“Season-defining” week leaves Hibs chasing the dream, but Aberdeen licking their wounds

As soon as Barry Nicholson scored a last-minute equaliser to set-up a Scottish Cup replay at Easter Road, the pundits started talking about Hibs and Aberdeen having a week that would define their seasons. It was time to see if these two proud clubs – marginalised for years by an acute lack of resources compared to Celtic and Rangers, and now contending with a Hearts team operating outside the normal rules of financial prudence – could make this season one to cherish.

Aberdeen is an oasis of top-flight football in the North East, illustrated by the fact that matches against Inverness Caledonian Thistle – a club based 80 miles away – represents the closest they get to a regular derby match. Aberdeen have yet to lose to Caley in the SPL, but they came mighty close this time, relying on a last gasp goal from Steve Lovell to rob a point from a game they should have lost.

Hibs big week didn’t start until Monday night. They were away against Kilmarnock, a team who have proved a big thorn in their side in recent years, which made it all the more surprising when John Collins decided to give debut starts to three 19 year olds from the academy – Lewis Stevenson, Kevin McCann and Ross Campbell. It was a big, big gamble, but it paid off, with Hibs surviving a fairly turgid first half and then scoring twice through Ivan Sproule and Steven Fletcher.

Then came the Cup tie on Thursday night, with Barry Nicholson again instrumental as he opened the scoring against Hibs. But that was as good as it got for Aberdeen – 2-1 down by half-time after poor defending from corners, they then fell apart at the beginning of the second. Abdessalam Benjelloun, Hibs’ Moroccan striker, has talent, but has struggled at times with the pace of Scottish football. Inexplicable, then, that twice Aberdeen held off him rather than closing him down. And twice Benji, as he is universally known, exploited the space to punish his opponents.

Jimmy Calderwood is the kind of manager who heads every ball and contests every decision from the touchline, but he is not blinkered, and was fulsome in his praise of Hibs at the end of the game. He was somewhat less impressed with his own team’s efforts, though, bemoaning their uncharacteristic defensive lapses. He tried to talk positively about the rest of the season, but his admission that “the dream is over for another year” betrayed his dismay at being out of the Cup.

It is Hibs, though, that dream about lifting this trophy more than any other club. They have not won it since 1902, a record that stands as one of the biggest burdens to carry in British football, and an easy source of mockery for rival fans. They now go on to a 4th round home tie against Gretna, who they spanked 6-0 in the League Cup earlier this season. That won’t stop their own fans having kittens as the game approaches, however.

Following the mid-week replay, both clubs were back to league business at the weekend. Or should have been: Aberdeen’s visit to Motherwell was cancelled because of the poor pitch, which probably pleased Calderwood, who had bitterly complained that the match had not been moved to Sunday to give his team more time to recover from the Hibs match. Motherwell refused to reschedule because it would have cost £30,000, claimed club secretary Stewart Robertson, which “is a lot of money; it could pay a player’s wage”. And no, Premiership fans, he is not talking about their weekly wage. Still, re-arranging the fixture will cause less of a congestion headache for Aberdeen now.

Hibs did play their fixture on Sunday but wished they hadn’t, getting spanked 3-0 by ICT, who were probably still smarting about their failure to beat Aberdeen the previous week. Talent and consistency win you prizes in football, and while Hibs have plenty of the former, they lack the ability to perform week in, week out. Centre back Chris Hogg had a real nightmare. Hibs have scored more goals than anyone else apart from Celtic in the SPL this season, but have conceded more than any of the teams above them.

Both these clubs can still have successful seasons. Aberdeen remain in the chase for 2nd place, while Hibs can see a road to Hampden opening up ahead of them. Their real defining moments are yet to come.

Celtic 5-1 St Mirren
Kilmarnock 1-0 Dundee Utd
Dunfermline 0-1 Rangers
ICT 3-0 Hibees
Motherwell p-p Dons
Hearts 1-0 Falkirk