September 30th 2001
Scottish Premier League
Attendance: 10,016.
Scorers:
Livingston: Quino.
This is a copy of a report of the game as it appeared in the Scotsman on Monday 1st October 2001
The lions of Livingston continue to bask in the limelight. Ten points from a possible 12 at the Almondvale Stadium have lifted this little West Lothian club to the giddy heights of third place in the Scottish Premier League, and not one of their rewards can be denied them.
Hibs became the second local rivals to be disposed of by these plucky Lothian upstarts since they poked their heads into the top flight, denied by hungrier opponents the result and league position that they would consider their right.
The obvious conclusion would be that Alex McLeish’s side were exhausted by their midweek continental travails, but to imply that such a factor decided this result would be to divert credit from Jim Leishman and his cohorts, whose side lie just two points adrift of Rangers with the season almost a quarter of the way through its duration.
Livingston had the better of most of this untidy match, and finally formalised their superiority with a second-half winner from Francesco Quino, conqueror of Hearts on the opening day. Hibs pushed in the late stages but never convinced anyone they were worthy of a point.
If Hibs and Livingston retain their current league positions they could be challenging for the second and final UEFA Cup place available to SPL sides at the end of the season. So far there has been little to suggest that the Hibs of 2001/02 are worse-equipped to achieve this feat than last season’s vintage, but they cannot have expected Livingston to upset the apple cart.
These two clashed in the semi-finals of last season’s Scottish Cup, and Hibs ran out almost emphatic winners. The distance Livingston have come, even in the past six months, is truly remarkable.
Their impressive performances in the top flight have made Almondvale a venue to be wary of, and Livingston remain unbeaten on their home patch.
The control they seek to assume over opponents here was on display from the offset, when Francesco Quino stormed forward and released a drive from 25 yards that had Nick Colgan scrambling to his left and seeing it evade the post by only a foot.
They had the closest chance of an admittedly heinous first half when captain Stuart Lovell stroked a shot with the side of his right foot onto the crossbar. Lovell benefited from a crafty short corner between Quino and Max Caputo, and beat Colgan from 12 yards. When Wilson headed the rebound back over the goalkeeper from the left, only the acrobatics of Alen Orman prevented it looping into the net.
But although that was as close as Livingston got in the first 45 minutes, it was better than anything produced by Hibs.
It was all such a downer for the green-and-white hordes who flocked to West Lothian in their thousands, leading the stewards to divert 100 or so into the home end of the ground as they continued to filter in after kick-off.
This was quite a profound message of support, coming so soon after the demoralising disappointment of their UEFA Cup exit at the hands of AEK Athens, but it was clear the heroic effort of Thursday night and the recent hammerings of Motherwell, Dunfermline and St Johnstone have instilled an overwhelming feeling that Hibs are still travelling in the right direction.
Ulrik Laursen might have done better when he rose to head John O’Neil’s corner at the near post, but the Dane could only provide what constituted a flick to Tom McManus, who had no time to prevent the ball simply deflecting off him. It was typical of Hibs’ general lack of conviction. And Laursen looked to be at fault again after 24 minutes when his manhandling of Barry Wilson should have led to a penalty. The Livingston striker was aghast that his run on to Michael Hart’s through-ball went unrewarded, having been impeded in the act of shooting.
Hibs were generally too impatient, relying too much on high balls that were swallowed up by Marvin Andrews and Oscar Rubio, and whenever McLeish’s men got the ball on the ground, O’Neil and Grant Brebner would be closed down by the industrious Quino and Lovell and lose possession.
Livingston began the second half displaying a sense of craft that highlighted Hibs’ own deficiencies and hinted that the Easter Road side were already beginning to tire after their gruelling European encounter.
David Bingham and Caputo produced a crisp, delicate one-two on the left that produced a corner when Bingham’s cross was frantically cleared, and Wilson’s kick caused more fretful defending. When Quino fired in from the edge of the box a goalmouth melée ensued, and somehow Andrews failed to sweep the ball over the line.
But when the breakthrough came, it was not a result of pressure.
Hart picked up the ball by the home dugout on the right, and moved gingerly until a way beyond Laursen came to his attention. Finally he wriggled around the Dane towards the byline, and scuffed an innocuous square ball into the box.
There seemed precious little method in this, but Quino had timed his run perfectly for such an eventuality, and beat Paul Fenwick to the loose ball and diverted it to the right of a surprised Colgan.
There were other moments of concern at both ends, as McLeish tried to arrest his team’s decline by freshening up in attack with Craig Brewster and Paco Luna. But it was in midfield that their limitations lay - Hibs simply were not subtle enough.
The Teams:
Hibernian: Colgan, Murray, Fenwick, Laursen,, De la Cruz, Orman, Brebner Jack, J O’Neil, McManus, Smart.
Livingston: Broto, Wilson, Andrews, Rubio, Bollan, Tosh, Quino, Lovell, Bingham, Caputo, Hart.
It was very, very painful to watch!
Hibs were obviously suffering from a bit of a UEFA Cup hangover as they were second to every ball against a poor Livingston side.
With Brewster and Luna both taking a rest on the bench and Frank Sauzee missing altogether, Hibse never really got going over the entire 90 minutes. John O'Neil and Matty Jack did not look there normal selves as they struggled with the pace of the game. Also, Laursen looked decidedly uncomfortable at centre back.
There is now a ten day break for Hibs to nurse their injuries and hopefully come back fresh to face Raith Rovers in the League Cup.
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