Hibs 2 Dundee 2
The points were shared following an entertaining contest between Hibs and Dundee at Easter Road Stadium that could’ve gone either way.
The visitors took the lead early on through Scott Tiffoney and appeared to be taking a deserved lead into the break, only for a stunning Martin Boyle free kick to haul the home side level.
There were chances at both ends before substitute Kieron Bowie fired the Hibees ahead on 71 minutes with his first goal for the Club.
Former Hibee Simon Murray then snatched a late equaliser for the visitors before Josh Campbell came within a whisker of winning the game for Hibs as his shot crashed back off the crossbar in added time.
David Gray made three changes following our Premier Sports Cup exit to Celtic.
Out went Rocky Bushiri, Campbell and Nathan Moriah-Welsh with the trio replaced by new signings Hyeokkyu Kwon and Nicky Cadden, alongside youngster Rudi Molotnikov.
We lined-up in a 4-2-3-1 formation and went into the game searching for our first league points of the season.
Having not lost at home to Dundee in 23 years, we went into the game with history on our side however recent form was certainly with Dundee.
There were just eight minutes on the clock when Lyall Cameron took full advantage of a slack ball from Jordan Obita inside our area to side-step a challenge and thread the ball to Tiffoney, who slotted past Josef Bursik from close range.
The goal was Dundee’s 30th of the season already and they thought they had a second soon after when Cameron’s shot beat Bursik to find the back of the net. Thankfully, it had taken a deflection against the offside Seb Palmer-Houlden and the effort was chalked off.
We were toiling to create any meaningful openings however on the cusp of half-time a clumsy foul from Billy Koumetio on Joe Newell gifted us a free-kick on the edge of the Dundee box.
Boyle stepped forward and curled an exquisite finish high into the top right corner of Jon McCracken’s net to haul us level going into the break.
The second period would be more even than the first as both teams sensed there were three winnable points there for whomever wanted it most.
Luke McCowan came close to restoring Dundee's lead with a terrific free-kick that he curled around the defensive wall and off the outside of the post.
Seconds later, play raced to the other end of the park and Boyle’s half-volley on the edge of the box dropped just over the crossbar.
On 63 minutes, we made a triple change with Chris Cadden, Bowie and Campbell replacing Miller, Kwon and Nicky Cadden.
Having struggled to create openings during the first half we were now knocking on the door as Molotnikov had an effort blocked before Boyle dragged a shot just wide of the far post.
Dundee were searching for a goal themselves and it took a fine save from Bursik to thwart Palmer-Houlden at his near post before the goalkeeper was again called into action to deal with a Jordan McGhee header from the resulting corner kick.
On 71 minutes, we took the lead through another piece of individual brilliance. This time Bowie collected a throw in before rolling Koumetio and firing low past McCracken on the angle to notch his first goal for the Club.
The momentum was with us now as Dundee rang the changes in an attempt to force their way back into the match.
With just two minutes remaining they did just that as Murray ran onto a threaded ball in behind by Juan Antonio Portales to slip a shot under Bursik and score.
The action wasn’t finished there as substitute Campbell’s rising shot crashed back off the underside of the crossbar as we nearly snatched all three points.