Hibernian 0-0 Aberdeen
Last updated on .From the section Football
Hibernian and Aberdeen failed to make the breakthrough at Easter Road in a Scottish Premier League basement match that was short of quality football.
Hibs had the better chances, with Garry O'Connor side-footing a shot at Dons goalie David Gonzalez and Martin Scott volleying powerfully from 25 yards.
Ricky Foster was the Dons' best player, trying his luck with a curling effort and making surges into the Hibs half.
Paul Hanlon looped a late header over the bar as Hibs pushed for a winner.
Much was expected of the fraternal rivalry in central midfield, where Hibs' Isaiah and Aberdeen's Isaac went toe to toe.
But for all their enthusiasm they could not influence the match as they would have hoped.
The pace was frantic in the first half but the match cried out for signs of composure as both sides surrendered possession too readily, with Aberdeen the more culpable.
David Gonzalez's Aberdeen goal hosted most of the chances in the first period but Hibs were reduced to half-hearted shots that were blocked by an edgy Dons defence.
Scott's cross from the left in the 18th minute produced an effort on target, Junior Agogo diving to head the ball meekly into the Colombian keeper's arms.
Six minutes later Hanlon whipped a 50-yard crossfield pass between the Dons central pairing of Kari Arnason and Youl Mawene on to the toe of O'Connor but the Hibs marksman was uncharacteristically tame with his right-foot shot.
At the other end, Dons captain Foster, deployed in midfield, raced clear down the left and cut inside Richie Towell with some skill, but his curling shot missed the junction of post and crossbar by a whisker.
Foster was the one player who continued to catch the eye, poking a shot into the side netting from an Arnason throw-in then winning a free-kick 20 yards from goal, scant reward for being clattered by Sean O'Hanlon to halt his surging run from the halfway line.
The Dons captain thumped his free-kick off the Hibs wall and all Aberdeen gained from the incident was a yellow card for the Hibs centre-half.
Four minutes after the re-start, Scott produced a wonderful swerving volley from 25 yards that Gonzalez sprang to his left to save, the best moment of the game by that point.
Craig Brown removed the anonymous Chris Clark for the burly Josh Magennis as the hour mark approached but the Northern Irishman could not find a way past the Hibs rearguard either.
Moments later, Leigh Griffiths made his home debut for Hibs, joining the fray with Callum Booth as Junior Agogo and Ian Murray made way.
Those changes by Colin Calderwood had an immediate effect, with Booth cracking a low shot that Gonzalez saved to his left, and Griffiths delivering a delicious cross that Scott volleyed wide from eight yards at the back post.
Hanlon went close for Hibs as the match reached its finale, managing a looping header with his back to goal in a crowded penalty box.
The outcome keeps Hibs rooted to bottom of the table, a point behind the Dons and Inverness.
