No emergency Hibs board meeting required after massive win - only Hearts can now puncture feelgood factor

Hibs scored three goals again, but this time at Fir Park they conceded none as they backed up their Gray with their most emphatic performance and victory of the season. As a result, they are off the bottom of the Premiership.

"David, David Gray," chanted the boisterous away support housed up in the gods of Tommy McLean Stand. Earlier in the game, their ire continued to be shown towards chief executive Ben Kensell - the songs for him were far less kind - but the fans appear to be keeping faith with the 36-year-old club legend. So are the players, who are digging in for themselves and their under-fire boss.

This is only Hibs' second Premiership win of the season but now on 12 points, they moved above city rivals Hearts for at least 24 hours. They will end the weekend in 11th place unless Hearts defeat Aberdeen by a margin of three goals or more.

Gray needed a win after the vote of confidence from the board earlier in November. He essentially had three matches to display that he is able to take Hibs forward going into December and while Dundee's 4-1 win over them last weekend posed further questions, the draw with the Dons and this emphatic victory will have silenced some doubters. There will be no emergency board meeting this weekend.

Hibs played very well and prevailed thanks to goals from Junior Hoilett, Mykola Kukharevich and substitute Josh Campbell. They were solid at the back - an impressive performance from birthday boy Rocky Bushiri - and competed tenaciously in midfield, led by captain Joe Newell. And in attack, they carried a threat, unlike their hosts Motherwell. For as good as Hibs were, the Steelmen were absolutely wretched, deserving nothing from the match.

Stuart Kettlewell’s team were rotten from the off and while the Motherwell manager tried to change the tide with a raft of substitutions, they could have played until next week and not scored. "I feel real anger in every aspect of the performance,” Kettlewell said afterwards. "I can't shy away from that. Full ownership rests with myself.

"Playing at home, we have never been in that position of being 3-0 down, totally out of the game and having no spark to get back into. We lacked quality at the top end, we lacked quality in midfield and we concede the most ridiculous goals. That becomes a recipe for disaster in a match. It's as simple as that.”

Hibs' opener on 26 minutes came from the sort of individual goalkeeping error that has plagued them this season (their own No 1 Jordan Smith was solid this time). Certainly Motherwell stopper Aston Oxborough won't be staying up to watch it on Sportscene. Nicky Cadden's speculative ball into the box looked like easy meat for the big stopper, but he misjudged it horribly and the ball landed at the feet of the startled Hoilett, who tapped in.

There was little response from the hosts, who fell further behind on 40 minutes. Oxborough turned a Nicky Cadden free-kick away but from the resultant corner from the same player, Elie Youan flicked the ball to the back post and while both Warren O'Hora and Jack Iredale could not force the ball home, Kukharevich was on hand on the goalline to bundle the ball home.

Motherwell fans loudly booed their team off the pitch and Kettlewell tried to freshen up his forward line by bringing on Tony Watt and Zach Robinson. Neither made an immediate impact, although Robinson had Motherwell's most presentable chance thus far on 61 minutes with a close-range jab that Smith palmed over his own crossbar.

Hibs ended the contest with a third goal on 81 minutes. Goalkeeper Jordan Smith launched a long ball up the pitch and Liam Gordon was outmuscled by substitute Dwight Gayle, who headed the ball on to fellow replacement Campbell. The midfielder finished coolly to wrap up the points. The Hibees bounce was in full flow in the away end.

Moses Ebiye struck the post late on for the hosts but the home stands at this point had emptied. It would not have altered the result in any shape or form for Motherwell, with the supporters that remained letting the team know in no uncertain terms what they thought of the performance. At the other end, the Hibs players took the acclaim of their faithful. This was a big moment for all concerned with the Easter Road club.