Hibs 1 - 2 Inverness CT: Riordan has penalty saved as Hibs crash out

DEREK Riordan missed from the penalty spot as Hibs crashed to a 2-1 defeat by an Inverness Caledonian Thistle side which had lost it's last five matches.

Ian Black had added to Don Cowie's first half strike for Caley just three minutes after the interval but Riordan passed up the chance to throw Hibs a lifeline with 21 minutes remaining when Thistle goalkeeper Ryan Esson saved his tamely struck spot-kick.

Riordan did get his name on the scoresheet, lashing home with virtually the last kick of the ball as the two minutes of added time came to an end but it was far too little far too late.

It was a miserable performance from Hibs and unsurprisingly the boos rang round Easter Road loud and clear as referee Chris Boyle sounded the final whistle although many of the home fans had left long before then.

Riordan went close after just two minutes, rifling a low shot from 25 yards just wide before clever play from Dean Shiels and Fabian Yantorno allowed David van Zanten to drill the ball across goal only to find none of his team-mates were in position to take advantage.

Having suffered five straight defeats it was no surprise to find Inverness Caledonian Thistle playing with five men strung across midfield with a further four behind them as Hibs did all the early pressing, Riordan's deep free-kick headed back across goal by Rob Jones forcing Dougie Imrie to nod the ball past his own post.

Sol Bamba, operating in midfield, tried his luck with a long-range effort which went wide before Caley stunned Easter Road into silence on the half-hour mark by taking the lead.

Black hoisted an innocuous looking ball forward which sailed over the head of Chris Hogg who appeared unaware of Cowie running in behind him. Even so van Zanten should have dealt with the danger but allowed the ball to take a fatal bounce as he seemed to hesitate waiting for goalkeeper Yves Ma-Kalambay to make a move and that was all Cowie needed, as he lashed his shot home.

Hibs had played right into Caley's hands with that totally avoidable goal, Craig Brewster's side able to sit back and deny the home team space as they back-pedalled towards their own area, Yantorno's fleeting glimpse of goal quickly disappearing as a wall of blue shirts surrounded him.

The Easter Road outfit were forced into two changes after the interval, Andy McNeil taking over in goal from Ma-Kalambay who had picked up a knock in a collision with team-mate Ian Murray and Steve Pinau replacing Steven Fletcher who had been limping from early in the game.

McNeil's first touch of the ball, however, was to pick it out of his net after Caley turned defence into attack in the 48th minute. Bamba had forced Thistle goalkeeper Ryan Esson into a decent save but from the resulting corner the Highland side broke quickly as Cowie stretched the home side with a lung-bursting run before feeding the ball to Black who lashed the ball beyond Hibs helpless replacement goalkeeper.

Yantorno had faint claims for a penalty waved away as Russell Duncan blocked his attempts to get on the end of Colin Nish's knock-down before Jones got a glancing header to Riordan's free-kick but could only direct it into the arms of Esson as Hibs attempted to haul themselves back into the match.

A lack of width was hampering Hibs with Caley so strong through the middle of the park, the danger being for Mixu Paatelainen's players that they would again be caught on the break and have no way back at all. Cowie should have ended the game in the 63rd minute when good play by Garry Wood left him with a clear sight of goal but he drove his effort across the face of goal and wide.

Enterprising play by Ian Murray saw the left-back get to Caley's bye-line but again the massed ranks of the visiting side ensured his cut-back didn't find a green and white jersey.

Hibs were handed a glorious opportunity to haul themselves back into the game in the 69th minute when Richard Hastings pulled back Nish as he jumped for a Murray cross,a clear penalty. But Riordan was too casual from the spot, Esson the Caley hero as he got his hands to the ball and then clutched it before it could cross the line.

Riordan's shot was at a nice height for the goalkeeper but it summed up a miserable afternoon for Hibs.

Hibs: Ma-Kalambay (McNeil 46), Van Zanten, Hogg (Rankin 83), Jones, Murray, Shiels, Bamba, Yantorno, Nish, Fletcher (Pinau 46), Riordan. Subs not used: Keenan, Stevenson, Thicot, Chisholm.

Inverness Caledonian Thistle: Esson, Tokely, Proctor, Munro, Hastings, Cowie, Duncan, Black (McBain 71), Imrie (Rooney 89), Wood (Barrowman 84), Vigurs, Subs not used: Fraser, Wilson, Sutherland, Duff.

Referee: Chris Boyle.