Easter Weekend, Easter Road, Easter Bonus

Inverness continued the hunt for a Europa slot after denting Hibs prospects with a deserved away win at Easter Road on Easter weekend for a perfect Easter present for the hard working Inverness squad. Goals from Ross Draper and Andy Shinnie tilted the game in our favour after Leigh Griffiths had levelled with a deflected effort. Hibs tried in vain towards the end but Inverness had enough bottle to deny the hosts and claim their first win at Easter Road since 2008. 

In a lively opening, Kevin Thomson had the first shot, while Caley Thistle countered with two quick breaks in the opening seven minutes. From those attacks their best chance fell to Owain Tudur Jones who, reluctant to hit with his left foot, awkwardly shifted to his right to take the chance but ended up taking the power out of the resulting effort.

Alex Harris settled into the match quickly in his first Hibs start and soon tested right-back David Raven with his willingness to run at the full back.

Ryan McGivern's shot grazed the Inverness goal frame and, at the other end, Richie Foran tried his luck from outside the box but also failed to trouble the goalkeeper.

Half Time 0-0

The second half yielded all the goals, the first of them coming when a long pass from Foran found Ross Draper, who controlled and then lobbed the ball beyond Williams.

Hibs were quick to seek an equaliser, Thomson and Doyle setting up Griffiths but the striker was foiled as he delayed his shot. Griffiths, who'd scored in four of the previous five home games, continued his impressive form but appeared to know little about the deflection that wrong-footed Antonio Reguero after the goalkeeper had looked well placed to gather Deegan's 20-yard shot.

If fortune had smiled on Hibs with their equaliser, it soon frowned upon them when they conceded again.

Shinnie was unmarked when he gathered in the box but it was a deflection off James McPake that took the eventual shot beyond Williams.

McPake showed great timing and composure with a skilful tackle to deny Billy McKay what would have been a killer third goal and kept the home side in the hunt.

Hibs, without a home league win in 2013, sought to salvage a point but their final onslaught was deftly dealt with by a Caley Thistle side that saw the game out to a satisfactory conclusion without undue concern.

Match highlights here, Happy Easter....

30th Mar 2013	Scottish Premier League	Easter Road, Edinburgh
Hibernian	1 - Griffiths (59)
	TEAM: Williams, Clancy, McPake, McGivern, Stevenson (Wotherspoon 83), Deegan (Robertson 72), Thomson, Taiwo (Cairney 62), Harris, Griffiths, Doyle
	SUBS: Murdoch, Claros, Handling, Forster
	Booked: Deegan (50), McGovern (57)
	Sent Off: none
Inverness C.T.	2 - Draper (48), A.Shinnie (65)
	TEAM: Reguero, Raven, Meekings, Devine, G.Shinnie, Doran, Draper, Tudur-Jones, Foran, A.Shinnie (Ross 92), McKay.
	SUBS: Mathieson, Sutherland, Polworth, Pepper, Gibbons, Taylor
	Booked: Foran (54)
	Sent Off: none
Referee	Craig Thomson
Attendance	8555