By Ben McNicol
Kilmarnock and Hibernian played out an entertaining 90 minutes of football at Rugby Park but it was the visitors who secured the all-important three points, moving themselves back up to third place in the Premiership table via a 1-0 win.
Kevin Nisbet’s remarkable run of form continued as his 30th minute penalty was the difference in what was a well-contested battle between the two sides.
The opening 25 minutes didn’t create much in terms of chances, but it was a thoroughly entertaining end-to-end game, both sides playing some excellent football.
On the stroke of the half-hour mark, the Hibees were awarded a spot-kick after Clevid Dikamona was judged to have pulled down Christian Doidge in the box as he raced towards goal. Nisbet, reliable as ever, sent Danny Rodgers the wrong way to put the visitors ahead.
There was a lengthy delay soon after as Dikamona looked to have seriously injured himself following an aerial challenge with Alex Gogic and he was stretched off with oxygen.
Killie almost equalised in the 40th minute when the ball fell kindly for Greg Kiltie inside the box and his half-volley was blocked off the line by Nisbet. The second half was much the same, Hibs the first side to threaten as Martin Boyle’s effort from the edge of the box was well blocked by Stuart Findlay.
Nisbet nearly grabbed his second of the afternoon on the 56th minute when he showed some slick footwork on the edge of the area before turning and firing at goal, but it was blocked by the Killie defence.
Alex Dyer’s men were far from out of this contest though and were threatening down the right-hand side through Chris Burke, who was instrumental in every Killie attack. He nearly pulled his side level when his cross evaded everyone apart from Ofir Marciano, somehow managing to punch clear despite not knowing much about the ball.
Up the other end, Doidge almost reached his career milestone of 100 goals as he rose highest in the box following a cross, but his header deflected wide for a corner. Substitute Steven Mallan came ever so close to doubling the Hibees lead 10 minutes later when he pushed his way through the midfield before his shot edged just wide of the left-hand post.
Joe Newell had an excellent game in the heart of midfield and he nearly rounded off his performance with a goal which would have put the game beyond doubt. He burst free down the right wing before cutting inside, breezing past a couple of Killie defenders, and curling an effort towards the far corner. However, Rodgers got down smartly to tip the ball around the post.
Kilmarnock threw everything forward in search of an equaliser but ultimately couldn’t break down a well-organised Hibernian defence. Here are three things we learned.
Hibs take third
The game wasn’t full of chances, but there was some excellent attacking football on display from both sides and the game probably deserved another goal or two. It was a battle from start to finish and it was the Hibees who came out on top with a narrow win.
Nisbet just can’t stop scoring
Every week that £250,000 fee paid for Nisbet in the summer looks even more worth it and this afternoon he added his eighth goal of the season with a composed penalty. The 23-year-old seems to be loving life at the moment and is in red-hot form, surely deserving to be part of one of Scotland’s most important games next month in Serbia.
Rays of light for Kilmarnock
Despite being on the end of a narrow defeat there will undoubtedly be plenty for Dyer to take from this game. His side have recovered well following the COVID-19 outbreak just a couple of weeks ago and matched Hibs for the majority of the game.
They can certainly count themselves unfortunate as the penalty looked very, very soft.