Hibs 2 Ross County 0
Goals from Myziane Maolida and Dylan Levitt earned Hibs full points from a cinch Premiership contest against Ross County in Leith.
The game took a while to get going however, in the end, the Hibees fully merited a crucial three points that moves us up into the top six.
Patience was required as a disciplined County side made us fight all the way with both goals coming in the second half.
Nick Montgomery went with an unchanged side for the third game in a row, however Chris Cadden took the place of Jair Taveres on the substitutes’ bench.
Hibs made a solid if unspectacular start to the game, seeing a lot of the ball and moving it around well without necessarily asking a question of the visiting defence.
That said, we could and perhaps should have broken the deadlock with our first incisive foray into the County box.
Nathan Moriah-Welsh found Myziane with a threaded pass and his shot on the angle was kept out by George Wickens.
Emiliano was onto the rebound and attempted to round the 'keeper before shooting - only for Wickens to stick out a leg and block him.
County had an opportunity themselves moments later when Eamonn Brophy fired an angled strike wide of the far post having got a shot away despite been closed down by Will Fish and Rocky Bushiri.
Don Cowie’s side were finding pockets of space and forcing errors in the middle of the park and on one such occasion Victor Loturi was able to drive to the edge of our box before testing David Marshall with a powerful drive that the keeper did well to push around his near post.
We were enjoying the majority of possession but struggling to create meaningful opportunities as the visitors got everyone behind the ball and we failed to move the ball around quick enough to break their lines.
The hosts had a couple of late chances in the first half although neither Myziane nor Martin Boyle produced a clinical finish and the County goal survived until the break.
Montgomery made a change during the interval with Levitt replacing Moriah-Welsh in the centre of the park.
The gaffer would likely have told his side he wanted to see more urgency in our play in the second half and we certainly moved the ball with more purpose when play resumed.
Inside the opening minute, we almost got our noses in front when Myziane split the visiting defence with a pass that found Emiliano and his net bound shot was kept out by Wickens at full stretch.
Moments later and we passed up another big opportunity when Lewis Miller fed Boyle on the right of the penalty box and the winger’s cutback appeared perfect for Dylan Vente to sweep goalward - only for the striker inexplicably leave it having perhaps heard a shout.
The deadlock was finally broken on 59 minutes and whilst it was deserved, there was nevertheless an element of good fortune about it. There had appeared little danger when Vente’s low cross dropped between Wickens and Jack Baldwin only for the pair to make a mess of dealing with it and as the ball slipped away from the goalkeeper, Myziane was on hand to sweep it into the unguarded net.
The relief around Easter Road was palpable and we almost added a quick-fire second when Levitt shot straight down the throat of Wickens from distance and the 'keeper did well to hold onto it.
As always, a slender lead is a fragile one and County should’ve levelled with 19 minutes remaining after Brandon Khela got in behind us on the left and his cut back found Brophy - who had to score - only to be denied point-blank by Marshall. A massive save from our No.1.
Going into the final quarter-of-an-hour, we were pushing hard for a second goal and an Elie Youan pass almost put Adam Le Fondre in on goal only for Wickens to read the danger and rush out to save at his feet.
With eight minutes remaining, a fantastic diagonal from Levitt found Youan running off the shoulder of the County left back and with Le Fondre unmarked in the middle he squandered a big chance by playing his pass behind the experienced forward.
We could all rest a little easier as we put the game to bed with four minutes remaining.
Levitt started the move, playing the ball to Youan on the right before driving forward and collecting the return pass, which he cooly slotted beyond Wickens.
A thoroughly deserved victory for the Hibees in a game that we were made to battle all the way by a dogged and determined County side.
Next up, a visit from Rangers in the Scottish Cup.