It was two points dropped rather than one gained having led our opponents 2-0 after a dominant opening hour.
We opened the scoring in the 7th minute when Lewis Miller’s shot struck the post and crossed the line off the unfortunate Will Dennis in the Kilmarnock goal.
Dylan Vente doubled our lead on 59 minutes however Killie pulled one back almost Immediately through Kyle Vassell and Joe Wright restored parity late on as the hosts fought back.
New boss Montgomery made two changes from the side that defeated Aberdeen two weeks ago and opted for a 4-4-2 formation.
Rocky Bushiri replaced Paul Hanlon at the heart of our defence whilst Christian Doidge came in to partner Vente in attack.
With skipper Hanlon amongst the substitutes this afternoon, Joe Newell took the armband and led the lads out today.
We almost got off to a dream start when a poor clearance from Killie was immediately pounced upon by Martin Boyle just inside the Hibs half, he drove forward, evaded three challenges, and was only denied a goal by the legs of Dennis in goal.
We penned the hosts back in the opening exchanges and it took a wonderful save from Dennis to keep us out after Miller’s low cross was hammered goalward by Boyle.
Over 2,000 Hibees in Ayrshire this afternoon didn’t have long to wait until the opening goal and from the resultant corner Jimmy Jeggo headed back into the danger area after Vassell had cleared and Miller squeezed a shot on the turn in at the back post.
Dennis could consider himself unfortunate to concede after touching Miller’s effort onto his near post only for it to ricochet over the line off the goalkeeper’s back.
It took Killie 17 minutes to register an effort at goal when Danny Armstrong peeled off the right flank and let fly with a shot on the angle that flashed across goal and wide of the far post.
The pace and movement of Boyle and Elie Youan caused Killie no shortage of problems and on 19 minutes a terrific run from the latter saw the winger slice through the heart of the home defence before shooting into the side netting from a tight angle.
We perhaps should have made more of a counterattack soon after when Lewis Stevenson’s pin-point ball down the left found the run of Youan inside his marker and his cut back for Boyle was just behind the attacker allowing Killie to clear.
We kept the pressure on the hosts and almost found a second goal when Boyle’s low, driven corner was dummied by Will Fish and Newell’s low shot was saved by Dennis inside the crowded penalty box.
Just before the break Killie keeper Dennis pulled up when attempting to clear a back pass and had to be replaced by Kieran O’Hara.
Deep into time added on and Doidge was caught in the head causing a nasty gash that would require the striker to go to hospital for treatment.
Although we played the final moments of the half with ten men, the striker was eventually replaced by Adam Le Fondre during the interval.
Kilmarnock started on the front foot and had an early chance with a snapshot from Armstrong that flashed just wide of goal.
Despite a good start to the second period from the hosts they would find themselves trailing by two goals as Vente latched onto a pass from Youan to beaten O’Hara at his front post.
We needed to keep it tight and take the sting out of the game in the moments that followed however Killie had other ideas and when David Marshall saved from Brad Lyons, Kyle Vassell followed up to score from the rebound.
Killie were in the ascendancy and pressing hard for a leveller with Vassell shooting just wide before Matty Kennedy almost found the top corner with a terrific curling strike from 25 yards that had the beating of Marshall but was just over the crossbar.
Against the run of play we almost snatched a third goal when Fish’s cross from the right was touched into the path of Le Fondre by Boyle and the substitute’s first-time shot was deflected just wide of the far post.
With 11 minutes remaining Kilmarnock deservedly pulled level when Wright glanced a header beyond Marshall from Armstrong’s corner kick delivery.
Having fought back from two goals behind, Killie could've have won it deep into time added on when Robbie Deas found himself unmarked in the Hibs box only to screw his shot wide with the goal at his mercy.
Kilmarnock: Dennis (O’Hara 44’), Mayo, Findlay, Wright, Deas, Armstrong (Dallas 87’), Lyons (Watson 65’), Magennis, Kennedy, Watkins (Murray 87’), Vassell. Substitutes not used: Sanders, Davies, Polworth, McKenzie, Cameron.
Hibernian: Marshall, Miller, Fish, Bushiri, Stevenson (Obita 84’), Boyle, Jeggo, Newell, Youan (Tavares 84’), Vente (Campbell 65’), Doidge (Le Fondre 46’). Substitutes not used: Boruc, Hanlon, Levitt, Harbottle, Delferriere.
Referee: David Dickinson.
Attendance: 6,277.
