5th Aug 2017 Hibernian 3 Partick Thistle 1 (SPFL Premiership - game 1)

matches:2017-18: ← 05game 0607 →

	Neil Lennon	Alan Archibald	40y, 0m, 23d

		Niall Keown; Kris Doolan
		Blair Spittal; Kevin Nisbet

Martin Boyle (1-1, 14 mins); Steven Whittaker (1-2, 33 mins); Simon Murray (1-3, pen 52 mins)		Chris Erskine (1-0, 7 mins)
none (1-1, 14 mins); Danny Swanson (1-2, 33 mins); none (1-3, pen 52 mins)		Steven Lawless (1-0, 7 mins)
Efe Ambrose; John McGinn		Stuart Bannigan; Christie Elliott; Chris Erskine

Danny Swanson (Anthony Stokes, 70 mins); Marvin Bartley (Vykintas Slivka, 77 mins); Simon Murray (Fraser Murray, 85 mins)		Kris Doolan (Kevin Nisbet, 29 mins); Steven Lawless (Milan Nitrianský, 70 mins)

	Ofir Marciano	Tomáš Černý	32y, 3m, 26d
	Steven Whittaker	Christie Elliott	26y, 2m, 10d
	Paul Hanlon	Callum Booth	26y, 2m, 6d
	Lewis Stevenson	Danny Devine	24y, 10m, 29d
	Efe Ambrose	Niall Keown	22y, 4m, 0d
	Marvin Bartley	Abdul Osman	30y, 5m, 9d
	John McGinn	Adam Barton	26y, 6m, 29d
	Dylan McGeouch	Stuart Bannigan	24y, 10m, 19d
	Danny Swanson	Kris Doolan	30y, 7m, 25d
	Simon Murray	Chris Erskine	30y, 5m, 28d
	Martin Boyle	Steven Lawless	26y, 3m, 24d

			27y, 4m, 22d

	Ross Laidlaw	Ryan Scully	24y, 9m, 7d
	Liam Fontaine	Jordan Turnbull	22y, 9m, 6d
	Vykintas Slivka	Milan Nitrianský	26y, 7m, 23d
	Deivydas Matulevicius	Kevin Nisbet	20y, 4m, 28d
	Anthony Stokes	James Penrice	18y, 7m, 14d
	Fraser Murray	Mark Lamont	19y, 5m, 11d
	Ryan Porteous	Neil McLaughlin	18y, 8m, 30d

notes

Both sides generally in playing order.
The stats network (including SPFL) erroneously lists Andy McCarthy as a Thistle sub at the expense of Mark Lamont.

TTA report

Lawless set up Erskine for a turn and shot to put Thistle ahead (7) but the impressive start didn't last. A lucky deflection set up the equaliser (14) then Doolan went off injured (28) leaving Thistle toothless. Poor marking (33) and a pen (foul by Booth, 52) gave a fair reflection of the gap between the teams on the day.

Media report

Jonathan Sutherland, 05-Aug-2017, bbc.com

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.

Reaction

Partick Thistle manager Alan Archibald (speaking to the BBC):

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.

Hibernian head coach Neil Lennon (speaking to the BBC):

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.

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