Easter Road will host top flight football next season after an absence of three years as Hibs deservedly clinched the Championship title with a comfortable 3-0 victory over Queen of the South this afternoon.
That result, coupled with Falkirk drawing at home to St Mirren means that Hibs cannot be caught with three games remaining.
Neil Lennon made two change to the starting XI that drew with Morton last Saturday with Fraser Fyvie replacing Marvin Bartley and Andrew Shinne replacing Brian Graham.
Queen of the South had three formed Hibs’ players their line up, John Rankin, Stephen Dobbie and Danny Carmichael.
After a bright start, Hibs took the lead in the 13th minute then John McGinn floated a free-kick to the back post where McGregor was on hand to send a looping header over Lee Robinson and into the net to the delight of the home fans.
If Neil Lennon needed proof about the poor standard of refereeing in Scotland he need look no further than Barry Cook who inexplicably called back play when Cummings was clean through on goal to book Rankin for a challenge on Andrew Shinnie.
Hibs were dominating possession however it took a world class save from Ofir Marciano to deny Dobbie from close range.
Hibs added a second when Jason Cummings’ corner was prodded into the net by McGregor from close range.
The referee infuriated the Hibs fans again just before the break when Jordon Marshall aimed a kick at Shinnie as he shadowed the ball out of play. The action deserved a straight red card but to the amazement of everyone in the stadium he did not even book the defender.
Just after half time, Hibs added a third when skipper David Gray headed home a Cummings’ corner at the back post.
Easter Road then erupted as news filtered through from Falkirk that John McGinn’s brother Stephen had given St Mirren the lead.
Hibs introduced Alex Harris for Shinnie and and James Keatings for Martin Boyle as they looked to add to their lead.
Harris did well down the left wing before cutting the ball into the path of Keatings who fired over from 10 yards.
After the final whistle, the supporters had to wait until full time at Falkirk then when the news finally arrived the players celebrated on the pitch before leaving the field to a standing ovation from the delighted supporters who can now look forward to next weekend’s Scottish Cup semi-final with Aberdeen at Hampden.
Hibs: Marciano, Gray, McGinn, Fyvie, McGeouch, Stevenson, Boyle, Shinnie, McGregor, Ambrose, Cummings. Subs Laidlaw, Bartley, Holt, Keatings, Forster, Graham, Harris
Queen of the South: Robinson, Marshall, Brownlie, Higgis, Rankin, Dobbie, Jacobs, Thomson, Thomas, Dykes, Carmichael. Subs; Leighfield, Dowie, Hilson, McManus Mercer, Murray, Bell
Referee Barry Cook
Attendance 17,056
John graduated from Telford College in 2010 with an HNC in Practical Journalism and since then he worked for the North Edinburgh News, The Southern Reporter, the Irish News Review and The Edinburgh Reporter. In addition he has been published in the Edinburgh Evening News and the Hibernian FC Programme.
