Whilst relying on Youan’s late leveller to salvage a point from this contest, there will still be disappointment at not claiming full points from this game.
We were dominant during the first half and deservedly led through Youan’s wonderful opener before lapses in concentration cost us when Theo Bair levelled just before the break against the run of play.
The visitors then grabbed the advantage when Bevis Mugabi nodded in midway through the second half following a set piece before we fought back late on.
Substitute Lewis Stevenson struck the crossbar before Youan completed his brace in time added on to ensure we at least took something from the contest.
Boss Nick Montgomery was forced into reshuffling his pack due to Martin Boyle, Lewis Miller, Rocky Bushiri and Jojo Wollacott’s international commitments along with an injury to Josh Campbell that saw him join the lengthy injury list.
Captain Paul Hanlon, youngster Rory Whittaker and strikers Christian Doidge and Youan were the four players to come into the side this afternoon.
There was also a welcome sight of Harry McKirdy amongst substitutes. The forward was back involved on matchday for the first time since May 2023, following heart surgery.
We started positively with the pace and trickery of Jair creating an early opportunity as he flashed a delivery across the face of Motherwell’s goal.
The visitors had Blair Spittal in at makeshift right back and he was enduring a torrid time as Jair caused havoc down our left flank.
The Portuguese almost fashioned an opening goal with another burst down the flank before whipping a terrific delivery into the back post that Youan would surely have turned in had it not been for the quick reactions of Georgie Gent.
We were piling early pressure on our opponents and a well-worked corner kick routine almost carved them open when Doidge’s shot on the turn was kept out by a fantastic save from Liam Kelly down to his left. The goalkeeper doing well to keep out the effort having seen it late through a ruck of bodies in a packed penalty box.
Whilst we were clearly on top, we were not having it all our own way as Motherwell signalled their threat on the counterattack with Mika Bierth heading wide from Gent’s cross before Callum Slattery shot into the side netting at the front post.
Another creative set piece from us saw Joe Newell lay off Jair’s corner into the path of Levitt who watched his powerful strike deflected just wide by a brave block from Slattery.
Our overload in midfield was causing Motherwell problems and preventing them from getting out at times as we penned them back for most of the opening half hour.
A goal was coming, and it duly arrived on 29 minutes when individual brilliance from Youan saw the Frenchmen slaloming through the ‘Well defence from wide right before beating Kelly at his near post with a clever finish.
It was a clinical finish from Elie to claim his seventh goal of the campaign and his first since a double against Hearts in early-October.
Despite our dominance at this point, our lead would be short-lived as Motherwell hit back just five minutes later when Bair ran off his marker to collect Bierth’s pass and beat David Marshall at his near post.
The equaliser may have come against the run of play however the Steelmen were buoyed by their goal and should have gone ahead with a quick-fire second just moments later. Again, they worked the ball in off the left flank with Marshall saving Harry Paton’s powerful strike and then denying Slattery on the rebound.
Into the second half and there was little between the sides in the opening quarter of an hour before we were forced into our first change of the afternoon when Whittaker picked up a knock and had to be replaced by Stevenson.
Motherwell stunned Easter Road by taking the lead in the 64th minute when a free kick into our box was headed away by Hanlon but only to O’Donnell who put it back into the danger area and Mugabi headed in from close range following Biereth’s flick on.
Now, with an advantage, Motherwell were happy to sit off us and defend in numbers as they asked us to try and break them down.
Their approach worked to frustrate us as we toiled to find the necessary space to create meaningful opportunities.
With 13 minutes remaining a wonderful jinking run from youngster Rudi Molotnikov ended with his shot being blocked, however, his energy was enough to spark us into life as we recycled the ball before Stevenson crashed a dipping effort off the crossbar from the edge of the box.
With time running out we threw on Josh Landers and McKirdy (above) to bolster our attacking options and in the first of five additional minutes Youan’s powerful drive was deflected past Kelly by Mugabi to restore parity.
We pushed for a winning goal with the little time that remained and had one final chance when Doidge headed wide from Hanlon’s cross however we had to settle for a share of the points.
Hibernian: Marshall, Hanlon, Fish (Landers 85’), Levitt (Molotnikov 76’), Youan, Vente (McKirdy 85’), Newell, Obita, Doidge, Jair, Whittaker (Stevenson 63’). Substitutes not used: Johnson, Jeggo, Harbottle, McAllister, Cleland.
Motherwell: Kelly, O’Donnell, Gent, Mugabi, Spittal, Slattery, Paton (Butcher 89’), Bair, McGinn, Zdrakovski, Biereth (Obika 83’). Substitutes not used: Oxborough, McGinley, McDermott, L. Ross, M. Ross, Whyte, Booth.
Referee: Don Robertson.
Attendance: 16,796.
