Aberdeen 1 Hibernian 2: Calderwood rues rub of the green as Hibs ride their luck

FOR those who like their managerial dramas, this match had all the ingredients that may normally lead to baying mobs and pavement protests. Jimmy Calderwood was already well-advised to check the peg in his office for shoogliness before Hibernian inflicted on Aberdeen a fourth home defeat in five league matches.

The consequences seemed inevitable. A loud outburst of booing at the final whistle, followed by a number of the angriest malcontents assembling themselves outside the Pittodrie front porch. And, inside the bowels of the stadium, we might also have expected to see a manager in ferment, grasping for that familiar crutch of throwing the blame at a referee's sub-standard display.

What we got, instead, was a study in grace under pressure, from Calderwood as well as those Aberdeen fans who restricted their dismay to a brief howl of frustration at full-time, but who refrained from giving the manager the kind of treatment many anticipated. Aberdeen fans are a knowledgable group, and sensible enough to know when their team has been harshly played by the fates.

Calderwood noted the absence of vitriol after the game: "You saw from the response of the supporters. Okay, they are very disappointed – we all are – by the results, but everyone's doing their best. You can't knock the players. Sooner or later in this game their honesty will be rewarded.

"(The fans] love their club, and rightly so. (Their reaction] has been worse after the last couple of games. They realise the boys gave everything today."

Calderwood and his Aberdeen colleagues proved impressively temperate with their views afterwards. Despite having much of the play, Aberdeen were undone by a controversial winner from Hibs with ten minutes remaining. After a slick move from Hibs, which drove its up way up through Aberdeen's spine via Sol Bamba and Lewis Stevenson, Colin Nish was presented with the opportunity to put his side ahead again, after Derek Riordan's opener had been cancelled out by a Lee Miller penalty.

Nish's shot, however, was blocked by the on-rushing Jamie Langfield, whose whereabouts proved significant. Riordan picked up the loose ball and again aimed for goal, with Langfield stranded. Steven Fletcher and Charlie Mulgrew were on the line, and the former flicked on Riordan's effort in the hope that this might ensure its passage past the Aberdeen defender. Mulgrew managed to block, but only with his hand.

Referee Mike McCurry blew for a penalty, perhaps relieved to be making a decision which appeared straightforward. But then Langfield's position suddenly became a thorny issue, since he was certainly in front of Fletcher when the Hibs striker touched on Riordan's shot.

Mulgrew, therefore, was not only last Aberdeen defender, but also last Aberdeen player – thus making Fletcher off-side. Wes Boulstridge, the far-side linesman, did not flag, and Riordan was allowed to expertly convert his second goal of the afternoon from the spot.

Further wounding the home side was Mulgrew's red card for the deliberate hand-ball. Another area for Aberdeen complaint had been McCurry's earlier decision not to send off – or even book – Bamba, after the Hibs defender had up-ended Miller in the box, thereby denying a clear scoring chance. The Aberdeen striker scored with the penalty, but Hibs escaped playing the entire second-half with only ten men.

Calderwood highlighted this incident afterwards, but again was commendably circumspect. After an injury-time defeat to Celtic a week earlier, and a succession of one-goal losses at home, the manager could have been excused a frazzled temper. His calm analysis of the game's central incidents was a lesson for others. "Don't get me wrong, I felt he (McCurry] did really well, and you don't want anyone getting sent off," he said, with reference to Bamba. "But that could have changed the whole game."

Of the second-half penalty, this time awarded against his team, Calderwood also refused to condemn any individual. "I don't think it was Mike's fault, but in the second phase (of the move] the boy (Fletcher] was offside," he said. "And then Charlie (Mulgrew] did get sent off. If the linesman spotted the off-side then we keep one of our best players on the park, and it's not a penalty. But that's just the phase we are in at this time."

Hibs endured a similar period at the start of the season, but with Riordan now back in harness they are a different team. The striker scores goals even when not playing well, and feasted on the chance to open the scoring after Lee Mair's slack back-pass.

Although Aberdeen – bottom of the league after St Mirren's win over Rangers – were let down by fortune, there was little doubt that Hibs looked the more dangerous side going forward, thanks to the wiles of a three-pronged forward-line in which manager Mixu Paatelainen has invested so much faith. Nish, the least celebrated of the trio, was the most eye-catching performer on Saturday, even given Riordan's goals. But such has been the impact made by the former Celtic player, Nish is prepared to be inconvenienced.

"I don't really like playing out wide right," he said. "The manager kept saying for me to get into the centre and play with Fletcher a little more, but I couldn't really get in because of the job I was doing out there. It's a bit disappointing to play right-wing but if it means it's helping the team to get three points, I am quite happy."

MAN OF THEMATCH

Yves Makalambay (Hibernian)

Derek Riordan's goals and Colin Nish's work ethic meant they both had a claim, but Hibs' goalkeeper proved steady all afternoon and distinguished himself with fine save from Richard Foster and Lee Miller.