kerr, Rankin, Murray, Stevenson, Benjelloun, Fletcher, Donaldson, Chisholm, Morais, Ma-Kalambay, Hanlon, Campbell.

Rangers (from): Alexander, Broadfoot, Dailly, Weir, Cuellar, Papac, Hemdani, Darcheville, Ferguson, Davis, Novo, Cousin, G Smith, Boyd, Lennon, McMillan, Fleck, Beasley.

[DavidMc]

Hibernian 0-0 Rangers

Rangers edged to within seven points of SPL leaders Celtic after a tense goalless draw at Easter Road.

Rangers defender Carlos Cuellar had a header saved by Andrew McNeil in a low key first half.

Hibs came closest with a fierce shot from Filipe Morais which was pushed away by Neil Alexander.

Rangers, who have three games in hand on Celtic, almost snatched a late winner when Cuellar sent a header just inches over the crossbar.

This was the first of eight games Walter Smith's men face in a 21-day period and they looked tired after Thursday's Uefa Cup semi-final triumph.

Hibs moved level on points with Dundee United in fourth spot but they adopted a strangely cagey strategy given games are running out in the quest for third place.


The match opened up after the interval but there were very few goalmouth incidents to excite the crowd.

Dean Shiels began the game in a lively fashion and there was an early let-off for Rangers when the Hibs midfielder was erroneously flagged offside as he burst into the penalty area.

The home team were seeing a lot of the ball but failed to exert any telling pressure on the visiting defence, with the final pass letting them down all too often.

Nacho Novo was involved in a rare Rangers attack but full-back Kevin McCann made a neat interception just as the Spanish forward shaped to shoot from a tight angle.


On 37 minutes, Cuellar rose to meet a Steven Davis cross and his firm downward header was expertly tipped round the post by McNeil.

A smart passing move from Hibs gave Shiels time to arrow in a delivery from the left and Alexander's unconvincing punch saw the ball cannon off forward Ross Campbell and loop over the crossbar.

Rangers striker Daniel Cousin was given a glimpse of goal early in the second half but his powerful strike from distance was just too high to trouble McNeil.

Cousin had the ball in the net soon after but the Gabon international had strayed offside before nodding in from close range.

McNeil then made a block at his near post from a Barry Ferguson strike as the tempo picked up.

Hibs were struggling to find any chinks in the well-organised Rangers defence but Alexander had to make a good one-handed save to keep out a rising drive from Morais.

Both sides made changes in personnel in a bid to make the breakthrough only for defences to remain on top.

Cuellar sent a late header over the crossbar with McNeil floundering in no-man's land but there was to be no change in the stalemate.



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Hibernian: McNeil, McCann, Canning, Jones, Murray, Morais (O'Brien 84), Shiels, Chisholm, Rankin, Fletcher, Campbell (Donaldson 75). Subs Not Used: Ma-Kalambay, Kerr, Benjelloun, Zarabi, Stevenson.

Booked: Rankin, McCann.

Rangers: Alexander, Broadfoot, Cuellar, Weir, Papac (Boyd 77), Davis, Dailly, Ferguson, Thomson, Novo, Cousin (Darcheville 86). Subs Not Used: Graeme Smith, Shinnie, Lennon, Emslie, Loy.

Booked: Cuellar, Dailly, Thomson.

Att: 16,872

[DavidMc]

Celtic v Hibernian
Scottish Premier League
Sunday 11th May 08
Celtic Park

48mins played, Celtic 1-0 Hibernian

Full match report to follow......

[DavidMc]

Kilmarnock v Hibernian
Scottish Premier League
Saturday 9th August 08
Rugby Park

Manuel Pascali will make his Kilmarnock debut against Hibernian after the midfielder's move from Parma.

Fellow new signings Gavin Skelton and Conor Sammon are also in contention, but Allan Russell is out injured.

Hibernian could hand SPL competitive debuts to new signings David Van Zanten, Steven Thicot, Joe Keenan and Fabian Yantorno.

Goalkeeper Yves Ma-Kalambay is on Olympic duty, while Ian Murray is suspended and Merouane Zemmama injured.



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Kilmarnock (from): Rascle, Harpur, Hay, Fowler, Wright, Skelton, Pascali, O'Leary, Lilley, Ford, Hamill, Murray, Fernandez, Sammon, Taouil, Bryson, Gibson, Flannigan.

Hibernian (from): McNeil, Van Zanten, Hogg, Jones, Hanlon, Shiels, Thicot, Keenan, O'Brien, Nish, Fletcher, Grof, Canning, Stevenson, Chisholm, Morais, Campbell, Rankin.

[DavidMc]

Hibernian v Falkirk
Scottish Premier League
Saturday 16th August 08
Easter Road Stadium

Hibernian midfielder Ian Murray returns from suspension and is likely to replace the injured Steven Thicot.

New loan signing Steve Pinau may be included in the squad if international clearance arrives for the Frenchman.

Falkirk hope to include Scott Flinders on the bench after agreeing a loan deal with Crystal Palace for the goalkeeper.

Manager John Hughes will give late fitness tests to Graham Barrett, Neil McCann and striker Steve Lovell ahead of the trip to Easter Road.



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Hibernian (from): McNeil, Van Zanten, Hogg, Jones, Hanlon, Shiels, Murray, Keenan, O'Brien, Nish, Fletcher, Grof, Canning, Stevenson, Chisholm, Morais, Campbell, Rankin.

Falkirk (from): Olejnik, McNamara, Scobbie, Barr, Bullen, Aafjes, McCaffrey, McBride, Cregg, Arfield, Latapy, O'Brien, McCann, Finnigan, Higdon, Barrett, J Stewart, Flinders, Barrett, McCann, Lovell.

[DavidMc]

Hibernian v Dundee United
Scottish Premier League
Saturday 13th September 08
Easter Road Stadium

Recent signings Derek Riordan and Sol Bamba could make their Hibernian debuts while captain Rob Jones is set to return from injury.

However, defender Steven Thicot remains on the sidelines with a thigh problem.

David Goodwillie could replace Warren Feeney, who suffered an ankle injury while playing for Northern Ireland.

Goodwillie has impressed for Dundee United's reserves and winger Craig Conway is also pushing for a starting place at Easter Road.



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Hibernian: (from) Ma-Kalambay, Van Zanten, Hogg, Jones, Hanlon, Shiels, Murray, Keenan, Stevenson, Rankin, Riordan, Fletcher, Nish, McNeil, Yantorno, Morais, Chisholm, Campbell

Dundee United: (from) Zaluska, Dillon, Dods, Kenneth, Wilkie, Kovacevic, Grainger, Dixon, Flood, Gomis, Buaben, S Robertson, Goodwillie, D Robertson, Conway, O'Donovan, Sandaza, Daly, McGovern.

[DavidMc]

Hamilton Accies v Hibernian
Scottish Premier League
Saturday 20th September 08
Douglas Park Stadium

Hamilton Accies could give a debut to former West Ham full-back Trent McClenahan against Hibernian.

McClenahan was a free agent after leaving Hereford but played for Australia on the Olympics in Beijing. Defender Mark McLaughlin is still out.

Hibs are without Filipe Morais, Alan O'Brien and Kevin McCann through injury, while Sol Bamba is suspended.

Steven Thicot is doubtful with a leg problem, while Derek Riordan is still recovering from a groin injury.



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Hamilton: (from) Cerny, Stevenson, McCarthy, Canning, Elebert, Easton, Mensing, McArthur, Neil, Sorsa, Graham, Corcoran, Offiong, Akins, Murdoch, Casement, Lyle, Thomas.

Hibernian: (from) Ma-Kalambay, McNeil, Van Zanten, Hogg, Jones, Hanlon, Shiels, Murray, Keenan, Stevenson, Rankin, Riordan, Fletcher, Nish, Pinau,Thicot, Chisholm, Campbell.

[DavidMc]

Hibernian v Rangers
Scottish Premier League
Sunday 28th September 08
Easter Road

Hibernian's Colin Nish faces a late fitness test on an ankle knock, but fellow striker Steven Fletcher has recovered from his bout of flu.

Sol Bamba is free from suspension and Steven Thicot came through a midweek reserve outing, but winger Alan O'Brien is sidelined after knee surgery.

Rangers add Andrius Velicka and Lee McCulloch to their squad.

Velicka has recovered from a bug while McCulloch has returned to training following a knee injury.



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Hibernian: (from) Ma-Kalambay, Van Zanten, Hogg, Jones, Stevenson, Keena