Derek Riordan was outspoken ahead of the game this weekend regarding the playing surface at Easter Road - but the striker was one of the stand-outs during the game against Kilmarnock and in the end won the match with a demonstration of just how sublime skill can overcome even the stickiest of playing surfaces!

There is no denying that Easter Road - along with a number of other SPL playing surfaces - has suffered badly from one of the worst Scottish winters in living memory, but as manager John Hughes was at pains to point out this week it is certainly not through the lack of effort being put in by ground staff, and Hughes expects his players to show the guile and skill to overcome any such difficulties better than their opponents. Fortunately by the time the final whistle sounded Hibernian had done just that, clinching three absolutely vital and very much deserved points.

While clear-cut scoring chances were few and far between those that were produced came from the home side, in particular during the second half when Anthony Stokes finished superbly at the back post only to be denied by an offside flag that video evidence clearly demonstrated should never have been raised. The next big chance for the home side was denied again but that was self-inflicted, Benjelloun failing to convert from the penalty spot and citing the surface as a reason. Riordan however demonstrated from just short of 18 yards further out that the surface has little part to play in converting dead-ball situations, his sweetly taken free kick demonstrating skills worthy of winning any game of football.

Manager Hughes was certainly provided with every reason to be up-beat in his post much summary despite a match that for the most part provided little edge-of-seat excitement for the three occupied stands: "From what the boys have given me this year I haven't seen too much wrong and as I said in my press conference on Thursday, I am delighted with where we are because we are still in there fighting for that this spot and to bring European football here. We had a poor week when we were away to Rangers, St Johnstone and Motherwell and the Rangers and Motherwell games were not bad ones, it was the St Johnstone that was a right bad one. So it is nice to get back to winning ways and Derek's goal was fitting to win any football match."

There was an early setback for the Hibs boss as he saw two of his substitutes having to be used earlier than he would have like, first Alan Gow and then Sol Bamba having to leave the field - the latter after a crunching clash with the visiting goalkeeper that resulted in his immediate departure from the action: "Those injuries disrupted us today and I have to say lady luck deserted us for a little bit over the last couple of weeks. It has been a hard time for the football club with the stand, one or two deaths and things like that and then we go into this game - Gow went off with a hamstring problem, big Sol then with a shoulder injury and then you miss the penalty kick, but all credit to the boys the ground it out today."

Replacement Abdessalam Benjelloun and Paul Hanlon went on to have a major say in subsequent events - and the best that can be said for the latter was that Kilmarnock rarely posed a threat after his introduction to the action, a point also noted by the manager who said: "Even though he was a substitute, I thought Paul Hanlon was outstanding and he was my man of the match. I am really pleased and it is nice to get back to winning ways.

"As for the injuries Gow, if it is a hamstring, well usually you are talking about three weeks to a month which is very disappointing because he was looking lively in training all week. Young Zemmama tweaked his hamstring as well on Thursday afternoon and we are hoping that is not as severe. Of course we also had big Sol picking up a knock now and we need to be all hands on deck, we need everybody to be fit and healthy for us to achieve what we want this season. Big Sol is a big player for us, he is a big physical presence, he is quick and he can be a real asset for us defensively, so we have our fingers crossed that it is not too serious."