Hibernian 4 Motherwell 0

21 April 2002
Scottish Premier League
Attendance: 7,701

Scorers:
Hibernian: Townsley, Arpinion, O'Connor(2).

This is a copy of a report of the game as it appeared in the Scotland on Sunday on Sunday 22nd April 2002

Hibs hit purple patch amid gloom

THE WILL to live is easily lost at this time of year. April is the cruellest month for dedicated fans of teams with nothing left to play for, as the lack of competitive spirit only serves to highlight the poverty of the football on display.

The Hibs support will have gone home happy enough after two goals in either half gave them a comfortable victory, but for any neutrals in the ground, not to mention the 130 Motherwell supporters, this was a typically tedious end-of-season encounter.

Still, what can you do to avoid such matches? Restoring a second relegation place would be one answer, and if such a thing were in place these two clubs - tenth and eleventh respectively in the SPL - would surely have gone about this match in a different manner.

But Hibs, Motherwell and their fans, not to mention all the other teams who at the start of the season could conceive of themselves being in danger of a second-bottom finish, would hardly welcome the insecurity introduced by such a move. They would naturally prefer the boredom of a meaningless match to the tension of one which could lead to demotion.

For Hibs supporters, of course, it is not so long since they were facing up to the prospect of finishing 12th and last in the league. Bobby Williamson’s arrival has not brought about a drastic improvement as yet, but it has restored a certain solidity to a side which just a month or two ago was wobbling precariously.

The manager has already gone some way to changing his squad, and the bench he selected yesterday showed his willingness to give some of his under-21 players a chance. "At this time of the season, if the enthusiasm of the senior players is dying, perhaps these young kids can lift them a bit," Williamson said.

At least the enthusiasm of the senior players was there when it mattered, in the crunch game against St Johnstone. Even yesterday, they still had enough left to ensure victory, and their manager was pleased enough with the afternoon. "We had a couple of self-inflicted moments when we could have let them back into the game, but overall I’m very happy," he said.

It took all of a dozen minutes for the first direct attempt on goal to arrive - and that was just a shot from Alen Orman which drifted wide.

Nonetheless, the fact that the Bosnian wing-back was able to get into such an advanced position illustrated the superiority enjoyed by Hibs, who took a stranglehold on the first half before eventually finishing it two goals to the good.

The home team had other chances to open the scoring, notably a shot from Freddy Arpinon following a knockdown by Craig Brewster, but when the first goal did arrive it came out of nothing. Derek Townsley may have an infuriating tendency to drift in and out of games, but when he pays attention he can be curiously effective - which is what he was after 27 minutes, curling an 18-yard shot round Francois Dubourdeau and just inside the Motherwell goalkeeper’s right-hand post.

Motherwell did rouse themselves for a time after falling behind, and first Steven Hammell then Derek Adams had shots on goal which were not too far off target. A couple of minutes before half-time, David Ferrere made ideal use of his low centre of gravity to turn Gary Smith and fire in a shot, but Tony Caig was just as ideally positioned to save.

That should have been that for the first 45 minutes, but in stoppage time a cross from Paul Hilland was passed back too softly by Hammell, and Arpinon pounced to give his side a 2-0 lead at the break.

On the resumption, Hibs gave Motherwell no time to claw their way back into the match. Brewster almost made it 3-0 just two minutes into the second period, but Dubourdeau managed to touch the ball onto the post and behind for a corner.

In control with time running out, Hibs introduced three young substitutes in Allan Dempsie, Alan Reid and Kevin Nicol. In the end, though, it was another young player, Garry O’Connor, who made absolutely certain of the three points with two late goals. There were ten minutes left when the Scotland striker latched on to a loose ball and ran in on goal. He did not get the cleanest of contacts on his shot, but it went into the net all the same. Four minutes later, Brewster put O’Connor through, and it was a simple matter to make it 4-0.

Motherwell looked ragged by the end, and their manager, Eric Black, admitted their performance had been unacceptable. "It was certainly not what we expected of a Motherwell team," he said. "I’m not sure why that was."

Perhaps his players have been unsettled by suggestions he was about to become assistant manager to Gary McAllister at Coventry, suggestions which Black dismissed as "pure speculation". He is, all the same, an ambitious coach, and the budget he would have in the Midlands would be substantially greater than is on offer at Fir Park.

"I’m working very hard to get positive results for Motherwell," Black added when invited to say he was happy in his current post. Expect him to be on his way any day now.

Hibernian: Caig, Orman, Smith, Caldwell, Hilland (Dempsie 65), Arpinon (Nicol 77), O’Neil, Townsley (Reid 72), Wiss, Brewster, O’Connor. Subs not used: Colgan, Fenwick.

Motherwell: Dubourdeau, Corrigan, Ready (Bernhard 75), Strong, Elliot (Fagan 85), Adams, Ferrere, Deloumeaux, Hammell, Pearson, McFadden. Subs not used: Woods, Martinez, Ramsey.

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