Hibernian 2 - 0 Aberdeen: Dons see red and cave in

HIBS made this look like an awful lot like hard work. But then again nobody said getting amid the top slots in the SPL was going to be easy.

Despite having a two-man advantage for the last 30 minutes, they left it until the final three minutes to finally get the goals that secured a victory and saw them leapfrog Rangers into second place in the league standings.

But sometimes it's days like this one which say the most about the character of a side. At least they kept on fighting. And when Colin Nish was given space about eight yards out after the remnants of the visiting team failed to adequately clear their area and Kurtis Byrne delivered a great cross, he sent a lovely glancing header downwards and into the net to give Hibs the breakthrough.

It was a goal which looked like it would never arrive, though. Neither side had rained shots in on goal, collecting more cards than shooting chances thanks to the card-happy Steven Nicholls, and with time running out Mark McGhee was sure his men were going to hang on. But having grabbed the first, Hibs then added a sheen to the scoreline that they perhaps did not deserve as Liam Miller scored the second with a fortunate ricochet in stoppage time.

It came from a deft wee pass inside from Derek Riordan and Miller burst on to it and slammed his shot goalwards. His cause was aided by the backside of Charlie Mulgrew but by then the points were already in the bag for Hibs.

Given the two second-half red cards for Aberdeen, Hibs would have liked to have wrapped it all up before then but the Pittodrie side were as resolute as they were spirited.

Up until half-time, though, this had been a match that was neither offensive to watch nor compulsive viewing – well not until Nicholls' relationship with his cards started to look a little too familiar.

The first to be sent packing was Maurice Ross. In only his second start, the full-back was shown his second yellow with only three minutes of the second half gone. It was a booking and one his manager was not willing to argue with. The real consternation in the ranks was the result of the second red card, this time for Chris Maguire, on the hour mark. Although the youngster had been booked in the first half, it was dubious to say the least. But he was shown a straight red card by Nicholls after he slid in on Hibs midfielder Kevin McBride. It was just as controversial, with even Hibs manager John Hughes admitting that he would have felt aggrieved if it had been his player.

"This is Scottish football and the supporters like a bit of physical contact. It adds to it," he said and he also defended the robust nature of Ian Murray's tackle on Fraser Fyvie, which saw the teenager carried off on a stretcher late in the game. McGhee felt that was the one challenge that did deserve greater punishment, claiming the youngster had damaged ankle ligaments. "Even Houdini himself couldn't have disappeared from that one," argued Hughes, claiming, rightly, that his player had won the ball before momentum took him through on the Aberdeen midfielder.

But both managers did agree that the red cards were pivotal. Suddenly Aberdeen, who had held their own against the Easter Road side throughout the opening 45 minutes, were under increasing pressure.

Hibs were unchanged for the fourth match in a row as Hughes sought to build on their impressive showing at Ibrox last week and underline their credentials as challengers to the usual Old Firm domination of the SPL.

McGhee, for his part, was more willing to embrace change. His men had had the two best chances at Pittodrie against Dundee United last week yet still failed to take anything from the contest so he sent on Maguire as an accomplice for Lee Miller in attack and tried to match the adventurous nature of the hosts, if not quite in the way they set up, at least in their approach.

The Hibs cause was not aided when their star performer of late, Merouane Zemmama, pulled up with a groin strain after just ten minutes. He was replaced four minutes later by young Byrne, but in the Moroccan's absence Hibs were devoid of a lot of the inventiveness they have been earning rave reviews for this term. Too often the final ball was lacking, the last touch just a tad too heavy to allow them to conjure up anything that truly tested Jamie Langfield in the Aberdeen goal.

They were up against one of the meanest defences in the league, one which had secured five clean sheets ahead of this game and they just could not find any of the deftness needed to undermine their resolve.

As the second half progressed, though, the chances did start to materialise but still Hibs could not make the most of them. Failing to really stretch Aberdeen, they got bogged down and the efforts which were carved out were sent either high or wide.

That's when Nish was sent on to offer something different. "It was a case of being patient but we made the right substitute and he came up trumps," said Hughes. Using his height and presence, all Nish needed was to get the right delivery. It may have taken a while but eventually it came.