Ross County 0 Hibs 0
It finished goalless in the Highlands as the points were shared at the Global Energy Stadium between Ross County and Hibernian.
David Gray's men were supported by 488 Hibees in Dingwall as they were held by the Staggies, however it was a welcome cleansheet and a point that moves Hibs off the bottom of the William Hill Premiership table.
The Hibees made two changes from the side that drew with Hearts three days prior.
Skipper Joe Newell returned from suspension to partner Nectar Triantis in the middle of the park, whilst Derby goalscorer, Mykola Kuharevich, replaced Dwight Gayle in attack.
Gayle missed out with a minor hamstring issue and Hyeokkyu Kwon dropped to the substitutes’ bench, joined by Josh Campbell and Nicky Cadden as they returned to the squad.
The first half was to be a war of attrition on a cold midweek evening in Dingwall.
It took until the 19th minute for an opportunity of note and it came via a slack pass in midfield from Newell that County pounced upon to break on the counter before Ronan Hale dragged his shot wide from 25 yards out.
Hibs had their first chance moments later when Lewis Miller’s ball down the channel found the run of Junior Hoilett; he opted to go for goal and slammed his shot into the side netting on the angle when Kuharevich was a better option inside.
County were enjoying a good spell of pressure as the half wore on and were keen to get the ball into the Hibs box as early as possible looking for Jordan White.
They also threw their three towering central defenders forward for every set piece, however we defended superbly with Marvin Ekpiteta in particular winning a lot of headers.
As half-time loomed, a long throw-in from Miller was flicked on by Ekpiteta and dropped to Jordan Obita on the edge of the box; his low drive was kept out by a smart save from Ross Laidlaw down to his left.
It was a good stop from the former Hibs 'keeper however it was very quickly bettered as Josef Bursik acrobatically kept us level. A free-kick from the right found White and his powerful header appeared net-bound before Bursik threw himself high to his left to push it away.
There were no changes during the interval, and Hibs started the second half positively with Kuharevich shooting narrowly over the crossbar following a clever turn and shot from the edge of the box.
Moments later, Newell tried his luck from distance and his effort was also over the crossbar.
Our second half performance was shaping up to be better than the first, and to counter our growing momentum Don Cowie made a triple change with the introduction of Eamonn Brophy, Josh Nisbet and Alex Samuel.
On 69 minutes, a wonderfully whipped free-kick from Hoilett was missed by everyone in the middle and flashed inches wide of the far post with Laidlaw looking on relieved.
The hosts were struggling to create anything meaningful but a careless free-kick given away on the edge of our box gifted Noah Chilvers a shot at goal that he wasted by blasting high over Bursik’s crossbar.
The game was becoming more stretched as both sides chased a winning goal with Elie Youan, Connor Randall and Brophy all shooting wide from encouraging positions.
There was a late flurry of chances at both ends with Bursik called into action to save from Samuels before Allardice and then Brophy both fired wide with efforts for the home side.
At the other end, Kuharevich’s header brought out a save from Laidlaw before Cadden went close with a dipping shot from distance deep into added time.
No goals on the night but a point on the road for Hibs and a welcome clean sheet following a solid performance.