Hibernian 1-0 St Mirren: Allan strike earns Hibs winning start
- Published
Highlights: Hibernian 1-0 St Mirren
Returning favourite Scott Allan scored in the 85th-minute to ensure Hibernian began their Scottish Premiership campaign with victory over St Mirren.
The unfancied visitors featured three debutants, with Turkish winger Ilkay Durmus particularly impressive.
Hibs, widely touted for a top-four finish, laboured and stuttered for long spells, struggling to penetrate their well-organised opponents.
It took Allan's fine low finish to secure a winning start to the campaign.
The midfielder, beginning his third stint at the club, reversed cleverly past Vaclav Hladky after being teed up by Christian Doidge.
The Welshman then squandered two golden chances to seal the win, but his misses went unpunished as Jonathan Obika fired over from close range in stoppage time.
Allan rescues pedestrian Hibs
Paul Heckingbottom wants to sculpt a Hibs team of energy and aggression, a side that presses high and plays at punishing speed. For long spells, there was alarmingly scant sign of that gusto and precision.
Hibs were largely a tepid unit that spluttered into life only in fleeting bursts and seemed short of the nous or dynamism to splinter a stout opponent.
Their passing, in particular, was seriously shoddy in a first half where they created virtually no clear-cut chances. Although Hibs dominated the ball, St Mirren packed their defence and feasted on their slackness. Tony Andreu put Paul McGinn galloping deep into the home box with a fine through ball, but Paul Hanlon slid in to make a vital block.
After a wretched League Cup campaign with a threadbare squad, Goodwin has continued tooling up with new signings, three of them arriving in time to make their debuts in Leith. Of the new men, Goodwin will have been especially encouraged by the menacing darts of Durmus up the left flank.
The Turk drew a brilliant full-stretch block from Ofir Marciano and should probably have scored when a deep Sam Foley cross found him unguarded, but smashed over.
Hibs were better after the break, Allan denied a glorious opener when his lofted right-foot curler from the left of the box came back off the inside of the far post. Then Joe Newell struck the same upright with a header and Florian Kamberi knocked in the rebound from an offside position.
Scott Allan struck with five minutes remaining to cap a fine individual outing
Still, they were plagued by inaccuracies. And still, St Mirren - and Durmus - threatened to spear them on the counter. Another searing run and cross from the winger was turned clear by Sean Mackie in the nick of time. Marciano made a stunning block from Andreu's fizzing first-time strike on the edge of the box.
With 21 minutes remaining, Kamberi and Doidge fluffed their lines in maddening fashion, the Swiss sent clean through by Allan's cute through-ball, his shot saved, and the rebound caught under the feet of the stumbling Welshman.
With Hibs labouring and time almost up, Allan struck the killer blow, seizing Doidge's flick on the hoof and whacking a clever low shot into the net.
On the opening day of the campaign, Doidge served up what will surely be a contender for miss of the season late on, knocking Kamberi's square ball wide from barely a yard out, before seeing another close-range shot blocked. Fortunately for the former Forest Green frontman - and for Hibs - Obika could not make him pay.
It was a kick in the teeth for Goodwin and his men at the end of a promising afternoon. And relief rather than rancour for a restless Easter Road crowd, who will hope their side grow into the kind of slick machine Heckingbottom is trying to construct.
Man of the match - Scott Allan
BBC Scotland's Brian McLauchlin at Easter Road
The past 12 months or so may have been difficult for Allan as he failed to make an impact at Celtic, however in his first league game of his third spell in Leith, he proved his class.
His vision throughout the game was immense and he was denied what would have been a terrific opener by a post. When his goal came, it brought the house down.
There is no doubting Allan's ability. The challenge he now faces is to show his quality on a consistent basis, and possibly force his way back into the reckoning for Scotland selection.
Allan's influence - stats
In three spells at Hibernian, Scott Allan has made 60 appearances and scored nine goals
Hibs 'a work in progress' - reaction
Hibernian head coach Paul Heckingbottom: "We're a work in progress and will be for a long, long time, but you can't question the commitment and desire to keep going.
"After hitting the post a couple of times, goal disallowed, other chances, you're thinking it's not going to be our day. But I'm encouraged that we won, kept on playing and passing and the nature of the goal was reward for that because it was patience."
St Mirren manager Jim Goodwin: "The amount of effort and commitment the players put into the game, we merited a point. I don't think we deserved to win, but we denied Hibs space and opportunities.
"The goal was a sickener. It was a well-worked goal - sometimes you just hold your hands up. We worked really hard during the week, and I think you can see that in our game plan."