Hibernian Miss Top Six After Late Drama
Hibernian’s quest to secure a top six place in the Scottish Premiership ended in disappointment after late drama for the Macklin Motors-backed side at Motherwell.
Heading into the final game before the league split, Hibernian knew that a win was vital to try and move ahead of Dundee, who had two games left to play as a result of their mid-week match with Rangers having been postponed.
With Motherwell also still in contention for the top six, the first half was a cagey affair with no goals but Hibs then gained the advantage when Will Fish was felled in the box by Stephen O’Donnell.
Myziane Maolida stepped up to send Liam Kelly the wrong way and give the visitors the lead – an advantage that would put the Edinburgh side into the top six with Dundee being held at Aberdeen.
It looked like that goal from the in-form striker was going to be enough to move Hibs into sixth spot ahead of Dundee’s re-arranged fixture before a late sting in the tail saw Motherwell draw level four minutes into added time.
A long throw into the box ended up at the feet of Shane Blaney who smashed an unstoppable shot beyond David Marshall and into the net.
Even at that late stage, Motherwell almost grabbed a winner when Oli Shaw put the ball wide from a cross on the right hand side, with the points ultimately shared in a result that didn’t help either side.
Dundee’s point at Aberdeen instead secured them a place in the top six, with Hibernian’s focus over the remainder of the campaign now being to head the teams who will fill the bottom half of the table.
The post-split fixtures will kick off at the end of the month.
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