This is how it feels (Kilmarnock 12 11 22)

Once again, I find myself angry and frustrated at the outcome of what was a pretty poor match played by two teams that demonstrated an enormous lack of confidence. I’m angry at the result obviously but I’m equally angry at the decision that won the hosts three points. VAR, or indeed the way that it is being used in Scotland, has been little short of disgraceful and for me it has meant the game is not being refereed by the match official but by some faceless official based in an office in Glasgow. Poor calls by those officials and endless reviewing of incidents is, in my opinion, killing the game as a spectator sport. Yet another weekend will result in discussions on VAR rather than the games themselves.

On an abomination of a playing surface, Hibs started with Stevenson, Cabraja and Campbell coming in to the starting eleven with Bushiri, Henderson and Mitchell dropping to the bench. When I saw the starting eleven, I was a tad confused as to how we would line up as we had two recognised left backs in on the team sheet. As it turned out we had abandoned the oft criticised 3-5-2 in favour of a standard 4-4-2 with Cabraja at left back and Stevenson in left midfield and I have to say, that in general, we looked more organised as a result.

The first ten minutes or so were given over to both sides feeling each other out until a Stevenson cross picked out Kuharevich but the big striker witnessed his headed effort being blocked. Seconds later, a lovely Cadden cross whizzed across the six yard line and Kuharevich was inches away from making contact. Killie were looking menacing down their right and the in form Danny Armstrong drew a foul from Cabraja which saw the Hibs man booked and soon after a Fraser Murray cross picked out Joe Wright, but the Killie man’s header flew over the bar.

In the twentieth minute, Hibs looked to have secured the lead when Cabraja broke free on the left before feeding Melkersen who got to the bye line before cutting the ball back to Kuharevich who slotted the ball into the net. VAR checked the ‘goal’ and it was ruled out for offside against Melkersen. I’ve seen the footage and the line drawn and it looked like the thickness of the skin on Melkersen’s knee was closest to the goal. Hibs were still smarting at the decision when McKenzie came close at the other end following a good cross from Armstrong. Soon after, a Cadden cross found the head of Stevenson, but Lewis could only direct his header over the bar, under challenge from Alan Power.

The game was devoid of any real quality with both sides committing niggly fouls, and the play being disrupted as a result. Josh Campbell, who was operating wide on the right looked to have collected a through ball, only to lose his footing at the crucial moment and he wasn’t the only one struggling on the synthetic surface. A crude challenge on Stevenson earned Alan Power a yellow card and given the number of fouls Power had already committed the yellow could have been issued much earlier. The last five minutes of the first half were pretty much the same as the previous forty with neither side looking as though they could break the deadlock.

In the opening moments of the second half, Melkersen worked some space in the box but rather than picking out the unmarked Hanlon he chose to shoot straight at a defender and the chance was gone at the expense of a corner which, when delivered, saw Hanlon’s headed effort blocked. Killie went up to the other end and the Hibs defence was struggling to clear the danger. Cabraja looked to have beaten Alan Power to the ball but was adjudged by referee Dickinson to have fouled the Killie man near the edge of the box. Dickinson awarded a free kick but then indicated that the challenge was being reviewed by VAR. An interminable amount of waiting followed before Dickinson changed his decision and awarded a penalty. So much for only intervening as a result of a clear and obvious error. It was neither clear nor obvious and indeed you could argue that Power wasn’t even fouled but the penalty stood and was converted by Armstrong.

I’ll be honest and say I thought that the penalty incident would have fired Hibs up a bit but that wasn’t immediately obvious and perhaps Lee Johnson thought the same as he quickly removed Cabraja and Kenneh and brought on Henderson and McKirdy, the latter sporting a new ‘hairstyle’ that certainly caught the eye.

A late challenge by Power on Hanlon might easily have brought a second yellow card but the referee instead settled on booking Porteous after the Hibs man had rushed towards Power and gave him a shove. Ryan certainly doesn’t make life easy for himself and I was left wondering whether his intervention took the heat off Dickinson regarding issuing Power with a second yellow. Moving in to the final fifteen minutes, Killie began to drop deeper and deeper to preserve their lead and as a result, Hibs had plenty of possession but still struggled to create decent openings. That said, there were a couple that deserved better had the Hibs man in possession lifted his head and looked for a pass rather than shooting. Melkersen was a guilty one, as was Cadden but the clock was ticking, and everything was being rushed.

Cadden and McKenzie were then booked for a silly pushing match before McKirdy worked an angle but fired his shot over the bar. The ex-Swindon man had looked pretty lively since coming on and after Campbell, Stevenson and Henderson had each failed to trouble the goalkeeper, McKirdy fired a low ball across the face of goal and would have seen him as frustrated as me that no Hibs man could get the touch that would surely have brought an equaliser. In the fifth minute of time added on, McKirdy wriggled his way past a couple of defenders inside the box, but his efforts bore no reward as his shot flew over the bar.

Now we go into the World Cup break in eighth place. Optimists will point out we are only five points behind third if Aberdeen. Pessimists will say we are only five points off the play-off spot.

The players – No man of the match again, only Stevenson came close.

Marshall – Picked the ball out of the net following the penalty but otherwise had very little to do.

Cadden – Playing as a right back I think he looks a bit more assured but other than a couple of decent crosses he was pretty much middle of the road.

Porteous – Once again he picked up a booking because he can’t control his temper. Ryan can be a fine player if he would only concentrate all his efforts and attention on that part of his game.

Hanlon – Big Innes Cameron caused him a heap of trouble but for the most part he played well enough.

Cabraja – Much, much better as a left back I thought he was playing well and was more than a little unlucky regarding that penalty award.

Campbell – Completely wasted in that wide position, he should have been in the middle from the start.

Kenneh – A mixed bag from him. Some good stuff, some not so good stuff.

Newell – For seventy minutes I forgot he was on the park he was so anonymous. In the last twenty, with Killie sitting in I cannot remember one Newell pass that looked as though it might open them up.

Stevenson – I’ll likely get pelters for this but in my opinion, he was the most prominent Hibs player on the park in the first half and was solid at the back in the second.

Melkersen – Floated about, not doing very much of note.

Kuharevich – Fairly decent and unlucky once again to have had a goal disallowed for offside.

McKirdy – Not bad from a player that had only had one training session in the lead up to the game.

Henderson – Poor choices and poor efforts on goal.

Lee Johnson – Can’t believe he thought we were unlucky not to win!

Referee – Was Dickenson refereeing the game or was it the VAR official?