Hibs maintained their unbeaten away record with a deserved 1-0 victory over Partick Thistle at Firhill this afternoon, a result which lifts them over Rangers into third place, one point behind Aberdeen.
Neil Lennon made three changes to the starting XI that drew with Hamilton last weekend with Darren McGregor, Vykintas Slivka and Anthony Stokes replacing Steven Whittaker, John McGinn and Brandon Barker.
The large travelling support were delighted to see Stokes in particular returning to first team action following the news of a bust up with Lennon at East Mains.
The first half passed without any major action although Ofir Marciano did well to save a deflected free-kick from Blair Spittal.
Hibs started the second half brightly however and  Martin Boyle raced through the Thistle defence before being scythed down by Jordan Turnbull.
Stokes took the free kick which was cleared into the path of Lewis Stevenson who curled the ball back into the danger area and Adam Barton’s header found his own net.
Hibs pressed for a second but Thistle looked dangerous on the break and Marciano did well to save from substitute Kris Doolan.
Oli Shaw replaced Simon Murray then Stokes almost wrapped things up after rounding Tomas Cerny but he was unable to score from an acute angle and the danger was cleared.
Stokes then made way for Brandon Barker whose speed caused the Thistle defence problems.
Efe Ambrose than had a great chance to double Hibs’ advantage but Cerny produced a good save to block the effort then Lewis Stevenson weaved through the Thistle defence but his cross was deflected for a corner.
In the last minute Deivydas Matulevicius replaced Martin Boyle and Hibs held on to secure the valuable three points.
After the game a delighted Lennon told BBC Scotland:Â “I would like us to win games more comfortably although I’ll take the win – it’s a fantastic win and we’ve played very, very well.
“I thought we dominated territorially and possession-wise but that doesn’t win you games and that’s a bit of a bugbear at the minute. We missed some great chances to kill the game off second half and had to rely on Ofir to make a great save at one stage.
“Martin Boyle has been outstanding this season and he was outstanding again. He’s one of the best players in the division now.”
Hibs now face Celtic at Easter Road next week.
Partick Thistle: Cerny, McGinn, Keown, Devine, Turnbull, Edwards, Barton, Spittal, Erskine, Lawless, Storey. Subs: Doolan, Scully, Sammon, Nisbet, Fraser, McCarthy, Woods
Hibs: Marciano, McGregor, Ambrose, Hanlon, Stevenson, McGeouch, Bartley, Slivka, Boyle, Stokes, S.Murray. Subs: Dabrowski, Porteous, Matulevicius, Barker, Shaw, F.Murray
Referee Craig Thomson
Attendance 4997
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.
