Hibs at home, Aha Aha, I like it! // Motherwell 2-0 Hibs
- Marc Christie
- Nov 27
- 7 min read
Sitting in the Cooper bar pre match, one of us at the Dispatch (...) is from Edinburgh (I know, I know), surrounded by their fellow Well fans. Seeing boys they knew from school in Hibs colours firing in, the atmosphere before kick-off was jovial. Good natured, everyone expecting a good match, between two very good times in fine form.
Well, dear reader, we have a feeling there might have been only one person journeying back to Edinburgh last night in a fantastic mood…and they were donned in Claret and Amber.
The Line-ups
Hibs lined up unchanged from their 2-0 against Dundee United, in a formation which could be fluid, a 3-4-1-2 changing to a 3-1-4-2 when needed. They started in the former, with more attacking intent.
JBA rang in the changes, in a move which not many saw coming. 5 changes to our side which dominated Killie on Saturday. Oscar Priestman, Tom Sparrow, Johnny Koutroumbis, Elijah Just and Liam Gordon all in from the start, with Ibrahim Said, Emmanuel Longelo, Callum Hendry, Callum Slattery and Lukas Fadinger all dropping to the bench. There was even some surprises from the bench for us, as Apostolos Stamatelopolous was nowhere to be seen, but instead youth academy graduate Luca Ross took his place.
The formation for Well is listed as a 3-1-4-2, in a shape to try and match Hibs man for man. The changes in personnel were, what we thought initially was perhaps to freshen the side and keep players fresh while others got minutes, as we face the other half of the capital on Saturday. But perhaps those who doubted initially (myself included), need to focus more on the tactical tweaks put in place by JBA to counteract Hibs attacking threats (which we'll discuss later).
As the players came out the tunnel, the atmosphere kicked off. Flares from Block E, and bangers (both literal and….well literal) form the Hibs end, with them raining down to the bottom of the South stand throughout the beginning of the first half. If only something could stop them…
First Half Madness
Well, let’s just say that Tuesday, the 25th of November, 2025, be the day we uttered the words: we love VAR. A strike from Tawanda Maswanhise, from our view of the incident, took an innocuous deflection wide of the goal. After a solid start from the Well, a corner giving us more attacking intent. “VAR check, possible penalty, handball”. Wait…there was a hand? According to the ref upon review, yes! Grant Hanley adjudged to have blocked the shot with an outstretched hand. The rules, not clear to David Gray on the touchline, as because the shot was going wide it shouldn’t matter… With our usual pen taker not in the squad, we pondered who would take the pen. Stephen Welsh stood on the spot, Liam Gordon we believe had the ball in his hands, but up stepped our warrior Tawanda, who coolly sent Raphael Sallinger the wrong way. Euphoria in the stands.
What followed was nothing short of utter collapse from Hibs. Nullified completely by the personnel and tactical changes from Askou, they struggled to press, which left Hanley in charge solely of playing the ball out. From our recollection, this was then pressed by the Well attack. Our press paid off. An off the ball altercation followed after a Hanley pass to Iredale, pressured by Tawanda, with VAR called in again for a potential red card for violent conduct. David Gray has said there was a headbutt. Alas, we're unsure what game Gray was watching, but the furore from both Iredale an Gray that followed over what we can only describe as “shoving” (and that word is doing a lot of heavy lifting) is…embarrassing. The right decision came through eventually, with no booking.
And then, the second hit. Elijah Just finding himself in the box after being played through by Tawanda, saw his attempted cutback blocked. The proverbial football pinball ensued between Hibs backline and GK, but luck was on the side of the good guys. The ball broke back to Just, who calmly placed the ball in the net. It was too easy.
A ball over the top for Tawanda to chase, in a footrace with Hanley. There was only one winner. Hanley?!? Hanley getting there first as he clipped Tawanda, and Tawanda hits the deck. Shouts for a foul, the ref ignoring as the offside flag came up. What followed was a long wait. "VAR check" for the third time of the evening. The famous red card we all love, DOGSO (Denial Of a Goal Scoring Opportunity) was on! The ref checking meant that the offside was factually incorrect. Tawanda was on, and through on goal. The ref could only make one call if he deemed contact was made, and that he did, with Hanley seeing red.
Hibs were shell shocked. Passes flew astray, they couldn’t keep possession. Niggling fouls galore. Jamie McGrath saw yellow, and David Gray had seen enough, as 2 subs in the 38th minute followed. Jordan Obita and Warren O’Hora on for Nicky Cadden and Jack Iredale. This no doubt was to change shape to accommodate for the yellow card, and for Motherwell's press. Obita a more defensive minded left hand side option, with O'Hora replacing a poor Iredale, who was gunning for a booking. Hibs shape may not have changed for the final portion of the first half, but we nearly rued our chances.
Hibs nearly pulled one back as the Well switched off for the first, and only, time of the match. A quick pass in-between the back 4 and the GK caught us out, and Boyle touched it passed the onrushing Callum Ward, a tap in. But, as the ball rolled, Koutroumbis came flying out of nowhere to put the ball out for the corner, and make sure the only thing rustling the net was him. Further jubilation from the home ends at Fir Park. 6 minutes added on due to goals, subs, VAR checks, and that was that. A brilliant first half, that had it all for a neutral. 2 going on 5 or 6 for the Well. Hibs, needing a serious foot removal to try and get anything from the game
Calm Domination
Second half, and the Well made a sub to begin proceedings. Callum Hendry on for Tawanda Maswanhise. Perhaps to keep him fresh for Hearts, perhaps because he was getting the opponents wound up, and every touch he had the Cabbage tried to launch him out of ML1.
What followed in the second half was similar to the first. The only differences? We didn’t score. Hibs didn’t get a sniff. Utter domination. Despite having no goals or any real talking points, this half was an absolute joy to watch. The flicks round the corners, the dummies, the backheels. Hell, even Ibrahim Said’s little fish jump after his introduction (We have no idea what that was, but the funniest thing we’ve ever seen). We should have probably scored a fair few second half also, with Priestman hitting the post, Just and Sparrow also having decent chances. Half chances with Hendry in the air. Slattery with an opportunity to. We even got to see some youth brought on with Luca Ross entering the match late on. A good few crosses swung in from Ross on the left hand side late on that lead to chances.
Hibs tried in fairness, but just offered nothing going forward. The changed their shape completely towards the end to a 4-2-4, brought on more attacking options with Youan and Klidje, but we held firm. 2 goals, 3 points, a clean sheet, and up to joint third for the Well (behind Hibs on GD frustratingly, but above Rangers on GD).
Stats
But don't let these Claret and Amber specs full you. The stats tell all of game. Motherwell had 16 shots to Hibs 2 (with Motherwell managing 5 on target compared to Hibs' poultry 1). The possession stat speaks volumes. 70% in total for the Well, but an astonishing 76% of the ball in the second half. Yes, Hibs did have a man down, but still, an outrageous stat for those in ML1. Callum Ward didn't have a single save to make throughout the 90+ minutes, with the Well playing an astonishing 797 passes.
Post Match discussions
Jens hammers in that we have a squad with "very good players and talented players", but everyone is required for us to hit our goals. With a tight schedule, all will be given the chance to play. Excellent in terms of "executing", with praise heaped on RCC, Tom Sparrow and Oscar Priestman. The players all have praise heaped on them for changing shape, and executing the gameplan, especially in the first half. The staff also were included in the praise being dished out from JBA. A questions is asked regarding our run of draws at the start of the season, and if we are finally seeing the fruit of our labours. We have to say at the Dispatch, we truly are after being patient and bearing with some teething issues, we are fully seeing the club all pull in the same direction and playing with unity.
We all said, in our time at watching the club, that performance we think could be up there with the best we've seen, potentially ever in our time going to Fir Park. The football was scintillating, the passing sharp and crisp, the runs direct, the defence sharp and strong. When it clicks, we are an unbelievable watch. Leaves us full of hope for Saturday, where a positive result for us could see us outright 3rd and 2 points off Celtic (until Sunday, when Hibs face Celtic at Easter Road). 13 points from 15 available in the league, got to keep the positivity going! COYW!
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