The Thistle Archive

Hibernian marked their return to Scotland's top flight with a commanding victory over Partick Thistle. The hosts fell behind to Chris Erskine's neat opener after seven minutes, but did not let the setback encumber their football. Martin Boyle levelled seven minutes later, before Steven Whittaker prodded in to put Hibs ahead before the break. Simon Murray stretched the lead from the penalty spot after Boyle was felled by former Hibee Callum Booth.

Easter Road was rocking before the game started as the Championship flag was unfurled. A new singing section - with their own Anthony Stokes banner - augmented the noise inside the ground as an expectant home crowd took their seats. Partick Thistle arrived very much in the guise of party-poopers. After six minutes they played the part to perfection. A patient passing move culminated with Steven Lawless threading the vital ball into the box. Erskine turned his defender before calmly firing the ball past Ofir Marciano to put the Jags ahead. But Hibs responded in perfect fashion. John McGinn's low ball into the box took a ricochet before falling kindly for Boyle. The former Dundee man made no mistake as he fired past Tomas Cerny. Boyle almost had Hibs in front soon after. Dylan McGeouch made a great run down the flank before delivering a ball into the six-yard box. It looked like Boyle would bundle the ball home, but Booth did well to hook it away from the Hibs forward in the nick of time. Just after the half-hour mark Hibs took the lead. Great composed interplay in the penalty box from Danny Swanson and McGeouch created the chance. Swanson then supplied the perfect pass for Whittaker, who stabbed the ball with the outside of his boot into the bottom corner as Easter Road erupted in delight.

Partick Thistle were unable to repeat their bright start to the first half as Hibs took the game by the scruff of the neck after the interval. Boyle had been a threat all afternoon and Booth pulled the Hibs wide man down in the box - a clear penalty. Up stepped Murray to fire Hibs into a 3-1 lead in the 51st minute. Boyle provided yet more riches down the flanks for Hibs just after the hour. His ball into the box found Murray, but this time his shot came back off the post. Just as it looked more or less like game over, there were a few sparks of light from the visitors. A header from Kevin Nisbet - who had replaced the injured Kris Doolan, who appeared to suffer a hamstring strain, in the first half - was tipped over the bar. Erskine then fired in a shot following the corner, but Marciano got down well to save. Ultimately, though, Thistle failed to create enough opportunities as Hibs cruised to all three points.

Hibernian head coach Neil Lennon:

Delighted is an understatement. We were dozy [for their goal], we gave them too much time to basically do what they liked - after that the reaction was sensational. They thoroughly deserved to win the game - they're a youngish side at this level but they showed great maturity and quality. I've got goalscorers in the team - Murray was outstanding up-front, he led the line brilliantly for us - and there were great performances all over the pitch. The reacted well to the pressure, it was a big crowd today, and I think the fans are going home thoroughly happy.

Partick Thistle manager Alan Archibald:

We started really brightly, kept the ball, kept their fans quiet and scored a great goal. But once Hibs scored, the reaction after that was really disappointing. We invited pressure onto ourselves - their two first-half goals came from us giving the ball away in their half and they score five to six seconds later, which is a big disappointment. This league is full of good teams now and we need to make sure we've got the right approach and mind-set to manage the game 1-0, and keep doing what we're doing when we're hurting them.

bbc.com

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