Stokes hits brace as Hibs go third

Hibs striker Anthony Stokes scored his first goal for the club since signing in the summer, helping the home side to a 3-0 win over St Johnstone in a game where the capital side had the lion’s share of good fortune.

Despite the visitors looking the more threatening side in the first quarter of the game, Stokes opened the scoring in the twenty first minute, before team-mate Derek Riordan made it two with a precise strike from just outside the box fifteen minutes later.

Stokes doubled his own tally midway through the second half with another pin-point strike to Saints keeper Alan Main’s right, helping banish the disappointment after the previous week’s defeat away at Hamilton, and leaving the Perth side only a point in front of Falkirk at the bottom of the SPL.

The visitors started the match more energetically, and looked the more threatening of the two sides. A Martin Hardie strike hit the bar after only five minutes, and two minutes later a cross into the box from the left by Liam Craig was only slightly too fast for the incoming Colin Samuel.

The visitors also looked strong at the back, and Hibs offered little in the way of direct threat to their opponents until Stokes took advantage of some lacklustre defending to fire a left-footed shot beyond Alan Main’s right to put his side ahead.

Despite being against the run of play, the goal seemed to give the home side a lift and they looked more threatening going forward. David Wotherspoon hit a shot just wide of Main’s goal five minutes later, and only some alert defending stopped debutant Liam Millar’s through ball to Riordan setting the striker free on the half hour mark.

Despite the visitors efforts to find an equaliser, it was Hibs who added their second on the thirty five minute mark. Riordan hit a superb shot to the left of the Saints’ goalkeeper after the ball fell to the striker just outside the box, leaving the Saints to rue their inability to clear the ball effectively.

St Johnstone continued to press for the goal that would put them back in the game, but failed to present a real threat to the Hibs goal for the rest of the half. Liam Craig did attempt to recreate the goals scored by Stokes and Riordan with an effort from just outside the box with a minute remaining in the half, but Stack saved comfortably with a dive to his left.

It was the away side who again looked more likely to score at the start of the second half. Just over ten minutes after the restart, a cross from David Mackay left Murray Davidson with the ball at his feet four yards out, but the midfielder put the ball left of the post in a position where he should have scored. Another good chance was squandered by the visitors five minutes later when Kenny Deuchar’s left footed volley failed to hit the target.

However, Saints looked shaky at the back and Hibs sealed the three points after seventy minutes. Graham Gartland was judged to have fouled Hibs substitute Daniel Galbraith as he burst through the visitor’s backline, and from the resulting free kick Stokes made it a brace with a well placed strike; evading the wall and sailing into the top corner of Alan Main’s goal.

Saints did not throw in the towel and continued their search for a goal, but there luck for the day was summed up when a strong Deuchar header in the box was cleared off the line by Ian Murray. The home side should have made it four when both Wotherspoon and Rankin were put through on goal by a piercing ball from Galbraith, but Wotherspoon’s clumsy touch left Rankin in an offside position.

Despite Saints perseverance and plentiful opportunities, Hibs keeper Graham Stack finished the day with his first clean sheet of the season. However, rather than goalkeeping talent it was the finishing of the home side’s strikers, and the lack of precision from their visiting counterparts, that meant that Hibs finished the game with a flattering score line.