Hibs were expected to finally come to the end of their unbeaten run when they faced Celtic yesterday.
David Gray’s side last tasted defeat against the champions at the start of December and had since gone 12 games unbeaten in all competitions.
That was expected to come crashing to a halt yesterday when the league leaders came to town, but instead the Hibees made it 13.
Facing the best side in the country is always going to be daunting, but more so when they had just pushed European heavyweights Bayern Munich all the way in the Champions League.
The Hibees were told to take inspiration from Celtic’s performance in Germany, and give them a taste of their own medicine.
That is exactly what they did at Easter Road as Josh Campbell’s first half double put them in the driving seat and Daizen Maeda could only pull one back in the second half, having another disallowed.
And it’s not just the attacking midfielder’s goals that are making him a key man just now.
Hibs star Josh Campbell lauded by boss
Campbell is now the joint third top scorer at the club, tied with Dwight Gayle on four.
He has come up with big moments and is now a key man after a spell earlier in the season where he wasn’t even making the bench.
And manager Gray says Campbell’s contribution is about far more than his goals – insisting he does the work of a man and a half.
Speaking post-match, he said: “Yeah, he was excellent. He’s had a real good season, he’s in good running form at the moment.
“He obviously came out of the team during a difficult period but since he’s come back in, not just his goals today but his level of performance in recent weeks, the energy he does every single week when he plays.
“He’s come out of the team and responded in a real positive way, exactly the way you want a player to respond in terms of being left out.
“When he gets his opportunity again, he’s really took it and he’s shown us what a good player he is and what his key strengths are as well.
“His running power, his aggression and I think you’ve seen that today, he almost does a man and a half’s job.
“I don’t like singling people out but I think obviously he’ll get the credit for his goals as well.”
Gray on ‘outstanding’ Hibs
Addressing his whole team’s performance, there was one word springing to mind – outstanding.
To a man, he felt they gave the energy required to get a result against the country’s top team.
A delighted gaffer said: “Yeah, I thought we were excellent, outstanding actually, to be honest, is probably the word I would use. Purely because before the game I spoke a lot about we needed every player to be absolutely at the top of their game.
“We needed every player to give absolutely everything and give the amount of energy that goes into that.
And to buy into what we’re trying to do from a game plan point of view and I thought they delivered that.
“I’m delighted for them, they got out of the game what they deserved from the amount of effort they put into it. And every single one of them to a man who was outstanding on the day, which we needed to beat a very good Celtic team.