Hibernian left Rugby Park this afternoon with a hard fought point after battling back to secure a draw - but it could have been all three points had Riordan's last minute volley had been an inch lower, the ball instead coming crashing off the bar with just about the final kick of the match. Perhaps unsurprisingly John Hughes kept faith with the same starting line up that had swept Motherwell aside last weekend.

Hibernian got the action underway in sun soaked but bitterly cold Ayrshire, the south west escaping the thick coating of fog that appeared to be prevalent throughout Scotland. John Hughes took his side south knowing that they had not managed to win at Rugby Park since January 2007.  The Easter Road side made a positive start with neat intricate passing that threatened to find a way through the home defence. Kilmarnock's Hamill over-hit a pass back to goalkeeper Brown that caused a panicked hush to come over the home stands, but the former Celtic shot stopper dealt with it before he was closed down by a green shirt. A fairly innocuous ball into the Hibernian penalty area by Hamill was then spilled by Yves Ma-Kalambay but was cleared before any Kilmarnock players could punish the error. At the other end a promising run from Miller was stopped by a trip from Invincible - Zemmama put the resulting free kick over the top of Brown's cross bar from 22 yards out.

It took 13 minutes for the first shot on target and unsurprisingly it came from the visitors. Stokes was the man to pose the threat, wrong-footing Ford before being denied by Brown who gathered his on-target effort. A Kilmarnock free kick on the halfway line almost brought about a goal on the counter attack from Hibernian when Zemmama charged down Kilmarnock's hastily-taken set piece before feeding the ball to Wotherspoon on the right - however the full back's cross was a poor one.

The longer the game progressed the more the home side were beginning to be seen as an attacking force, and they almost went ahead when Hamill's cross was flicked into the path of Kyle by Burchill. The Scotland striker put in a header that was kept out by a stunning save from Ma-Kalambay, the Hibernian goalkeeper having to use every inch of his huge frame to prevent Kyle's effort from finding the top right hand corner of the net.

Hibernian had another promising counter attack soon after when Zemmama broke upfield before finding Wotherspoon on the right, the full back's first time cross picked out Nish but the former Kilmarnock striker's header was off target on this occasion. Goalkeeper Ma-Kalambay came to his team's rescue for the second time with another excellent save to prevent Invincible from netting. The Australian was left unmarked at the back post and had all the time in the world to pick his spot but was denied by the long legs of the Belgian.

In an open match Hibernian were next to threaten when Wotherspoon played the ball inside to Riordan, and although he turned his marker superbly his tame effort straight at Brown was never going to beat the Kilmarnock goalkeeper. Brown was again well positioned to keep out a 25-yard-drive from Stokes after the Hibernian striker had cut on to his right foot after coming in off the left wing. With half time approaching Hibernian had one more chance and again playmaker Zemmama was at the heart of it. The Moroccan took the ball beyond Ford beautifully before clipping a teasing cross into the middle that was only just missed by the diving Nish.

A drive by Wotherspoon from 30 yards stung the hands of Brown as Hibernian kept up the pressure in the final moments of the half, with the final action a left-foot drive from Zemmama that was wide of target. A decent first half from both sides with Kilmarnock and Hibernian carving out a number of opportunities but neither had the composure to finish them.

Half Time: Kilmarnock 0 Hibernian 0

Kilmarnock got the action underway again with neither side having made changes at the interval. As they did in the first half, Hibernian were the first to threaten when Nish sent Riordan off and running down the left wing, the striker cut back onto his right foot before picking out Zemmama arriving late into the penalty area and his first time volley was just off target.

Kilmarnock's Hamill was fortunate not to be spoken to by referee Conroy after aggressively confronting no fewer than three Hibernian players in a matter of seconds. However he had calmed down minutes later when Kilmarnock opened the scoring. Hamill's high and deep cross was spilled by Ma-Kalambay and Burchill was perfectly placed to head into the empty net. The Hibernian goalkeeper protested he had been fouled and that was a view shared by John Hughes who had to be spoken to by referee Conroy before play resumed.

Hibernian had not deserved to be behind but they were almost level immediately following a surging run from Bamba, the big defender's powerful low drive had Brown beaten but ended just wide of the post. Ma-Kalambay then did brilliantly to push a header from Wright past his post to prevent Hibernian from falling further behind.  That save proved crucial when Nish put Stokes through on 59 minutes with a piece of pure opportunism. Hibernian had been awarded a free-kick 35 yards out on the right, while the home defence were concerned with protesting the decision Nish got the attention of Anthony Stokes, and delivered a quick free kick superbly into the path of the striker. He barely had to break stride, using the pace of the delivery into his path to enhance his own strike into the far corner.

The action had certainly hotted up and Kilmarnock almost restored their lead when Ford powerfully headed a corner towards the back post that was cleared from the goal-line by Wotherspoon with Ma-Kalambay beaten.  There was a loud appeal for a penalty with 20 minutes remaining when Nish went down inside the penalty area when he was poised to shoot, the arms of a defender clearly wrapped around the striker - but referee Conroy was unconvinced and waved play on. The play was relentless and at the other end Ma-Kalambay had to be careful not to carry a header from Burchill over the goal-line after opting to catch rather than push over a looping header from the former Dunfermline Athletic man.

The first change of the afternoon saw Benjelloun take over from scorer Stokes for the final 12 minutes, and not long after Kilmarnock replaced their goal scorer when Russell came on for Burchill. A poor clearance from Hay landed at the feet of the lurking Zemmama who found his effort at goal blocked by Ford, that just before Taouil fired across goal and wide at the other end as both teams pressed hard for a winning strike.

Wotherspoon picked up a late caution as the fourth official indicated there would be jus a single minute of time added on, and inside those 60 seconds Riordan struck a dipping volley that struck the Kilmarnock crossbar before going behind. In the end then it was a hard-fought point for the Easter Road side who have now extend their unbeaten run to eleven matches.

Kilmarnock: Brown, Hay, Fowler, Wright, Ford, Bryson, Taouil, Invincible, Kyle, Hamill, Burchill. Subs: Bell, Russell, Skelton, Owens, Flannigan, O'Leary, Kelly.

Hibernian: Ma-Kalambay, Hogg, Murray, Bamba, Wotherspoon, Miller, Rankin, Zemmama, Nish, Riordan, Stokes. Subs: Flynn, Cregg, Stevenson, Thicot, McCormack, Benjelloun, Byrne.

Report: Richard Payne