Alan Cochrane @ Easter Road

A rollicking, free and easy first half, with lots of end to end football, belied the blank score line at the end of 45 minutes in the Easter Road sunshine. And if, after the break, Hibs upped the pressure and had more of the ball, Mark Smith was rarely called on to make super saves. The keeper did play well and had some good stops, but even he could do nothing about the home side's late penalty.

From the outset, both teams were determined to get forward and entertain, and if Derek Riordan looked the early class act, Killie, led from the front by Kevin Kyle, more than matched Hibs throughout that first half. In fact, with less than 4 minutes gone, the visitors were within a whisker of taking the lead. Much to the mystification of all, referee Craig Thomson gave a corner on the left with everyone else, including the Kilmarnock players, expecting a goal kick. Gavin Skelton accepted the generosity, whipped over the corner, Wright's header was blocked back to Sammon, his stab hit the post, and was finally scrambled away. Sammon had another couple of attempts which lacked the direction or power to seriously trouble Stack, while at the other end Derek Riordan had one volley go just over, and then a drive crashing into the side netting after good play on the left. As the half moved towards a close, Hamill had a curling shot from the left slide past the far post, and Fowler drove wide from an Invincibile cut-back.

If the first half had been even, the second half belonged to Hibs. From the kick off, they dominated the mid-field, and dominated the match, but despite all their pressure, for a long time it looked as though they weren't going to find the net. Brown had a number of decent saves, but in the main it was the visiting defence, along with the home side's poor finishing which kept Killie in the match. Riordan had a number of shots go just wide or just over, and Zemmama, who was probably the star of the second half, had a goal bound shot deflected over by a desperate defence.

And yet when the goal came, from the penalty spot, it looked like a soft decision. Skelton brushed with, more than collided, with Benjelloun in the box, and despite the Hibs attacker going down early and easily, Mr Thomson pointed to the spot. Benjelloun himself got up and shot powerfully past Brown. In the eight minutes remaining, Killie tried to get back, but to no avail.

After the game, Skelton was still proclaiming his innocence, and although you would expect Jim Jefferies to think it was a very soft award, several Hibs players seemed to agree. However the result stands, and it seems that yet again the rub of the green is not going Killie's way.

Hibernian: Stack, Wotherspoon, Hogg, Bamba, Murray, McBride, Miller, Zemmama, Benjelloun (Cregg), Riordan (Galbraith), Stokes (Nish)

Kilmarnock: Brown, Hay (Pascali), Fowler, Wright, Bryson, Invincibile, Skelton (Russell), O'Leary, Kyle, Sammon, Hamill

Referee: Craig Thomson