St Johnstone boss Tommy Wright was disappointed to see the Perth club’s proud home league record halted by Hibs in the manner it was.
Saints surrendered all three points at home for the first time in nearly 10 months as the visitors ran out worthy 2-1 winners in the end.
It was the first league loss at McDiarmid Park since November 28, although Wright conceded that his players only have themselves to blame following a lacklustre response to going behind early on in the second half.
“We started it very well but in the middle part of the first half we allowed them back in the game,” Wright said. “We let them back in to it and we shouldn’t have done.
“I thought we started the second half very well as well but the second goal was a poor goal to lose from our point of view.
“To be fair we lost a bit of shape and discipline after that and Hibs, after going 2-1 up, were probably the better side for the rest of that half.
“We had opportunities but I think we were wasteful, particularly in the final third where our decision-making and final ball let us down.
“We just lost our shape and people started not doing things that we had set out to do.”
Hibs were the team to beat Saints in November 2012 amd returned to do likewise on Saturday.
The irony of it all was probably not lost on Saints’ Murray Davidson, but the midfielder was more disappointed with the way his team conceded sloppy goals than anything else.
“That’s football but it doesn’t matter who it was it’s Hibs again but it could have been anyone,” he said.
“I thought we started the game well enough and for whatever reason we’ve let them back in the game.
“But when we go 2-1 down, it’s not good enough to be honest with you. We’ve had a lot of the play again but we’ve not created much, so we’ll go away and look at it.
“It’s easy to say the goal was the turning point goals change matches, it’s a clich but it’s true and I think up until they’ve scored they’ve not had much and I think we were well on top of the game.
“Looking at it defensively, we’ve conceded two and there will be three or four things we probably could have done to stop it so it’s frustrating. I thought we started the game excellently and got ourselves 1-0 up, but the main feeling is disappointment.”
Saints boss Tommy Wright admitted before the game that he had a difficult decision to make in relation to the goalkeeping position, but it was the returning Alan Mannus who was given the nod after more than a month out with a shoulder injury.
Steve Banks therefore dropped out despite his heroics in the 0-0 draw up at Aberdeen, while Chris Millar and Gary McDonald were the other changes from the line-up that earned a point at Pittodrie with Stevie May and Steven MacLean coming back into the team.
Clear-cut chances were few and far between in the opening stages of the match, with an effort over the crossbar by former Hibee David Wotherspoon from the edge of the area in 11 minutes the only real talking point as both sides largely cancelled each other out.
But as the clock ticked towards the 18th minute, Saints seized the initiative.
Murray Davidson was perhaps a little fortunate with the break of the ball as he battled in midfield to win it but, after his pinpoint pass upfield found Stevie May lurking at the edge of the area, there was no more luck required.
The Scotland U21 striker turned Michael Nelson to give him the space he needed for a sight of goal and May’s right-footed drive nestled neatly in Ben Williams’ right-hand corner to give Saints the lead.
The visitors looked to try and get back into it quickly and former Saints midfielder Liam Craig, who was playing his first game at McDiarmid since making the switch to Easter Road in the summer, very nearly achieved that in 24 minutes.
Craig’s free-kicks were renowned when he was in Perth and he tested Mannus with a brilliant effort from just over 20 yards, albeit after his initial drive had bounced back to him after being blocked by the Saints wall.
New Hibs signing Paul Heffernan was inches away from levelling three minutes later following a James Collins flick-on, although Mannus was out quickly to clear the danger, before Frazer Wright was in the right place at the right time to block another effort from the ex-Kilmarnock man a short time later.
The visitors were evidently threatening though and they made good on their increasing promise 10 minutes before the break by levelling things up.
After Collins’ fierce low drive was blocked, Scott Robertson saw his rebound come back off the post, but Heffernan was on hand to tidy up following the ensuing scramble to make it 1-1.
That set things up for an intriguing second half and Saints almost grabbed the lead 90 seconds in when Alan Maybury had to look sharp to clear a Wotherspoon low cross which had been deflected goalwards.
In 52 minutes, May outmuscled Paul Hanlon down the right to get into a good position in the box and back heel the ball to Paddy Cregg, although Nelson did brilliantly to block Paddy Cregg’s shot from close range.
Four minutes later, Saints suffered a blow as Wright was forced off through injury and was replaced by Gary Miller, before Heffernan dragged a shot wide in 58 minutes.
The tide looked as if it was about to turn in Hibs’ favour and they found themselves ahead just before the hour mark.
Craig was the architect with a deft little ball over the top to deceive the Saints defence, and Collins latched on to it to fire home.
Mannus managed to get a touch, but the ball trickled agonisingly over the line to send the away fans into raptures.
Needless yellow cards followed for Cregg and MacLean as their frustrations got the better of them, before Heffernan stung the palms of Mannus with a well-hit drive in 66 minutes as Hibs sought to put the result beyond doubt.
A double Saints substitution did not have the desired effect for the hosts, and Mannus did well to keep out an effort from Hibs sub Abdellah Zoubir with four minutes left to prevent the margin of defeat from being even greater.
Some would see the result as vindication for what Hibs boss Pat Fenlon has to put up with earlier in the season, but he noted: “I don’t believe in any of that you are a football manager and you’ve got to take the good with the bad.
“I’m delighted with the players who are on a half decent run and we need to keep that going.
“The second half performance was probably the best we’ve played this season and we probably deserved to win the game.”