Neil Lennon says Hibs are "looking like a big club again"
Neil Lennon channels his inner O'Neil as Hibs mark top flight return with a win
Last updated 6th Aug 2017
Neil Lennon branded his team “astonishingly brilliant” as Hibernian returned to the Ladbrokes Premiership with a 3-1 victory over Partick Thistle.
Thistle threatened to spoil Hibs' first top-flight match in three years after home chairman Rod Petrie unfurled the Championship flag at Easter Road. Chris Erskine then netted inside seven minutes as the visitors bossed the early stages.
But Hibs soon found their feet. Martin Boyle levelled in the 14th minute and Steven Whittaker and Simon Murray, from the spot, netted either side of the interval.
Hibs were comfortable after the early scare while Murray also hit the post, and head coach Lennon invoked his former Leicester and Celtic boss, Martin O'Neill, in his analysis.
“As my old manager used to say, we were astonishingly brilliant,” Lennon said.
“We got off to a really poor start. You can get a little bit drowsy with the atmosphere and all the pomp beforehand, but the reaction from the team was fantastic.
“It couldn't have been easy for them going a goal down. I was looking for the reaction and we got the right reaction.
“We dominated the game, we dominated in terms of goal attempts. Our passing was good, our physical attributes were good, our physical fitness was good.
“We are now looking like a big club again. To have 18,000 in the building and going home with the three points with a great performance, it's all good. But it's just a start.”
Thistle boss Alan Archibald was frustrated with the way his side folded after their early opener.
“We started brightly, did what we came here to do and frustrate them, and scored a very good goal,” he said.
“I'm just disappointed with the reaction after we lost the first goal. Our decision-making and our passing was really, really slack and we invited unnecessary pressure on to ourselves after that.
“We started putting ourselves under pressure with backward passes when it was on to go forward.
“And they didn't work hard enough for their goals. Two goals came from us in good possession, we give it away 10 yards in their half and seven or eight seconds later the ball is in the back of our net.”
Thistle also lost main goalscorer Kris Doolan to injury before the half-hour mark with the scoreline level.
Archibald said: “He just tweaked his hamstring. Hopefully he has told us early enough. He used his experience and came over and had a word and we got him off as quick as we could.
“It is a big blow. He is a big focal point for us and he comes up with goals at key times."