St Mirren 0 Hibs 0

Hibs extended their unbeaten run to twelve games - however we had to settle for a share of the spoils following a goalless draw at the SMiSA Stadium.

It’s also the first time we have gone ten games unbeaten in the William Hill Premiership since 2019.

The game itself was a battle, played on a difficult surface and it required the Hibees to roll their sleeves up in face of a physical challenge.

It took a huge double save from Jordan Smith to deny Toyosi Olusanya and Mark O’Hara to ensure we left with something although we were awarded a second half penalty kick, only for it to be rightfully overturned by VAR.

New signing Alasana Manneh made his debut during the second half however it came to a premature end when he received an incredibly harsh second yellow card and was dismissed in the closing stages.

Nevertheless, we defended resolutely with ten men and claimed another deserved point on the road.

David Gray made two changes to his side following our Scottish Cup victory over Ayr United last weekend.

Dwight Gayle and Kwon Hyeokkyu returned to the starting XI whilst Mykola Kuharevich dropped to the bench and Dylan Levitt missed out altogether through injury.

New signing Alasana was amongst the substitutes this afternoon with supporters hoping for a first glimpse of the Gambian midfielder in action.

Surprisingly, St Mirren went with the same starting XI that exited the Scottish Cup on Monday evening after a gruelling contest with Hearts, that went all the way to penalty kicks.

Stand-in skipper, Martin Boyle, has been in a rich vein of form lately and his confidence is obviously sky-high, so much so that he attempted an ambitious lob from distance inside the opening 60 seconds that Zach Hemming gathered comfortably.

Despite this, the blustery conditions were making it difficult for both teams, with the ball holding up in the wind and because the surface had begun to cut up from early on.

St Mirren unquestionably mastered it better than us in the early stages as they started brightly and peppered our box with crosses to test our defence.

They also sought to break on us with pace with Rocky Bushiri twice reading the danger to race across and cut out two dangerous passes in behind that sought to release the home forwards.

Their first effort on goal came in the 10^th minute when Killian Phillips was left unmarked at the back post following a corner kick only for his shot to be straight at Smith, who saved.

Moments later, a ball played up by Marcus Fraser into the feet of Mikael Mandron was laid off to Olusanya and his shot from the edge of our box was high over the crossbar.

Having weathered the early pressure from the hosts we began to create opportunities ourselves and on 28 minutes a ball over the top from Nicky Cadden was taken down wonderfully by Gayle as he raced in behind the Saints defence only for his eventual shot to be blocked by a combination of Alex Gogic and Hemming.

From the resultant corner kick Warren O’Hora headed back across goal and wide of the post.

It was a good spell of pressure from the Hibees, and we kept it up with Nectar Triantis going close with a rising half-volley that drifted over the crossbar.

There was a worrying scare for the hosts in the closing stages of the first half when goalkeeper Hemming collided head-first with his post after collecting a floated corner kick delivery. Thankfully, after treatment, he was able to continue.

We would have the final opportunity of the first half when Chris Cadden’s deep cross to the back post was met on the volley by brother Nicky, only for Ryan Alebiosu to deflect it wide of goal and take it into the interval all-square.

It would also be Alebiosu’s last involvement in the game and he was replaced during the interval by Elvis Bwomono.

Just as they had done in the first half, St Mirren started the second period brightly and pushed us back.

Five minutes after the restart Mandron did well to drive inside and find shooting space, albeit it produced a routine save from Smith.

What wasn’t routine was Smith’s double-save just moments later to keep us level as St Mirren pushed hard for an opening.

Toyosi Olusanya was played through on the right with his low angled drive blocked by Smith at his near post with the goalkeeper quickly on his feet before getting a strong hand to keep out Mark O’Hara’s venomous rebound that appeared certain to find the back of our net.

Gayle made way for Kieron Bowie, Jordan Obita replaced Jack Iredale and Alasana came on for his debut at the expense of Kwon.

Alasana then proceeded to pick up the quickest caution of anyone’s Hibs career when he immediately tripped Phillips and was yellow carded by referee, Ross Hardie.

With 16 minutes remaining Nicky Cadden’s free-kick found O’Hora, his header struck Phillips and referee Hardie pointed to the penalty spot. VAR stepped in after it became clear that the ball had struck the St Mirren player in the face - and not the hand – with the decision rightfully overturned.

With just six minutes remaining we were reduced to ten men when debutant Alasana picked up an incredibly harsh second yellow card and was dismissed.

With the extra man, St Mirren pressed for a winner and Mandron’s shot on the turn was well saved by Smith.

Alasana’s red card forced a reshuffle for the final few minutes with Chris and Nicky Cadden replaced by Lewis Miller and Nathan Moriah-Welsh.

Five additional minutes were played with neither side looking likely to break the stalemate as the final whistle ensured the points were shared following a bruising encounter.