By Colin Moffat

Hibs left it late to break down the depleted Dons

Late goals from Colin Nish and Liam Miller killed off a brave fight from Aberdeen, who had to play the last half hour at Easter Road with only nine men.

Maurice Ross and Chris Maguire both saw red early in the second half to hand Hibernian a huge advantage.

The home side laboured until the 88th minute, when Nish expertly nodded home a cross from Kurtis Byrne.

Miller then added some gloss to a nervous victory when his deflected shot deceived goalkeeper Jamie Langfield.

Hibs move up to second place in the Scottish Premier League, leapfrogging Rangers, who play on Sunday.

But the main talking point was the dismissal of the Aberdeen duo by referee Steven Nicholls, who was quick to flash the cards throughout a game that was never bad-tempered.

Hibs enjoyed the bulk of possession, but neither goalkeeper was called to make a save in a scrappy first half.

Home substitute Byrne, on for early injury victim Merouane Zemmama, did get a glimpse of goal after some impressive work from Anthony Stokes.

However, Ricky Foster made a vital sliding block and the teenager's shot was deflected wide.

From the resulting corner, Sol Bamba's header crashed into the turf and over the crossbar.

Stokes made a surge into the Dons penalty area but hit his angled strike high and wide shortly before the half-time interval.

The second period was just a few minutes old when the visitors were reduced to 10 men.

Ross caught Ian Murray late as the Hibs defender shaped to clear and the former Rangers full-back was shown his second yellow card.

Maguire was the second Aberdeen player to be dismissed

Mark McGhee's side were further handicapped on the hour when Nicholls sent Maguire for an early bath.

The forward, who was also booked in the first half, stamped on the foot of Kevin McBride and was shown a straight red.

Stokes flashed a header over the crossbar from a Derek Riordan free kick and Nish somehow missed the target from six yards after getting his head to a great Chris Hogg delivery.

Aberdeen threatened to take a shock lead when Hibs keeper Graham Stack had to tip away a long-range effort from Gary McDonald and Andrew Considine came close to forcing the ball over the line from the following corner.

Langfield was well protected by his defence but had to get down smartly for a raking Riordan shot and got behind a Stokes effort after the Hibs striker had jinked past two opponents.

There was another blow for the visitors when 16-year-old Fraser Fyvie was carried off on a stretcher after a strong tackle from Murray.

Hibs appeared to have run out of steam when Nish popped up with the vital breakthrough, nodding Byrne's cross beyond the flailing Langfield and Miller's deflected strike from 18 yards put the game beyond doubt in injury time.

Hibernian manager John Hughes: "It's never easy against nine men or ten men. You have to be patient and I thought some of our play to get in the right areas was a bit sloppy.

"We were not at our best but I can't criticise the players because they worked ever so hard.

"They are taking on board what I'm looking for and, at this moment, they are getting the rewards.

"I'm delighted for big Nishy. He's found himself out of the team of late but he's been working hard in training."

Aberdeen manager Mark McGhee:
"The referee was sent two players off in a game where there was not a bad tackle.

"Maurice was clumsy and I did not think it was necessary to send him off while Chris did intend doing any damage.

"I thought the tackle that injured Fraser Fyvie was worse and I think the ref will cringe when he sees it on TV. It was over-robust.

"I am very proud of my team. Ultimately, we have lost the game because we have had players sent off."

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