Football: GARY TURNS THE HEAT ON

HIBS' Gary O'Connor demonstrated brilliantly yesterday that it is still possible to turn draws into gold.

In a game mostly weighed down by tedious mediocrity, his 30-yard thunderbolt goal just before the interval and his delicately skilful goal at the end both exhilarated and astonished.

The surprise was that until his first goal, he and Mixu Paatelainen up front looked both cumbersome and inept.

Then in the 43rd minute, collecting the ball a full 30 yards out and with his back to goal, O'Connor wheeled and lashed a high shot into the net.

O'Connor said: "I jarred my back twice before scoring my first goal.

"I went over to the bench and I was able to get some treatment and then asked the boss to give me five more minutes to see if I would be alright."

That his partner Paatelainen was to score late on in the game, also proves that no amount of listless play up front will detract from the rewards for strikers who simply keep plugging away at their job.

It was particularly sore on Thistle to go into the interval a goal down.

The home side had taken advantage of a Hibs team which, for the most of the first half, appeared sloppy in defence and lacking Thistle's energy in midfield.

In the second half, Thistle were far less dominant although on the hour came a bizarre incident.

Colgan, in the Hibs goal, rushed 25 yards out of the box and stumbled but both Walker and Archibald of Thistle got mixed up in their attempts to chip into the unguarded goal.

In the 78th minute James advanced down the left for Hibs and chipped across for Paatelainen to glide in Hibs' second goal with his head.

And near the end a long ball was floated into goal where O'Connor flicked it over the head of Stephen Craigan and side-footed it past Arthur.MAN OF THE MATCH GARY O"CONNOR

Showed he is capable of scoring goals of a different variety and his enthusiasm inspired the rest of the Hibs team.

PARTICK: Arthur 5, McKinstry 5 (Waddell 5), Archibald 7, Craigan 6, Paterson 6, Whyte 5, Mitchell 6, Buchan 6, McLean 7 (Walker 5), Hardie 7, Burns 5.

HIBERNIAN: Colgan 6, Orman 4, James 7, Zanbernardi 6, Fenwick 6, Murray 7, Brebner 5 (McManus 5), Wiss 4, Paatelainen 5, O'CONNOR 8, Townsley 6 (Smith 5).

MANAGER RATINGS: Lambie 6, Williamson 7

REFEREE: J Rowbotham 6.

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