Stelios' Double Stuns Hibernian (2017)

(first published in the match programme for St. Mirren v Celtic, 1^st March 2025)

On Wednesday, 1^st March 2017, the Paisley 2012 Stadium hosted a true bottom v top Championship clash as St. Mirren, five points adrift in the relegation zone, faced Hibernian, who led the division by seven points.

Saints had endured a truly horrendous season thus far, having spent most of it at the bottom of the table and only gaining their first League victory in early December. New Boss Jack Ross had brought some stability to the team since then and had taken them to the final of the IRN-BRU Cup, but there was still a long way to go before their Championship status could be secured. On the other hand, Neil Lennon's Hibernian had been top for most of the season and were currently on a thirteen-match unbeaten run.

2016/17 saw St. Mirren hand over programme production to West Midlands based company Curtis Sport. The issue, entitled "The Saint PA3 1RU" (the Club's post code) consisted of 48 pages measuring 24cm by 17cm and was priced at £3. It was a bright issue, with a mixture of monochrome and colour images throughout and yellow spot colour used for the feature headings.

Issue 16 for the Hibernian match featured Saints' Captain Stephen McGinn in a black and white image on the front cover and also in a colour centre page spread. In "The Gaffer" article on pages four and five, Jack Ross reported how the side had built up some recent momentum with three wins and one draw during February, including an important win over Ayr United at Somerset Park to close the gap at the bottom of the table. He praised the 1,200 travelling fans and remarked that the players had fed off their terrific backing.

"Last Time Out" reviewed St. Mirren's recent IRN-BRU Cup semi-final success against Welsh side The New Saints by a 4-1 scoreline, whilst "Last Time Out 2" covered the 2-0 win at Somerset Park.

Alan Gallacher's "Football Bloody Hell" discussed the topic of talented players who didn't always pull their weight, whilst the focus of the double-page "St. Mirren Hall of Fame" was Tommy Bryceland - a talented player who certainly WAS a team player in his time.

Two pages were devoted to the visiting Champions-Elect, whilst "From the Archives" looked back at a 2-0 victory over the Hibees from September 1998. John Sutton then gave his views on recent events in "Interview".

"Matchday Gallery" featured hospitality photos from the last home match, whilst "Buddies News Update" gave details of the forthcoming Cup Final at Fir Park against Dundee United and "The St. Mirren Supporters Trust" provided their March update.

"Championship Round-Up" was over a month out of date, but covered all matches from Week 22 and "The Academy" reviewed the Under-20 side's thrilling 4-3 win over Kilmarnock U-20s in the SPFL Development League.

As always, Player Sponsorship, Marketing Matters, and Fixtures & Results appeared towards the tail end of the issue and the back page listed the squads and match officials for the forthcoming fixture.

The programme is still readily available, but does appear to command a slightly higher than normal price, perhaps due to its increased significance to Hibs collectors of that season's away issues.

Cypriot full-back Stelios Demetriou was the hero of the 90 minutes as he bagged his first goals for the Club in a stunning 2-0 victory over the league leaders before a crowd of 3,441. The Buddies were on top from the start with good early efforts by Cammy Smith and Stevie Mallan. Kyle Magennis then got on to the end of a Harry Davis cross to clip the top of the crossbar.

The game had been billed as a battle between the two midfield McGinn brothers, Stephen and John, who were facing each other for the first time. It was Saints' Stephen whose composed play set up a defence-splitting pass by Mallan to find Demetriou. Stelios shifted the ball onto his right foot and fired beyond Marciano in the Hibs goal to put Saints 1-0 up after 35 minutes.

The home side doubled their lead just 45 seconds into the second half. Demetriou ghosted up the left wing and collected a pass from Lewis Morgan, once more transferring the ball to his right foot and then unleashing a low shot in off the post.

Hibs tried to respond, and only a tremendous double save by Saints' on loan goalkeeper Billy O'Brien from Martin Boyle and then Grant Holt kept them at bay. However, there was only going to be one winner and Saints could even have extended their lead, but a Harry Davis effort was cleared off the line and then Lewis Morgan dragged a shot wide with ten minutes remaining.

The sides met again on the last day of the season at Easter Road when St. Mirren secured their Championship status for another season with a 1-1 draw that dampened the hosts' Title-winning party.