Hibernian F.C. Match Reports
Clydesdale Bank Scottish Premier League
Falkirk 1 Hibernian 3
Saturday 22nd August 2009

New signing Anthony Stokes went straight into the starting line-up, making his debut against one of his former clubs, while David Van Zanten also came back into the side as a replacement for the injured Kevin McCann. Man of the match in the win over St Mirren, David Wotherspoon, had to sit this one out; John Hughes admitting that this was a very difficult decision to make.

The home side started brightly and forced a corner in the opening minute following fine play by MacDonald. Although the initial cross from the set-piece was cleared by the Hibernian defence, the ball was returned to Finnigan who had found acres of space in the middle. The powerful forward failed to realise he had time and space to pick his spot and the opportunity was gone.

Anthony Stokes went close to a debut goal on 4 minutes following good play by Van Zanten down the right. The defender demonstrated pace to get beyond Scobbie before picking out Stokes in the middle - the striker's header going just wide of goal. The opening exchanges had proven to be fairly even and chances were being created at either end of the field. Next to attempt to force an early goal was Falkirk when McNamara won possession from Rankin in the middle of the park, Arfield gathered before unleashing a powerful low drive that fizzed just wide of goal with Ma-Kalambay scrambling to get across.

Former Falkirk player McBride incurred the wrath of the home supporters following a clumsy challenge on O'Brien - referee Conroy was content to give the midfielder a talking to rather than issue a caution. Falkirk looked to have made the breakthrough when Barr's deep cross to the back post found Finnigan, the striker's header had the beating of goalkeeper Ma-Kalambay but fortunately it struck the top of the crossbar before being cleared.

Stokes was causing the home defence a number of problems and on 14 minutes he did well to create space for a shot at goal only for Olejnik to gather. Hogg was then caught in possession by Finnigan soon after, the big striker's curling right foot effort was saved by Ma-Kalambay at the second attempt. The deadlock was finally broken on 24 minutes when Flynn cut inside Van Zanten on the left flank before he produced a fine finish - shooting low across Ma-Kalambay and into the far corner.

Hibernian attempted to respond quickly and forced a series of corner kick that did little to put the home defence under pressure. Van Zanten became the first player to be cautioned by referee Conroy after the impressive Flynn had been fouled. The full back was perhaps unlucky given that it appeared to have been Cregg who collided with the Falkirk man. Van Zanten was quickly joined in the referee's book by Hogg and it was another questionable offence as the defender had clearly won the ball.

Referee Conroy was keeping busy when he handed out a third yellow card inside five minutes when Scobbie was correctly cautioned for kicking the ball away. Hibernian's best chance of the afternoon came on 35 minutes when Hanlon's clever pass down the left put Stokes in the clear and although the striker beat the goalkeeper to the ball, his attempted chip was just too high and landed on the roof of the net.

The height and power of the Falkirk attacks was giving Hibernian difficulty at the back and at times both Hogg and Bamba appeared to be struggling, particularly when facing Finnigan. Hibernian however posed plenty threat at the other end - and ironically it was Bamba who rose above everyone to score his first goal for the club. It came from a Rankin corner kick that Olejnik came for - but could not reach before the Hibernian defender, who was subsequently booked for a celebration that took him a foot off the field of play.

Half Time: Falkirk 1 Hibernian 1

There were no changes at the interval as Falkirk again started sharply by winning a couple of corner kicks. John Rankin became the fourth Hibernian player to be yellow carded following a crunching tackle on Twaddle that left the Falkirk defender writhing in agony on the ground.

Not long after Finnigan was also cautioned following an off the ball incident with Bamba, a decision that left the home supporters irate. Falkirk had enjoyed the better of the exchanges but Hibernian went close to taking the lead on 54 minutes when Nish put Stokes through on goal. As he did in the first half the forward lobbed the ball over the out rushing Olejnik but just as before he was off target with his effort.

A goal for the visitors was however only delayed by a matter of seconds when a free kick from Rankin was played in to the front post, where it was flicked into the roof of the net by Derek Riordan for his first goal of the season. The striker had rarely been involved in the match to that point - but did what he does best, ghosting in behind the Falkirk defence to stun them with a fine finish.

McBride appeared to be unlucky to pick up a yellow card as referee Conroy continued to rule with an iron fist. The Hibernian midfielder appeared to win the ball before catching O'Brien - not for the first time this afternoon the official however took a different view. The first change of the afternoon saw MacDonald replace Marceta on 67 minutes. It did not take the substitute long to become involved and Cregg was correctly cautioned for pulling the player down as he broke away. Eddie May's side went agonisingly close to an equaliser when Barr's powerful low cross was cleared from the goal-line at the back post by McBride.

Falkirk were beginning to exert a fair amount of pressure on the Hibernian defence and Hogg had to deal with a cross from Flynn to prevent Finnigan having a clear sight of goal before Ma-Kalambay was forced into a save from a rasping shot by Arfield. Wotherspoon replaced Cregg on 77 minutes but not before Ma-Kalambay had punched straight to O'Brien - who should have scored but fired over the top. It proved to be an expensive miss as Derek Riordan scored his second goal of the afternoon with a stunning free kick minutes later, the striker curling the ball perfectly around the wall leaving the goalkeeper little chance of blocking.

Riordan had about to be substituted and he duly was seconds later, replaced by Benjelloun who had netted the winner a week earlier. On 86 minutes Robertson replaced McNamara as the home supporters headed for the exits in their droves. A stunning turn and shot from Benjelloun was met with an equally impressive stop by Olejnik who turned the ball around his near post for a corner kick.

From the corner Bamba's knock down found Stokes but his shot was cleared from the goal-line by Scobbie. Falkirk raced up field and it took a fantastic save from Ma-Kalambay to stop Marceta from pulling a goal back for the home side. That was the final action of the match, a game in which Hibernian never really hit the heights of which they are capable of yet still ran out convincing winners. New signing Stokes made a decent start and was unlucky not to cap off his performance with a goal - on the day however he learned that he had some considerable opposition for top-scorer at Easter Road in the form of Derek Riordan.

Falkirk: Olejnik, Barr, Scobbie, Twaddle, McNamara, McLean, O'Brien, Finnigan, Arfield, Flynn, MacDonald. Subs: Andrews, Robertson, Allison, Marceta, Murdoch, Mitchell, Lynch.

Hibernian: Ma-Kalambay, Van Zanten, Hogg, Bamba, McBride, Cregg, Riordan, Rankin, Hanlon, Stokes, Nish. Subs: Stack, Wotherspoon, Benjelloun, Byrne, Thicot, Galbraith, Stevenson.