BANG your head against a brick wall for long enough and occasionally, just occasionally, it will give way in the end. Playing against ten men for almost the whole second-half, and nine for the last 30 minutes, Hibernian needed to stick to their task unwaveringly before eventually claiming the three points.
With time running out and Aberdeen playing with dogged defiance, Hibs must have been tempted to conclude it was just one of those games where they were never going to score. Instead, they gave proof of their growing consistency and self-belief with t
wo late goals which took them up into second place.
If Merouane Zemmama had not been forced off by a groin strain after just quarter of an hour, Hibs would have had a better chance of unlocking the Aberdeen defence. If they had had more pace on either wing, they might well have made the breakthrough earlier.
In the end, they broke the deadlock only when tiring opponents were at last stretched out of position, and Colin Nish headed in a cross from fellow-substitute Kurtis Byrne. Liam Miller's goal in stoppage time, coming from a deflected shot, produced a final score which slightly flattered Hibs, and left Aberdeen with nothing to show for all their effort.
Mark McGhee was rightly proud of the attacking enterprise his team showed, but it is likely to prove a costly afternoon for his club. Not only did they have Maurice Ross and Chris Maguire sent off, they also lost Fraser Fyvie to injury in the second-half after an incident which divided opinion sharply.
Hibs left-back Ian Murray won the ball before making any contact with the teenage midfielder: that much was agreed. What was not so clear-cut was opinion about Murray's – and the referee's – subsequent actions.
"Ian Murray has won the ball, but I still think he knows what he's doing," said Aberdeen goalkeeper Jamie Langfield, implying the defender need not have gone into the challenge quite so robustly. "Ian's aggressive in the tackle, but he's fair," Miller countered.
It can be difficult to prove recklessness in such moments, but it was certainly that, while allowing Murray to go unpunished, Steven Nicholls had earlier stamped down firmly on more harmless looking tackles. Taking charge of only his second SPL match, Nicholls booked five players in the first-half. The first card shown, to Zemmama for simulation, was probably correct, but others looked more debatable.
Having been among those booked in the first-half, Maurice Ross was shown a second yellow two minutes into the second. Chris Maguire, who had also been cautioned in the opening 45 minutes, followed Ross off the park after receiving what appeared to be a straight red for a foul on Kevin McBride.
McGhee argued the dismissal of Ross lost his team the game, Hibs manager John Hughes implied that Nicholls had been too quick to punish the kind of physical contact which is endemic to the Scottish game, and many spectators left the ground feeling that the official's over-zealousness had spoiled the spectacle. They may well have been right, and when he grows in experience as a match official Nicholls might appreciate that some of his actions in this game arose from naivety.
Even so, is it really beyond the wit of footballers to adapt to circumstances? Playing to the referee is an integral part of rugby, with players changing their conduct according to what is allowed and not allowed. Instead of doing something similar, too many footballers – and their managers – appear to prefer carrying on regardless at the time and blaming the official later.
Some Aberdeen players said that Nicholls warned Maguire at half-time that he had been close to sending him off when he booked him instead. They seemed to regard this as an indication that the referee was intent on showing cards, but it could just as easily be interpreted as an attempt to keep players on the field by letting them know they were treading a fine line.
Granted, the game will be remembered primarily as the one in which Aberdeen ended up with nine men, but it would be unwise to underestimate the progress made by Hibs which the result represents. They will have a dip in form at some stage, and injuries to key players could expose the shallowness of their squad, but for the time being their upward march continues. Or, as Miller put it: "We're not there to make up the numbers in the league. We're going to give it a really good go."
