Hibs came from behind to secure a valuable point against Livingston at a bitterly cold Easter Road this afternoon.
Neil Lennon made six changes to the starting XI that drew with Rangers on Wednesday. Ofir Marciano and Stevie Mallan missed out through injury whilst Steven Whittaker, Lewis Stevenson, Daryl Horgan and Florian Kamberi were amongst the substitutes.
Adam Bogdan, Mark Milligan, Darren McGregor and Martin Boyle all returned to the starting Xi alongside Lewis Allan and Sean Mackie who impressed from the bench in the victory over Celtic.
The visitors arrived in confident mood after thrashing Harts 5-0 in their last game. In an even first half Boyle was denied by a superb save from Liam Kelly then McGregor went close with a powerful header from Mackie’s corner.
At the other end Dolly Menga fired over the bar from 12 yards and Adam Bogdan did well to save from the impressive Ryan Hardie.
Kamberi replaced Shaw at half time and Hibs looked the more dominant team after the restart. Ryan Porteous headed onto the roof of the net before Kelly did well do save a deflected Mackie cross.
Livingston opened the scoring against the run of play when Hardie latched onto a through ball before expertly dinking the ball over the Hibs’ keeper.
Hibs had a chance to equalise when Boyle was brought down inside the Livingston box and referee Greg Aitken had no hesitation in awarding a spot kick.
The normally deadly Kamberi hesitated during his run up and Kelly was able to save his low strike.
The Swiss striker almost made amends moments later with a powerful header but once again Kelly produced a superb diving save.
Hibs eventually grabbed a deserved equaliser in the 79th minute when Porteous stooped to head home a low cross from substitute Daryl Horgan.
Boyle almost secured the three points late on but his shot flew inches wide after a superb run from midfield.
After the game Lennon told BBC Scotland: “We showed good character to come back. But it’s an awful goal, just a straight ball. “We’ve switched off for some reason and lost the ball in a good area again which I’m not happy about. The response was excellent.”
Hibs: Bogdan, Milligan, Slivka, Boyle, Hyndman (Horgan 66’), McGregor, Ambrose, Shaw (Kamberi 46’), Porteous, Mackie, Allan (Maclaren 80’). Substitutes not used: Dabrowski, Gray, Whittaker, Stevenson.
Livingston: Killy, Lithgow, Byrne, Jacobs, Pittman, Hardie (Lawson 74’), Lawless, Robinson (Cadden 22’), Halkett, Gallagher, Menga (Miller 58’). Substitutes not used: Stewart, McMillan, Sibbald, Hamilton. Referee: Greg Aitken. Attendance: 17,046.
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.
