Hibernian bounced back from two straight defeats with a 3-0 victory at Easter Road Stadium this afternoon. It was through some clinical finishing that Hibernian took the points, with Anthony Stokes scoring his first goals for the club while his strike partner Derek Riordan chipped in with a stunner of his own. St Johnstone will feel they should have been a couple of goals ahead early in the game, but that served only to demonstrate the main difference between the sides - that Hibernian's finishing was deadly and St Johnstone allowed their chances to pass them by.

Following on from last weekend's disappointing defeat at the hands of Hamilton Academical John Hughes made three changes to his starting eleven with McCormack, Wotherspoon and Millar replacing Hogg, Cregg and the suspended Nish. The changes in defence in particular looked to take a while to work out - but in the end the Hibernian manager got his balance spot on.

The visitors started brightly and they forced an early corner kick, however the delivery from Morris to the near post was poor and Rankin was perfectly placed to head clear. The delivery from Morris moments later from St Johnstone's second corner of the afternoon was much better and Hibernian goalkeeper Stack was called into action to punch clear from the packed penalty area.

St Johnstone were dominating the early exchanges and were fortunate not to take the lead when a snap-shot from Hardie came back off the crossbar with Stack beaten. Seconds later a fantastic cross from the left by Craig evaded both Stack and Murray but was just beyond the reach of Samuel. Hibernian were living dangerously and they survived another scare not long after when Samuel was allowed to pick out Davidson in the middle - from the cross and the former Livingston midfielder managed to send a header over the bar from just 8 yards out.

It was then against the run of play and with their first effort on goal Hibernian took the lead on 21 minutes. A long ball forward from McCormack found Stokes on the edge of the penalty area. The striker had his back to goal and was under pressure from McCaffrey; expertly however he brought the ball down with his chest before turning and striking a sweet left foot shot volley that the despairing dive of Main could not stop from striking the net.

For the first time in the league this season it was Hibernian and not their opponents who had scored first, and the Easter Road men nearly doubled their lead just 6 minutes later. A fantastic turn from Miller in the middle of the park took out two St Johnstone players before the former Manchester United playmaker tried to slip the ball through to Hanlon who had made a lung-bursting run up the left flank. The pass was cut out by Morris but fell perfectly to Wotherspoon who struck it first time on the volley - only to watch his shot end inches wide of goal.

It then took a last gasp tackle from Mackay to prevent Hibernian's new signings, Miller and Stokes from carving the visitors wide opening on 31 minutes. Miller, who was having a storming home debut, beat two men before trying to put Stokes clean through but Mackay had read the danger superbly and just did enough to divert the ball away from the striker. Hibernian then punished their opponents for those earlier missed chances when they doubled their advantage on 35 minutes. Wothersoon's shot from 25 yards was blocked by Grainger but the rebound fell perfectly to Derek Riordan, who unleashed an unstoppable right foot shot into the bottom corner of the net to claim his fourth goal of the campaign.

The St Johnstone players could barely hide their shock at the loss of a second goal but gamely pushed forward for what remained of the first half - however the game was mainly played out in the midfield where the tackles came thick and fast, Hibernian's McBride perhaps fortunate not pick up a yellow card for a crunching challenge on Grainger.

Just before half time Craig struck a shot on the half volley that was well saved by Stack as the visitors searched for an avenue back into the match. Hibernian were fortunate to be holding a two goal lead at the interval given their shaky start but few in green and white were complaining.

Half Time: Hibernian 2 St Johnstone 0

Hibernian got the second half underway with both teams returning unchanged. Former Hibernian defender McCaffrey picked up the first yellow card in the match for pulling back Riordan as the Hibernian forward broke away on the left. With a two-goal cushion behind them Hibernian were playing with a lot of confidence and were spraying the passes around on the lush Easter Road pitch. St Johnstone made a couple of changes on 57 minutes as they sought to change the game when Milne and Deuchar replaced Craig and Samuel.

St Johnstone almost snatched a goal immediately when the ball broke to Davidson at the back post, but Stack did superbly to block before the ball rebounded of Davidson and behind for a goal kick. At the other end a cross from McCormack was inadvertently guided into the path of Stokes by McCaffrey, but the Hibernian striker perhaps did not realise just how much time he had and snatched at the ball sending it well wide. Stack then had to be well positioned to save an attempted over head kick from Milne as the play raged from end-to-end.

Chances continued to come thick and fast with McCormack shooting wide after a cross from the left was missed by both Stokes and McCaffrey, but the defender in unfamiliar territory lacked a composed finish. Substitute Deuchar should have pulled a goal back when Bamba left him unmarked to challenge Davidson for the ball only to lose out. Despite having all the time he needed and just 10 yards out the normally prolific striker hooked his effort over the top of goal.

A foul by Hanlon on Deuchar resulted in St Johnstone winning a free kick in a very dangerous position on the edge of the Hibernian penalty area. Hardie, who scored a spectacular effort against Heart of Midlothian recently from a similar position, was however just off target this occasion. On 70 minutes Riordan left the field to a well deserved round of applause from the Easter Road support when he was replaced by Galbraith. The substitute was immediately into the thick of the action and it took a poor challenge from Gartland to prevent him creating a shooting opportunity.

From the resulting free kick however Hibernian sealed the points when Anthony Stokes fired a right foot shot into the top left hand corner of the net for his second of the afternoon. That proved to be Stokes final contribution for the afternoon as he was replaced by Benjelloun before the game restarted. Deuchar looked to have pulled a goal back shortly after the restart when he climbed above goalkeeper Stack and powered a header towards goal that was cleared from the line by Murray. The Hibernian stand-in captain was in the right place at the right time to prevent his side conceding.

Hibernian's final change of the afternoon saw Rankin replaced by Zemmama, however the visitors never gave up and continued to push men forward. Hardie tried to beat Stack with a shot from long range, however it was always going to take something spectacular to score from such a distance and in the end it was a comfortable save for the goalkeeper. Stack was however fortunate not to concede a goal after he raced from his goal-line as Murray and Deuchar contested a long ball forward. Deuchar held off Murray before lifting the ball over the advancing goalkeeper - and then sliced his shot wide of goal when facing an unguarded net.

St Johnstone's last throw of the dice saw Millar replaced by Swankie before the visitors passed up another great chance when a Gartland corner was headed wide by Deuchar. Defender McCaffrey picked up a nasty head knock on 87 minutes that resulted in St Johnstone finishing the game with ten men. Three minutes of additional time came and went without further incident and the points remained in Leith.

It was not the finest performance we will see this season from Hibernian and it was perhaps a tad harsh on the visitors who contributed so much to the game, but it was a welcome three points for the Easter Road men for whom new signings Stokes and Miller impressing throughout.

Hibernian: Stack, Murray, McCormack, Bamba, Hanlon, McBride, Millar, Wotherspoon, Riordan, Stokes, Rankin. Subs: Ma-Kalambay, Hogg, Zemmama, Cregg, Benjelloun, Galbraith, Stevenson.

St Johnstone: Main, Mackay, Grainger, Morris, McCaffrey, Gartland, Millar, Hardie, Davidson, Craig, Samuel. Subs: McLean, Irvine, Swankie, Milne, Deuchar, Durnan, Reynolds.

Referee: Euan Morris

Attendance: 10,817

Report: Richard Payne