Aberdeen and Hibs shared the spoils at Easter Road after trading goals in a quite mad stoppage time.
There were three goals during that period with the Hibees first equalising through a stunning Nicky Cadden free-kick. Ester Sokler then thought he had won it for the Dons with an overhead kick only to see Rocky Bushiri bundle over the line at the other end.
The game burst into life after the first ten minutes had passed and Jamie McGrath had a sniff for Aberdeen with Rocky Bushiri getting in the way.
Elie Youan stung the palms of Dimitar Mitov at the other end after a lovely bit of skill on the edge of the box worked himself the chance to shoot.
Kevin Nisbet went close to scoring against his old side but the effort was once again blocked.
Hibs had definitely been edging it and took the lead after 40 minutes. Joe Newell’s strike from outside the box was heavily deflected and Mitov had no chance as a result.
It wasn’t long after the restart before Aberdeen were level though. Jimmy Thelin pulled off another substitution masterstroke when bringing Shayden Morris, the winger quickly getting to the byline and getting a cross in from which McGrath eventually found the equaliser.
There was a flashpoint when Aberdeen full-back Nicky Devlin went head-to-head with Warren O’Hora after the centre half had fouled him and the Hibs man hit the deck. Fans called for a red card but referee Calum Scott flashed just a yellow.
The home support definitely would have been wishing the Scotland man had received his marching orders when he popped up to give the visitors the lead. It was a lovely finish too, a deft flick of the boot lifting the ball over the head of keeper Jordan Smith.
With the Dons seemingly heading for three points, Cadden had other ideas when producing a moment of magic. Amazingly, there was still time for the clubs to score another goal each during a barmy few minutes.
Youan up for the fight
Hibs forward Elie Youan had taken some stick at the weekend for nonchalantly doing keepy-uppies during the break in play after Jordan Obita’s red card.
Both Marvin Bartley and Michael Stewart hammered the Frenchman for not focusing on the task in hand.
Tonight Youan looked like a man with a point to prove and laser focused.
His piece of skill and strike from the edge of the box showed what he is capable of and he was the Hibs player who most looked like making something happen in that first half.
Better from Hibs
Hibs couldn’t have rely got much worse than the Dens Park debacle but supporters would have turned up tonight expecting to see something, and they definitely got a marked improvement.
There is still plenty of scope to get better and clearly they would have preferred to get all three points.
But performance wise it is an ever so slight move in the right direction, with lots to still work on.
Never say die
Aberdeen have been superb at times this season. At others they’ve had to grind out results when not at their best.
This was almost the latter.
The Dons were quite poor in the first half and Hibs deserved the lead they took into half-time.
But Thelin’s side were better after the break, sub Morris making a real difference down the right hand side, and got the two goals at good times.
They showed they still have that mentality to push through games and difficult periods in them, while it was a never-say-die performance from Hibs too.