Hibs 1
Dunfermline 1

FOR those who believe that Hibs are too good to go down and St Johnstone too bad to stay up, it is time to contemplate the unthinkable. A half-hearted, one-dimensional performance against Dunfermline Athletic in Edinburgh yesterday provided Franck Sauzee’s struggling side with a sobering reality check.

The Hibs manager, still without a league win since he was appointed two months ago, must have been in generous mood when he later commended his players for the spirit with which they had scored a late equaliser through substitute Derek Townsley. Blink and you would have missed the fightback that denied Dunfermline their first win at Easter Road since December of 1961.

‘Hibs’ half-hearted, one-dimensional performance’

Jimmy Calderwood’s side squandered several opportunities to establish a lead of unassailable proportions and looked as though they could have played for another 41 years without conceding a goal. If he is regretting the negligence which has cost his team a place in the top six this morning, Sauzee is now glancing over his shoulder at a corpse suddenly twitching into life. St Johnstone’s defeat of Livingston yesterday means that they will travel to Easter Road a week on Saturday with only nine points to make up on their nearest rivals. "It will be a massive game," said Townsley. "We have given them a wee spring in their step. They will think that if they can get it down to six points, it is game on. It will be make or break for both sides."

The latest step Sauzee has taken to arrest what has been an alarming decline is the signing of French defender Lilian Martin. The former Monaco player, who counts Davide Trezeguet, Fabien Barthez, and other such Gallic greats among his previous colleagues, boasts such a pedigree that the manager ditched his customary back three in an effort to accommodate him. Because he is worth it, as compatriot David Ginola might say.

The tactic prompted no discernible improvement in a Hibs side who shambled about the first half with the demeanour of a team who had not won a league match in four months. Their misplaced passes and lack of vision in the final third made for a grubby, sloppy performance that was matched only by the surface on which it unfolded.

Martin was certainly not exempt from criticism. Dunfermline, in fact, were at their most dangerous when they forged into his territory on the right side of Hibs’ defence. That their left-sided wing-back, Chris McGroarty, was the most effective player in black and white said much about Martin’s unsettling introduction to Scottish football. "It is very difficult to come into a team who lack confidence," said Sauzee. "There wasn’t much communication between the players."

When the new man lined up against Dunfermline’s scrawny red head, he cannot have anticipated that the midfielder would be possessed of such poise and balance. His left foot, capable of virtually caressing the ball when circumstances permit, teased openings in the Hibs defence at various junctures of a first half in which Calderwood’s side were unlucky not to be ahead.

McGroarty was cutting inside almost at will, first setting himself up for a shot that was blocked by the goalkeeper and then releasing Gary Mason into a position from which he should have done better than slam it across the face of the goal. Southampton manager Gordon Strachan, who was watching from the stand, must have been more impressed with the Dunfermline youngster than with anyone in the team he supported as a boy.

Only an agile save by Nick Colgan denied McGroarty a place on the scoresheet during those first 45 minutes.

Lee Bullen was another who might have exploited Hibs’ frailties.

With more responsibility up front in the absence of the suspended Steve Crawford, Dunfermline’s imposing centre forward glanced a weak header wide after a decent cross by Jason Dair and blasted against the goalkeeper’s legs when he was sent clear of the defence just before half-time. It was as well for some of those subjected to this scrappy exchange that there was the consolation of a splendid view across the Firth of Forth.

From the press area high in Hibs’ modern West Stand, the tankers lying motionless on the horizon seemed to be making more progress than the home side. There was an air of inevitability about the goal to which they fell behind.

Its architect was Barry Nicholson, Dunfermline’s admittedly modest answer to David Beckham. Thirteen minutes into the second half, he plodded over to the corner flag and delivered another of those inswinging crosses at which he is so adept. Steven Hampshire, Bullen’s partner in attack, rose above a pocket of players at the back post to nod it over the line. The celebratory noises of Dunfermline’s support were barely sufficient to drown out the boos surfacing elsewhere in the stadium.

More worrying for Hibs than the setback itself was the sluggishness with which they went about retrieving the situation. At the end of a week in which Berti Vogts promised to suggest new ideas for the benefit of Scottish football, it would be a shame were he not to share a few of them with this flummoxed Hibs side.

Hardly any of their attempts on goal yesterday could be described as in the clear-cut category. "I thought the game was won," said Calderwood. "Hibs just kept plugging big balls in and we were handling it fine."

All of which explains the startled reaction, even among Hibs supporters, when the home side fashioned an equaliser out of nothing. Townsley admitted later that he wondered whether it should have been disallowed for offside.

Twelve minutes of the match remained when FreddieArpinon, perhaps the least disappointing Hibs player on show, lofted the ball over a square defence and enabled the substitute to direct a back-header beyond the goalkeeper. His muted celebration indicated that it was precious little to be proud of.

Taken from the Scotsman