Date	Saturday, 19 February 2022
Competition	Scottish Premiership
Fixture/Score	Hibernian 2:0 Ross County
Venue	Easter Road
Attendance	14,149
Referee	Steven McLean
Comments	Match Report Report by Jack Herrall for the BBC. Hibernian 2 Ross County 0 Hibernian head coach Shaun Maloney says his side are "nowhere near" where he wants them to be despite the 2-0 win over Ross County. The Easter Road men climbed to fourth with their first victory in seven Scottish Premiership games. Jake Doyle-Hayes scored two fine goals from outside the box in the second half as the hosts ended a winless league run stretching back to Boxing Day. "We had to take more risks, I want us to be more clinical," said Maloney. "We have to fight for every result, we want to excite the fans, but we are nowhere near that yet." Hibs climb three places and are ahead of Motherwell on goal difference. County's first defeat in five keeps them third bottom, but they are now only four points above St Johnstone. County's recent form gave them confidence coming to Easter Road and Jordan White got in behind the Hibs defence early on, only to receive a yellow card for a blatant dive. Malky Mackay's men exploited the right channel of Hibs' defence again when a Jake Vokins pass had White through, but the striker failed to lift his shot over Matt Macey. The hosts began to grow into the game and show more attacking impetus. Chris Cadden burst down the right and drilled in an enticing cross that Kevin Nisbet was unable to connect with. Cadden then had a shot off target and the wing-back was a lively attacking outlet as Hibs enjoyed more of the ball but struggled to create clear-cut opportunities in the first half. Less than five minutes after the interval they found the breakthrough courtesy of a powerful strike from Doyle-Hayes. Central midfield partners combined as Josh Campbell touched the ball back to the Irishman, after the visitors failed to clear a corner, and he unleashed a venomous strike that Ross Laidlaw may feel he should have saved. County responded well as Regan Charles-Cook had a shot on target before Ross Callachan struck narrowly wide from distance. The hosts continued to grow in confidence after their opener, however, and Ewan Henderson went close after bursting in the box. His shot looked to be heading through the legs of Laidlaw but the goalkeeper did enough to deny the on-loan Celtic midfielder. Doyle-Hayes then sealed the victory with a spectacular strike from outside the area. After controlling the ball with his chest he left Laidlaw helpless with a volleyed finish into the corner of the net. The pressure was perhaps beginning to build around Maloney, as Hibs' league form continued to stagnate, but he showed tactical nous with his team's set-up. Nisbet was the lone striker from the start with Doyle-Hayes and Campbell both playing holding midfield roles. It may have appeared a negative formation but County have shown how effective an attacking outfit they can be recently. The visitors had a few early chances but Hibs' shape allowed them to exploit the wide areas, particularly through the lively Cadden, while limiting County to half chances. Joseph Hungbo started on the bench for Mackay's side and will be scratching his head as to why, with his side looking devoid of attacking ideas. Hibernian head coach Shaun Maloney: "There were parts I was happy with, and some bits I wasn't. There were not many opportunities for us. "I'm delighted for Jake [Doyle-Hayes] he works very hard, he's worked hard on his scoring the last few weeks, so I couldn't be more pleased he got the goals." Ross County manager Malky Mackay: "I thought we started well, we controlled the game in the first half. "I've watched the first goal back where Harry Paton is going to close him down, and he gets tripped, Steve McLean has made a huge error. "These big decisions have to be called correctly, you could see it from the bench, it was clear as day."
Ross County
Manager	Malcolm (Malky) Mackay
Starting 11	1: Ross Laidlaw, 2: Connor Randall, 3: Jake Vokins, 5: Jack Baldwin 1, 6: Harrison Paton 1, 8: Ross Callachan, 10: Dominic Samuel, 16: Alexander Iacovitti, 17: Regan Charles-Cook, 22: Jordon Tillson 1, 26: Jordan White 1
Bench	31: Ashley Maynard-Brewer, 9: Alexander Samuel, 11: Joshua Sims, 19: Kayne Ramsay, 20: Declan Drysdale, 23: Joseph Hungbo, 24: Benjamin Paton, 30: Matthew Wright, 32: Adam Mackinnon
Hibernian
Manager	Shaun Maloney
Starting 11	Matt Macey, Josh Doig, Ryan Porteous, Kevin Nisbet 1, Lewis Stevenson, Sylvester Jasper, Jake Doyle-Hayes 2 1, Chris Cadden, Josh Campbell, Rocky Bushiri 1, Ewan Henderson
Bench	Kevin Dabrowski, Drey Wright, Christian Doidge, Chris Mueller, Darren McGregor, James Scott, Elias Melkersen, Jacob Blaney, Oscar Macintyre