Hibs overcame Alasana Manneh’s debut red card to emerge from a bruising battle against St Mirren with their unbeaten run and fifth-place perch intact.
A scrappy, attritional contest was unremarkable other than for the visiting side’s new Gambian signing lasting just 14 second-half minutes. Manneh misjudged attempts to live up to his ball-winning midfielder billing by going through Killian Phillips first – twice – to pick up two yellow cards.
David Gray’s men had found it hard going for the previous 84 minutes as St Mirren bossed the ball and created the best of the few chances on show. But Hibs have developed a new-found reputation for digging in to get results and survived the remainder with 10 men to stretch their streak to a dozen without defeat.
Rocky Bushiri was a tower of strength at the back as his team avoided a third league loss this term to the Buddies. For boss Gray, the big negative was Manneh’s miserable introduction to Scottish football after signing from Odense.
The Hibs boss believed referee Ross Hardie called it wrong with his second caution. Gray said: “I don’t think it’s a red card. I can understand the first one because it’s a foul. He’s just came on the pitch, it’s a bit of a mistimed tackle. He’d been on 10 seconds or something, so that was disappointing. But the second one is certainly not a yellow. He just competes, jumps for the ball, doesn’t catch him by his elbow.
“You can’t jump without using your arms, especially against someone who’s six inches bigger than you. I think giving a foul would’ve been just enough. The biggest frustration then is you can’t overturn it. He’s going to be suspended.
“I’m disappointed for him because he’s worked hard to get up to speed and into the squad. So not the debut he would want to remember. We’ll make sure all the boys get around him and we keep his spirits up.”
Bushiri’s battle with Toyosi Olusanya was, in the absence of goalmouth thrills, the best entertainment on show. Hibs had looked a sorry lot losing 3-0 here on the opening weekend back in August but with Bushiri in dominant form, they’ve earned four cleans sheets in five matches.
Saints did pile on the early pressure, with crossballs the clear weapon of choice. Wingbacks Ryan Alebiosu and Declan John were detailed to whip in deliveries from wide but Bushiri and Warren O’Hora stepped up to limit clear-cut chances.
Marcus Fraser’s ball in was held up well by Mikael Mandron to tee up Olusanya who skied a snapshot from 16 yards. Hibs opted to bypass the midfield with their efforts to feed Martin Boyle and Dwight Gayle.
They got nowhere, either, as Richard Taylor was the home side’s defensive standout. However, despite St Mirren’s significant dominance of the ball, Hibs had by far the best chance of the first period in front of a packed stand of visiting fans.
Nicky Cadden arrowed a corner kick to match the leap of O’Hora but the centre-half’s header flashed inches wide of Zach Hemming’s post.
Saints screamed for a penalty against O’Hora but the Irishman was just standing his ground as Mandron tried to run through him. Jordan Smith produced a superb double save to keep Saints out on 53 minutes.
The excellent Mandron slid in a perfect pass for strike buddy Olusanya, who wriggled free of Bushiri for the first and only time. Smith was smartly down on the stretch to palm out Olusanya’s hit from close range and he beat that by springing to his feet to foil Mark O’Hara on the follow-up with a terrific stop.
Despite Kieron Bowie giving Hibs a more physical presence up front after replacing Gayle, they posed absolutely no threat to Hemming. However, Gray briefly thought he’d got a gift from ref Hardie on 75 minutes.
Nicky Cadden’s free-kick was nodded back into the danger area by O’Hora and Hardie called handball against Phillips. Mistaken, said VAR, and Hardie’s brief visit to the monitor confirmed as much.
Stephen Robinson put Oisin Smyth, Jonah Ayunga and, in stoppage time, Owen Oseni on in a bid to break the deadlock. After Manneh’s dismissal, Mandron on the turn on 85 minutes couldn’t propel enough power behind his shot to shock Smith.
Hibs managed the rest of the contest with a personnel disadvantage to move to within three points of fourth-placed Dundee United. Gray added: “The clean sheet is a big positive because we pride ourselves on that.
“It’s a good habit to get into. We were reliant on our goalkeeper, who makes a big save in the second half. And, if you look at Rocky getting man of the match, his defensive display was excellent.
“We defended the box reasonably well and we needed to because we were by no means good enough to win the game. I thought it was a really poor game with no real quality. Not at our best, we found a way to not lose.
“I don’t think we came under too much pressure when we went down to 10. I thought we dealt with that really well and got ourselves a point closer to where we need to be. The momentum keeps going, this run keeps going, which is great. We’ve got a big game to look forward to next week at home to Celtic with the boys in a good, confident place.”