Hibs recorded a well overdue victory after overcoming a physical Dundee United side whose long ball tactics were met resolutely by a back four marshalled superbly by captain Rob Jones.
The crowd was swelled with the expected debut of returning hero Derek Riordan although the player was deemed fit enough only to take a seat on the bench.
The match itself was an engrossing encounter although once more Hibs were to find themselves on the end of a few bizarre refereeing decisions from an official clearly out of his depth.
Dougie Somers sent off debutant Sol Bamba after the Ivorian was deemed to have fouled Craig Conway after having been booked for winning the ball in the first half.
The new recruit from Dunfermline looked crestfallen when show the red but Somers looked like he was just biding his time before sending him off.
Perhaps the Hibs support wouldn’t have been so incensed had the referee clamped down on the United side who pushed, kicked and sometimes punched anything which came their way but one supposes official are a little afraid of Craig Levein following his Mike McCurry incident last season.
Anyway, back to the game, and Hibs were to dominate the opening half hour against a side who’d accumulated only 2 points from their opening four matches.
Steven Fletcher saw an early header fly over whilst strike partner Colin Nish tried to tee Fletch up when he should have shot at goal.
Hibs were no to be denied and finally took the lead on 21 minutes with a fine goal.
Ian Murray played a neat one two with Lewis Stevenson from a throw in and the former surged to the byline and placed a pin point cross on the head of Colin Nish who unselfishly nodded back across goal for Steven Fletcher to head powerfully past United keeper Zaluska.
As half time grew closer United created a couple of chances from long balls which caught out the back four.
Long punts from Dods and Wilkie caught out Rob Jones and Sandaza should have done better than fire past on both occasions.
With referee Somers somehow finding nearly four minutes of added time in the first half the Arabs were to benefit from his bizarre decision.
Centre half Lee Wilkie found himself 25 yards from goal and when his first effort was blocked his second rifled low into the bottom corner rendering Makalamby helpless.
The Tannadice men continued their long ball game into the second half as they tried to turn the Hibs defence onto their back foot but for all their crosses into the box they were met regularly by Rob Jones who cleared to safety.
On the hour mark Riordan was signalled to come on and the returning hitman received a rousing reception as he replaced Joe Keenan who’d bizarrely been played on the right side of midfield.
Riordan had only been on the park for three minutes when Hibs restored their lead with another well worked goal.
Makalamby produced a fine stop before feeding the ball to Riordan who quickly passed to Steven Fletcher in the centre circle.
Fletch knocked the ball wide right to Colin Nish and continued his run to the 18 yard line where he received Nish’s return and he fired past Zaluska.
Bamba was to see red five minutes later and Mixu Paatelainen beefed up the midfield by introducing Ross Chisholm and John Rankin for Dean Shiels and Colin Nish while Ian Murray moved up from left back to a central berth.
United continued with their missing out the midfield tactics and could have equalised on a couple of occasions but were met with decent stops from Makalamby.
Hibs managed to run the clock down and held on to record a good victory although a point apiece may have been a fairer result.
Player Ratings
Yves Makalamby 7
First half mix up with Jones could have been costly but was excellent in the second period.
David Van Zanten 4
Conway had him on toast
Ian Murray 7
Wholehearted performance from former skipper and his best performance of the season by miles.
Chris Hogg 6
Done nothing wrong.
Rob Jones 7
First half mix up with Maka but dealt with United punts very well.
Dean Shiels 4
Very poor – offered very little.
Joe Keenan 5
Played right midfield and looked uncomfortable. Not surprising for a left footer.
Sol Bamba 5
Looked okay til he was sent off.
Lewis Stevenson 6
Comfy on ball and done little wrong.
Steven Fletcher 8
Domestic scoring duck broken and link up play again superb.
Colin Nish 7
Unselfish work at first goal. Ungainly player but works his socks off for the team.
Derek Riordan 4
Half hour cameo for the Lost Bhoy.
Ross Chisholm 4
Sat protecting the back four after Bamba red.
Plenty effort from the ex-Caley man.
Ref Rating : Dougie Somers 3/10
Inconsitent performance from the referee who was happy to let Dundee United kick lumps out their opponents but booked Bamba for his first tackle and booked Ian Murray for, well, who knows.
